Thursday, September 25, 2014
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
The Endgame of ISIS, Crusaders, Uncle Abdullahs and the Righteous
ISIS, made in the USA. Osama Bin Laden, made in the USA. 9/11, made in the USA, terror, made in the USA, Indians, made in America, Negroes, made in America, concentration camps/reservations, made in America.
It will indeed take a rocket scientist to unravel the conundrum of the Middle East battle of Armageddon. We suspect the Crusaders are embarking on another 100 Years War to cleanse the so called filth of ISIS and related groups. But we wonder how the Crusaders can distinguish the evil and filthy ones from the good guys. Surely the Uncle Abdullahs (Arab Uncle Toms), those leading the reactionary regimes in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, cannot classify themselves as the good guys, even if they have allied themselves with Crusaders in the white hats, off to recapture the holy lands for....themselves, of course, to reinstitute their colonial ideology of domination and exploitation that is the first cause of the present situation. The second cause is those Uncle Abdullahs and their reactionary regimes that give rise to so called fanaticism, i.e., when no other outlet is available to escape poverty, ignorance and disease, sectarianism and dogmatism or shall we say simple freedom, justice and equality.
I hesitate to attempt an unravelling of the Middle East onion, for the layers are so often indistinguishable and inseparable, connected in such a symbiotic relationship that it is simply impossible to deconstruct this phenomena unless one is, again, a rocket scientist. For example, shall we say America is with the Shia, Iranian allied, Iraqi regime, or is America with the Sunni citizens allied with Saudi Arabia. Well, we are told 90% of the Saudi Arabians support ISIS and would, if able, overthrow the Saudi regime of decadent Saudi princes so backward women are not allowed to drive cars.
Much of the matter is simple tribalism, originating from the time of Prophet Muhammad. Alas, Sunni Muslims consider Shia heretics who can indeed suffer beheading for their Shia mythology. The new prime minister in Iraq is every bit a part of the Shia brotherhood of the previous prime minster Malaki, and we understand his ministers are dominated by Shia, despite the call for inclusion of Sunni in his restructured government.
ISIS marches on. The Crusaders come from heaven with their planes and drones, missiles and bombs. The Crusaders vow none of their troops shall touch the ground. But how many private contractors are on the ground, how many never departed when the US troops left Iraq? How many soldiers comprise the 16,000 workers at the US embassy in Iraq, the largest US embassy in the world?
Let us travel the road to Damascus. How can we avoid the onions on the road, and the rat packs scurrying on the road where Saul was transformed into Paul. Alas, today Paul has reverted to Saul, the Zionist.
Oh, where are the righteous in this quagmire, oh where are the holy ones who seek only justice, freedom from religious extremism and sectarianism. They have fled into the night with only the clothing on their backs, on the road away from Damascus, roads through the woods, forests, mountains, with children in hand and nothing more.
And what of the Syrian monster king, a butcher like his father who killed 30,000 in one town, Hama. The butcher Assad is amazed the Crusaders are now bombing in his land. Will he call his Russian and Iranian allies for assistance or will the Crusaders assist him by degrading ISIS and their cohorts so he can step in for that final dagger touch. We understand his doom was sealed when he refused to give up the Golan Heights, much like Saddam Hussein and poor Qaddafi in Libya, now in a dance with death as Qaddafi predicted if he was removed. His arms have found their way from Nigeria to Sinai, to Iraq and Syria.
Do you think Israel is sitting around with his dick in his hand and heart racing? Oh, no, he is most assuredly in bed with all the rats, Crusaders for sure, Uncle Abdullahs, for sure, mixed with the other spies and agents who play all sides in this classic Middle Eastern drama of political chicanery. Israel is happy the global village has shifted from observing his bloody behavior in Gaza now that the Crusaders have mobilized from the sky to save the...who, the people, or the oil fields, to prevent Shia expansion from the Tigris and Euphrates to the Mediterranean.
We support the righteous people, the suffering masses who only want a better day, the righteous caught in the middle of the geo-political, ideological and sectarian madness that will not last 100 years, we predict. Before long, the specter of nuclear weapons will enter the battlefield. The Atom bomb was dropped when I was only months old. We seem edging closer to the ultimate weapon as I grow old, I grow old.
The endgame: after the sweat, blood and tears, how 'bout sweet democracy with authoritarianism, i.e., state democracy/capitalism, Islamic democracy with a theological (Sharia law) touch. Isn't this what we wanted?
It will indeed take a rocket scientist to unravel the conundrum of the Middle East battle of Armageddon. We suspect the Crusaders are embarking on another 100 Years War to cleanse the so called filth of ISIS and related groups. But we wonder how the Crusaders can distinguish the evil and filthy ones from the good guys. Surely the Uncle Abdullahs (Arab Uncle Toms), those leading the reactionary regimes in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, cannot classify themselves as the good guys, even if they have allied themselves with Crusaders in the white hats, off to recapture the holy lands for....themselves, of course, to reinstitute their colonial ideology of domination and exploitation that is the first cause of the present situation. The second cause is those Uncle Abdullahs and their reactionary regimes that give rise to so called fanaticism, i.e., when no other outlet is available to escape poverty, ignorance and disease, sectarianism and dogmatism or shall we say simple freedom, justice and equality.
I hesitate to attempt an unravelling of the Middle East onion, for the layers are so often indistinguishable and inseparable, connected in such a symbiotic relationship that it is simply impossible to deconstruct this phenomena unless one is, again, a rocket scientist. For example, shall we say America is with the Shia, Iranian allied, Iraqi regime, or is America with the Sunni citizens allied with Saudi Arabia. Well, we are told 90% of the Saudi Arabians support ISIS and would, if able, overthrow the Saudi regime of decadent Saudi princes so backward women are not allowed to drive cars.
Much of the matter is simple tribalism, originating from the time of Prophet Muhammad. Alas, Sunni Muslims consider Shia heretics who can indeed suffer beheading for their Shia mythology. The new prime minister in Iraq is every bit a part of the Shia brotherhood of the previous prime minster Malaki, and we understand his ministers are dominated by Shia, despite the call for inclusion of Sunni in his restructured government.
ISIS marches on. The Crusaders come from heaven with their planes and drones, missiles and bombs. The Crusaders vow none of their troops shall touch the ground. But how many private contractors are on the ground, how many never departed when the US troops left Iraq? How many soldiers comprise the 16,000 workers at the US embassy in Iraq, the largest US embassy in the world?
Let us travel the road to Damascus. How can we avoid the onions on the road, and the rat packs scurrying on the road where Saul was transformed into Paul. Alas, today Paul has reverted to Saul, the Zionist.
Oh, where are the righteous in this quagmire, oh where are the holy ones who seek only justice, freedom from religious extremism and sectarianism. They have fled into the night with only the clothing on their backs, on the road away from Damascus, roads through the woods, forests, mountains, with children in hand and nothing more.
And what of the Syrian monster king, a butcher like his father who killed 30,000 in one town, Hama. The butcher Assad is amazed the Crusaders are now bombing in his land. Will he call his Russian and Iranian allies for assistance or will the Crusaders assist him by degrading ISIS and their cohorts so he can step in for that final dagger touch. We understand his doom was sealed when he refused to give up the Golan Heights, much like Saddam Hussein and poor Qaddafi in Libya, now in a dance with death as Qaddafi predicted if he was removed. His arms have found their way from Nigeria to Sinai, to Iraq and Syria.
Do you think Israel is sitting around with his dick in his hand and heart racing? Oh, no, he is most assuredly in bed with all the rats, Crusaders for sure, Uncle Abdullahs, for sure, mixed with the other spies and agents who play all sides in this classic Middle Eastern drama of political chicanery. Israel is happy the global village has shifted from observing his bloody behavior in Gaza now that the Crusaders have mobilized from the sky to save the...who, the people, or the oil fields, to prevent Shia expansion from the Tigris and Euphrates to the Mediterranean.
We support the righteous people, the suffering masses who only want a better day, the righteous caught in the middle of the geo-political, ideological and sectarian madness that will not last 100 years, we predict. Before long, the specter of nuclear weapons will enter the battlefield. The Atom bomb was dropped when I was only months old. We seem edging closer to the ultimate weapon as I grow old, I grow old.
The endgame: after the sweat, blood and tears, how 'bout sweet democracy with authoritarianism, i.e., state democracy/capitalism, Islamic democracy with a theological (Sharia law) touch. Isn't this what we wanted?
"That is not what I meant
that is not what I meant at all
In the room the women come and go
talking of Michelangelo.... "
Black Bird Press News & Review: Two Poems for the People of Syria by Marvin X and Mohja Kahf
Black Bird Press News & Review: Two Poems for the People of Syria by Marvin X and Mohja Kahf:
Oh, Mohja
how much water can run from rivers to sea
how much blood can soak the earth
the guns of tyrants know no end....
Oh, Mohja
how much water can run from rivers to sea
how much blood can soak the earth
the guns of tyrants know no end....
Syrian poet/novelist/professor Dr. Mohja Kahf invited poet/activist Marvin X to speak and read at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
The Washington DC Jazz Network supports Marvin X--will you please donate to the Marvin X Books Project/Indiegogo
Advocate for Preserving America's Classical Music, "JAZZ",
it's African American Legacy, Roots and Heritage!
MARVIN X
BAM Master Poet Marvin X and the BAM Poets Choir & Arkestra are now available for booking.
The group performed at the University of California, Merced, Feb./Mar. 2014
Oakland's Malcolm X Jazz/Art Fest, May 17, 2014.
For booking: 510-200-4164
Poet/Bandleader Marvin X, sax man David Murray and trumpet man Earl Davis
Marvin X was born May 29, 1944, Fowler CA, nine miles south of Fresno in the central valley of California. In Fresno his parents published the Fresno Voice, a black newspaper.
Marvin attended Oakland’s Merritt College where he encountered fellow students who became Black Panther Party co-founders Bobby Seale
and Huey Newton. They taught him black nationalism. Marvin’s first play Flowers for the Trashman was produced by the Drama department at San Francisco State University, 1965.
Marvin X dropped out to established his own Black Arts West Theatre in the Fillmore, 1966, along with playwright Ed Bullins.
Months later Marvin would co-found Black House with Eldridge Cleaver, 1967.
Marvin introduced Eldridge Cleaver to Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. Eldridge immediately joined the Black Panther Party. Huey Newton said, “Marvin X was my teacher, many of our comrades came from his Black Arts Theatre: Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, Emory Douglas and Samuel Napier.”
One of the movers and shakers of the Black Arts Movement
Marvin X & Sun Rah
(BAM) Marvin X has published 30 books, including essays, poetry, and his autobiography
Somethin’ Proper.
Important books include Fly to Allah, poems, Beyond Religion, toward Spirituality, essays on consciousness, and
How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy, a manual based on the 12 step Recovery model.
Marvin received his MA in English/Creative writing from San Francisco State University, 1975. He has taught at San Francisco State University, Fresno State University, UC Berkeley and San Diego, Mills College, Merritt and Laney Colleges in Oakland, University of Nevada, Reno. He lectures coast to coast at such colleges and universities as University of Arkansas, University of Houston, Morehouse and Spelman, Atlanta, University of Virginia, Howard University, Univ. of Penn, Temple Univ., Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, UMASS, Boston.
His latest book is the Wisdom of Plato Negro, parables/fables, Black Bird Press, Berkeley. He currently teaches at his Academy of da Corner, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland. Ishmael Reed says, “Marvin X is Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland."
For speaking, readings and performance, contact Marvin X @ jmarvinx@yahoo.com,
510-200-4164. www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com
For speaking, readings and performance, contact Marvin X @ jmarvinx@yahoo.com,
510-200-4164. www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Review: Junious Ricardo Stanton on In the Crazy House Called America, essays by Marvin X
By
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Marvin X Offers A Healing Peek Into His Psyche
Review of In the Crazy House Called America
By Junious Ricardo Stanton
Rarely is a brother secure and honest enough with himself to reveal his innermost thoughts, emotions or his most hellacious life experiences. For most men it would be a monumental feat just to share/bare his soul with his closest friends but to do so to perfect strangers would be unthinkable, unless he had gone through the fires of life and emerged free of the dross that tarnishes his soul. Marvin X, poet, playwright, author and essayist does just that in a self-published book entitled In the Crazy House Called America.
This latest piece from Marvin X offers a peek into his soul and his psyche. He lets the reader know he is hip to the rabid oppression the West heaps upon people of color especially North American Africans while at the same time revealing the knowledge gleaned from his days as a student radical, black nationalist revolutionary forger of the Black Arts Movement, husband, father lover, a dogger of women did not spare him the degradation and agony of descending into the abyss of crack addiction, abusive and toxic relationships and family tragedy.
Perhaps because of the knowledge gained as a member of the Nation of Islam, and his experiences as one of the prime movers of the cultural revolution of the '60, the insights he shares In the Crazy House Called America are all the keener. Marvin writes candidly of his pain, bewilderment and depression of losing his son to suicide. He shares in a very powerful way, his own out of body helplessness as he wallowed in the dregs of an addiction that threatened to destroy his soul and the mess his addictions made of his life and relationships with those he loved.
But he is not preachy and this is not an autobiography. He has already been there and done that. In sharing his story and the wisdom he has gleaned from his life experiences and looking at the world through the eyes of an artist/healer, Marvin X serves as a modern day shaman/juju man who in order to heal himself and his people ventures into the spirit realm to confront the soul devouring demons and mind pulverizing dragons; he is temporarily possessed by them, heroically struggles to rebuke their power before they destroy him; which enables him to return to this realm, tell us what it is like, prove redemption is possible, thereby empowering himself/ us and helping to heal us. He touches on a myriad of topics as he raps and writes about himself and current events.
Reading this book you know he knows what it is like to come face to face with and do battle with the insanity and death this society has in store for all Africans. Marvin X talks about his sexual relations/dysfunction, drugs, media and free speech, sports, black political power or the lack thereof, the war on drugs and the current War on Terrorism, nothing is off limits. He includes reviews of music, theater as well as film, but not as some smarter/ holier than thou, elitist observer.
Marvin X writes as one actively engaged in life, including its pain and suffering. He lets us know he was a willing and active participant in his addiction, how it impacted his decision making, his role as a parent, his male-female "relationships", his ability to be creative within a movement to liberate African people and the world from the corruption of Caucasian hegemony.
Marvin X is in recovery and it has not been easy for him. As a writer/healer he still has the voice of a revolutionary poet/playwright, it is a voice we need to listen and pay attention to. He has survived his own purgatory and emerged stronger and more committed to life and saving his people. As North American Africans (his term to differentiate us from our continental and diasporic brethren) he sees the toll the insanity of this culture takes on us. His culturally induced self-destructive lifestyle choices and the death of his son is a testament to how life threatening and lethal this society can be.
But Marvin X also talks about spiritual redemption, the ability to transcend even the most horrific experiences with resiliency and determination so that one gets a glimpse of one's own divine potential. This book is an easy read which makes it all the more profound. In The Crazy House Called America is for brothers especially. It is a book all black men should grab hold of and digest, if for no other reason than to experience just how redemptively healing and liberating being honest can be.
* * * * *
Monday, September 22, 2014
The War on Black Men by Junious Ricardo Stanton
“… Let me put forth what I think is one of the European’s ultimate weapons- it is the legitimization of his worldview- past and present- in the eyes of the non-white peoples of the world through a vehicle erroneously referred to as ‘world history’. White world history as it has been taught to us, has given us a view of the world that is not lonely anti-black in every conceivable way but has virtually eliminated the positive image of Black people as a functional part of the world’s people.” Haki R Madhubuti Enemies the Clash of Races Third World Press page 1.
If you are a critical thinker you are undoubtedly wondering why all of a sudden there is such a focus and fuss on NFL players who were caught beating their girlfriends, wives or children? Is this a new phenomenon? The answer is no, this is not a new phenomenon nor is it new under the watch of current NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Since Goodell took over as NFL Commissioner in 2006 there have been fifty-six (56) incidents of sexual abuse. For a full list of all NFL player arrests for whatever reason go tohttp://www.usatoday.com/sports/nfl/arrests/. So if fifty-six NFL players have been arrested since 2006 under Goodell, why all of a sudden is he leading a charge to clean up the NFL?
Any kind of abuse is abhorrent but why all of a sudden is NFL player domestic abuse an issue? White feminists have been complaining for years about domestic abuse and the NFL has never said a mumbling word in their support. Why now? I suspect it is because this campaign is another way to demonize African-Americans, it is specially designed to make Black males appear to be the stereotypical brute long used to rationalize the murder and violence against us.
Keep in mind the recent events in Ferguson Missouri put the race issue back in the national media spotlight as yet another unarmed Black male was shot and killed by a white police officer. The situation in Ferguson, like so many around the nation, centers on a white police officer shooting a defenseless unarmed Black male and getting away Scott free.
The Ferguson police department didn’t even want to release the name of the police officer was who shot Michael Brown let alone arrest him or charge him, which infuriated the Black community. Under immense pressure and duress the Ferguson Chief of Police finally named the officer, Darren Wilson a six year veteran. Darren Wilson’s pictures soon circulated on the Internet and the Ferguson police department came under heavy criticism for not suspending or filing charges against the officer. But their main concern was “for the safety of Officer Wilson.”
Shortly thereafter a video was released showing a man who fit Michael Brown’s description causing a scene in a convenience store. The Ferguson police alleged Brown robbed the store and hinted that was the reason he was approached by officer Wilson. They even did the Zimmerman trick claiming Wilson was assaulted and injured by Brown prior to him shooting Brown.
As the Ferguson police stonewalled disciplining and charging Wilson, tensions rose and there was sporadic violence and looting in Ferguson. The police responded by showing up in heavily armored vehicles in riot gear with assault rifles in tow. The governor even called out the National Guard. A Black Missouri State Police Captain Ron Johnson was sent to Ferguson to restore calm and confidence but the almost all white Ferguson police department (they only have three Black police in a town that is almost eighty percent Black) maintained a heavy handed presence and attitude. As conditions worsened, the Missouri Governor issued a state of emergency, imposed a curfew and instituted martial law. In effect the town of Ferguson was put on lock down while a murdering police officer went free! Tensions rose and subsided as community leaders attempted to restore calm and meet with the “powers that be” to broker “justice”.
The family of Michael Brown hired an attorney and an expert to conduct an independent autopsy which revealed Brown was shot at least six times including twice in the head. Details of the autopsy further infuriated the Black community. Why was it necessary for Wilson to fire six rounds into Michael Brown who was unarmed and in a position of surrender, why did he shoot him two times in the head?!
Simultaneously support for Officer Wilson was spurred by the Klu Klux Klan. By the end of August, Wilson’s supporters raised well over $150,000 for his “defense fund”. The facts and the extensive news coverage of Ferguson have made the racial divide wider and the dividing lines between Black and White harder and more rigid. The notion of a “post racial America” as Ferguson has shown is a cruel hoax and a sham. Only the most gullible and comatose Black people believe we live in a “post racial” society whatever that means.
What does this have to do with the NFL and domestic violence you ask? Everything. Keep in mind there have been fifty six incidents of domestic violence, abuse and assault under Goodell’s eight year watch; the most famous cases involve African-American players. So now all Black men are being demonized and vilified because of the actions of a few. There are less than two thousand NFL players total, 1,696 to be exact. The Ferguson police department’s attempt to smear Michael Brown didn’t work so now the mass media has to smear all black men to justify and rationalize the ongoing pattern of police officers like Darren Wilson shooting and murdering us.
Remember how they tried to portray Trayvon Martin as a thug and Zimmerman (a man who obviously has issues) as the good white man who was viciously attacked by Martin, the narrative was that Zimmerman feared for his life so he had to shoot Trayvon. This is the same thing they tried to do with Darren Wilson but it turned out to be just as flimsy and fake as Zimmerman’s excuse. So the Florida authorities rigged the whole trial so Zimmerman would walk, just like they will probably do for Wilson in Missouri.
So now they are painting all Black men, from the round the way Brothers to NFL icons as inherently violent; so pathological that white men of all stripes and persuasions are justified shooting us down like dogs.
Blacks make up seventy (70) per cent of NFL players, during the season these Black men are extremely visible on Sunday, Thursday and Monday on the televised games. NFL players are icons in this culture so if a diabolic powerful group of white men wanted to really demonize Black males, they could successfully do it by pointing out the pathologies of a small percentage of Black males albeit extremely high profile Black males.
This is an insidious psychological operation (a mind game, image perception manipulation) to further the very open and overt war on Black males. This war has been going on in this country since colonial times. Black men are being demonized on every level from the block boys to highly paid professional athletes.
You say all the media is doing is reporting the news. Not really; there were fifty six domestic abuse cases from 2006 to now. Do you remember all this brouhaha being made of them? Why now? It’s not about them wanting to clean up the NFL. They could have swept these incidents under the rug or minimized them like they did the others. They need to vilify Black males. WHite men beat their wives and children all the time, do you see them paraded and vilified in the media? There is an obvious double standard.
Look at how the Donald Sterling issue was handled. Here was a lecherous old Jewish white man who owned the Los Angles Clippers NBA franchise who uttered racial slurs about Blacks and said the Jews in Israel treat the Blacks there like dogs. Sterling’s statements were recorded by his “girlfriend” and sent to TMZ a cable gossip channel. As a result the NBA swiftly moved to “punish” Sterling by taking away his franchise. It’s not that the NBA owners abhor racism; they just didn’t want the world to know they are racists. Fact: Donald Sterling originally paid thirteen million for the franchise. Fact: in 2014 the LA Clippers were worth five hundred seventy five million according to Forbes http://www.forbes.com/teams/los-angeles-clippers/. The NBA Commissioner and the other NBA owners forced the sale of the team and it was sold for two billion dollars to ex Microsoft Executive Steve Ballmer. Two billion dollars, how is that a punishment? Donald Sterling was examined by two doctors and he was ruled mentally incompetent by a judge, his estranged wife was given trusteeship of the franchise and she made out like a bandit! Aw poor Donald is mentally ill so he couldn’t be blamed or held accountable for his racist rant and he walks off with one and a half times more than the franchise is currently worth and way, way more than he first bought it for, how’s that for punishment? How’s that for justice?
Meanwhile Black men (young brothers and NFL players) are being vilified and criminalized as part of an overarching program to make all of us look bad. But no one talks about the role racial and psychological oppression/conditioning play in the maladaptive and pathological choices and behaviors we exhibit or how we are demonized and vilified every day in the media.
“The perpetual domination of African Americans by White Americans psychically requires the White American criminalization of the African male, i.e. the White American perception of the African male as inherently criminal. In the context of White American domination there is no innocent Black male, just Black male criminals who have not been detected, apprehended or convicted. Their mere presence inspires in White Americans, fears of being assaulted, raped, robbed or some other indefinable dread of being criminally victimized.” Amos N. Wilson Black on Black Violence The Psychodynamics of Black Self-Annihilations In Service of White Domination AfriKan World Infosystems page8.
The global psychological, psychic and physical war against Black people rages on, and it impacts all of us no matter where we are on the rung of the social ladder, including star athletes. No matter how much money we make if we are psychologically damaged and traumatized, unless we recognize we are ill and seek real healing, our illness will remain and the war against us takes its toll generation after generation.
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