Coming soon Notes of Artistic freedom fighter Marvin X

Black Bird Press News & Review: Parable of the Pit Bull by Marvin X

Black Bird Press News & Review: Parable of the Pit Bull by Marvin X

Black Panther and Afrofuturisim

What The Heck Is Afrofuturism?

Jamie Broadnax

Guest Writer

ILLUSTRATION: GABRIELA LANDAZURI/ HUFFPOST IMAGES: GETTY IMAGES WALT DISNEY PICTURES

Many of us blerds (black nerds, to you) who have read the Black Panther comics 

never thought the day would come when we would finally see this story adapted for the 

big screen. With the movie’s already profound effect on pop culture, it is provoking 

deeper discussions around reimagined worlds with black politicians, spiritual 

leaders and monarchs at the helm. We’re hearing the word “Afrofuturism” a lot.

But what exactly is Afrofuturism?

Afrofuturism is the reimagining of a future filled with arts, science and technology 

seen through a black lens. The term was conceived a quarter-century ago by white author Mark Dery in his essay “Black to the Future,” which looks at speculative 

fiction within the African diaspora. The essay rests on a series of interviews with 

black content creators.

Dery laid out the questions driving the philosophy of Afrofuturism:

Can a community whose past has been deliberately rubbed out, and whose energies have subsequently been consumed by the search for legible traces

of its history, imagine possible futures? Furthermore, isn’t the unreal estate of

the future already owned by the technocrats, futurologists, streamliners, and

set designers ― white to a man ― who have engineered our collective fantasies?

What makes Afrofuturism significantly different from standard science fiction is 

that it’s steeped in ancient African traditions and black identity. A narrative that 

simply 

features a black character in a futuristic world is not enough. To be Afrofuturism, 

it must be 

rooted in and unapologetically celebrate the uniqueness and innovation of black 

culture.

The biggest proponent of this cultural movement, even before it had its name, was musician Sun Ra, who infused elements of space and jazz fusion in his work as a musical artist. Prolific science fiction author Octavia E. Butler explored black 

women protagonists in novels like Fledging, Dawn, Parable of the Sower and 

Lilith’s Brood, set in the context of futuristic technology and interactions with the supernatural. In the contemporary music world, singers like Erykah Badu, with her eccentric and experimental imagery in videos and album covers, promote the intersection of art 

and futurism. Artists like Janelle Monae, with her android alter-ego and electronica sounds, and films like “Brown Girl Begins,” a post-apocalyptic tale set in 2049 and directed by Sharon Lewis, pay a huge homage to Afrofuturism.

WALT DISNEY STUDIOS

“Black Panther” stars Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia), Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa) and Letitia Wright (Shuri), among others.

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Then there’s “Black Panther.” The film wears themes of Afrofuturism proudly on its sleeve. Tech genius Princess Shuri is not only the smartest person in the fictional 

world, but she’s responsible for the creation and maintenance of sophisticated 

gadgets 

for her brother T’Challa, a.k.a. Black Panther.

A prosperous alternative afro future can be seen in their fictional East African 

home of Wakanda, a small country the size of New Jersey that has never been colonized 

and is steeped in its blackness. It’s a utopian society that also boasts one of the 

world’s 

richest resources, vibranium. Because white supremacy never intruded on 

Wakandan 

culture and its people, ancient African traditions remain common practice there.

But this movie is more than just a glorious film ― it’s the expression of a movement.

Black Panther is a superhero who is for us by us. We can claim him.

Africans and African-Americans have full autonomy as Afrofuturists. A community 

of people can take a piece of visual art or notes from a song and develop an entire universe and say, “This is ours.” And that’s what this film represents to so many 

excited fans. Black Panther is a superhero who is for us by us. We can claim him.

In addition to the predominantly black cast filled with Hollywood stars and starlets, “Black Panther” also had a black production team spearheading the 

shaping of this story. The writer, filmmaker and executive producer are African-American. Production designer Hannah Beachler, who was influenced by 

Afrofuturistic architecture and Afropunk aesthetics, helped lay the groundwork 

for this world. The African regalia and elaborate costumes by famed wardrobe 

designer Ruth E. Carter created a Wakandan couture that would give New York 

Fashion Week a run for its money ― 

just look at her use of kimoyo beads as both a fashion accessory and a 

communication device.

This intersection of sci-fi and African pride is what we’ve come to know as Afrofuturism. For many of us in the blerd community, the film with its love for 

technology, science, visual art and music (if you haven’t checked out the “Black Panther” album, you should make it a priority) is what we’ve been hungry for.

I hope, for all of our sakes, that this is also just the beginning. I hope that “Black Panther” can prove that stories permeated in blackness have crossover appeal. 

I hope we get more and more stories of black people who have agency, who are 

free and subservient to no one. Black people deserve to see themselves leading 

the way in real or abstract futures.

Jamie Broadnax is the editor-in-chief and creator of the online community for 

black women called Black Girl Nerds.

Marvin X--the revolutionary who never came in from the cold

"And it is gratifying in an era of the sellout, faint hearted and fallen, to see that Marvin X was one black man who met the white man in the center of the ring and walked with him to the corners of psycho-social inequity, grappling with him through the bowels of the earth, yet remained one black man the white man couldn't get."--Dr. Nathan Hare

Marvin X--the revolutionary who never came in from the cold

AB and MX, 47 years of revolutionary work and friendship

Askia Toure', co-founder of BAM. Gave Marvin X his first tour of Harlem, NY, when MX arrived underground, with the FBI on his heels for refusing to fight in Vietnam. Marvin X arrived in Harlem just in time to kick off the Black Arts Movement, along with Baraka, Askia, Larry Neal, Sonia, Nikki, Haki, Last Poets, Barbara Ann Teer, Sun Ra, Milford Graves, Ed Bullins, Robert Macbeth and the New Lafayette family, 1968. Marvin became associate editor of Black Theatre Magazine, a publication of the New Lafayette Theatre. Much in the manner of David Walker's Appeal, one of Marvin's duties was distributing the magazine coast to coast, especially to the black colleges and universities.

Harlem reception for Marvin X. He was in NYC to speak at NYU memorial for poets Jayne Cortez and Amiri Baraka. Reception was at the home of poet Rashidah Ishmaili.

Original West Oakland Nigga's fa life at Bobby Hutton/Defermery Park. Marvin says, "Growing up in West Oakland, nigga wasn't a bad word, but if you called a nigga black, you had a fight!

Angela Davis, Marvin X, Sonia Sanchez

Sun Ra and Marvin X worked and performed together coast to coast, taught together at UC Berkeley and Sun Ra arranged the music for the musical version of Flowers for the Trashman, renamed Take Care of Business, TCB, a sanitized version of Flowers that Sun Ra rejected. "Marvin sometimes you so right you wrong. When you took out that sex scene you messed up, that was the best scene because it was the low down dirty truth, that's what people want, not the truth but the low down dirty truth!"

Marvin X and oldest daughter, Nefertiti, urging her father pass the baton at Laney College BAM 50th Anniversary.

 Marvin X and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf

"Marvin X is a wonderful personality!" says the Mayor

Maestro Marvin X with the Black Arts Movement Poets Choir and Arkestra, Malcolm X Jazz/Art Festival, Oakland, 2015

Poet/freedom fighter Marvin X with students at the University of California, Merced, after his lecture on the Black Arts Movement and a conversation with students on his BAM classics Flowers for the Trashman and Salaam, Huey Newton, Salaam (with Ed Bullins). Professor Kim McMillan says her students love the dramatic works of Marvin X. She wishes he would write more dramas. Kim notes her students love his works and him as well. "And I love my students as well, after all, I married two of them Muslim style while teaching at Fresno State University and University of California, Berkeley. They gave me three of the most beautiful daughters any parent, especially a father,  could want, Nefertiti, Muhammida and Amira!"

Today, Feb. 15, the indefatigable, peripatetic Black Arts Movement poet/playwright/essayist/planner/organizer, Marvin X,  was interviewed by University of California, Merced, theatre students in Kim McMillan's class. They questioned the co-founder of BAM on two BAM classics:  Flowers for the Trashman and Salaam, Huey Newton, Salaam (with Ed Bullins), the one-act based on his last meeting with Dr. Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, in a West Oakland Crack house. Students told the poet that some of their fellow students doubted the revolutionaries were ever on crack. Marvin X responded that some people want to maintain a romantic and idealistic notion of us in the black revolution, as though we were not human and beyond the societal forces that were oppressing us. If truth be told, all classes and sectors of our community succumbed to the US drug war to destroy our liberation. He noted that he was in jail with the President of Merritt College, who was there on drug related charges. "As my father said of myself, 'Boy, you so smart, you outsmarted yourself!'" 

Marvin didn't tell the students when he produced his docudrama One Day in the Life, about his addiction and recovery, including the Huey Newton scene, the New York revolutionaries at Sista's Place in Brooklyn, told him that no excuse was acceptable for him and his comrades, Huey, Eldridge, David Hilliard, falling to Crack addiction. In Salaam, Huey Newton, Salaam, Huey tells Marvin X, "We had to experience this, Jackmon, but we can come out of it--we came out of slavery, see what'm saying?" 

Marvin told the students via telephone, "Well, Huey didn't make it out, so I'm here to tell the story." In the Black Arts Movement tradition of telling the raw truth, I can't romanticize the revolution. I'm duty bound to tell the truth. For sure, we were romantic idealists thinking we could defeat the US with pistols and shotguns." 

But we made an impact that reverberated around the world. Imagine, Huey P. Newton met with Chinese Premier Cho En Lie. Eldridge, Kathleen and Elaine Brown met with General Giap who defeated the US in Vietnam. They also met with the North Korean leader, Kim Ill Sung, grandfather of the present leader of North Korea. Alas, the Cleaver's son, Ahmad Cleaver, celebrated his first birthday in North Korea, hosted by the wife of Kim. She also named the Cleaver's daughter, Joju, who was born in North Korea.

Students asked about Marvin's refusal to fight in Vietnam. "Yes, I refused to be a running dog for American imperialism. I fled to Toronto, Canada, Mexico City and Belize, Central America. They deported me from Belize for being a Communist (although I was not) and a Black Power Advocate (which I was). After arresting me and the Minister of Home Affairs read my deportation order, I was taken to the police station and told to sit down in the lobby until it was time for the plane to leave for Miami, Florida. Meantime, I was soon surrounded by black police officers and when the circle was full, they asked me to teach them about black power!" After which, I was taken to the airport and literally thrown into the plane to Miami. When the plane landed, I was met by two fine gentleman representing US Marshall's office. They kindly delivered me to Dade County Jail and later to Miami City Jail and ultimately to San Francisco City Jail and Terminal Island Federal Prison.

Upcoming events in the life and times of Marvin X and the Black Arts/Black Power Revolution

March, 2018

The Oakland Museum of California will exhibit Respect Hip Hop, including the archives of Marvin X and the Black Arts Movement.

Critic James G. Spady says, "When you listen to Tupac Shakur, E-40, Two Short, Master P or any other rappers out of the Bay Area of Cali, think of Marvin X. He laid the foundation and gave us the language to express black male urban experiences in a lyrical way."

Publication of X's Notes of a North American African Artistic Freedom Fighter, essays, Black Bird Press, Oakland, 300 pages, $29.95.

Order direct from the publisher: 510-200-4164.Credit cards accepted. We have Square. Fuck Amazon! "Amazon is selling one of my books for $2,400.00 and $700.00, but I don't get a dime. I agree with the Last Poets who tell their audience, if you don't get our CDs directly from us, don't buy them cause we ain't gettin shit!"

Look for The Movement Newspaper, a writer's Journal of the BAM, print and online editions. For more information, email mxjackmon@gmail.com for submissions, subscriptions and advertisement, six times annually, depending on funds. Donations accepted and appreciated. Call 510-200-4164 for more information. 

Dr Lige Dailey Jr joins ancestors--celebration at geoffery inner circle, sat 11am

I am reeling from the knowledge that one of my dearest and oldest friends has passed.

If you knew Lige and his writings and poetry, you'd know we have suffered a significant loss.

A brother so full of life! He cherished, nurtured, and encouraged the best in us...individually,as family, and as community. 

I will always keep him close to my heart but it hurts to think that he's no longer here to read and write to us of things that stir our spirits, hearts, and souls. 

Please share this with people who knew Dr. Lige Dailey, Jr and Ardella Dailey, his wfe (40+ years) --another of my oldest and dearest friends.

Peace and Love to Ardella, their children, and her family,

Jo Ann 

             

black power

JUSTICE INITIATIVE

AMERICAN HISTORY  Note: In this profound article below about the demise of the Black Power movement, Dr. Small wisely refers to the integrity and history of Black communities in America. Black power, he notes, was emanating from Black communities long before the term was verbalized in the 1960s. The power was defined, he states, by the respect for the other in a cohesive community being from the elders to the youth that embraced culture, history and understanding. Indeed, these communities are and were powerful. What is most distressing, as also noted by Dr. Small, were the efforts by the likes of the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover et al. to engage in the age-old divide and rule strategies to dismantle and, in many instances, assassinate Black leaders who were engaged in effective organizing. The US has much to atone for - that is without question! Finally, Dr. Small ends by stressing the Sankofa Moment and that being acknowledging the wealth of the profound black history, community and culture to inform the next phase of the movement. So, while the "1960's Black Power" movement might be gone, Black Power itself is not gone as it has always been there, and the "powerful" influence of the Black history and community itself remain vital to the United States and to the world. And as they say in Southern Africa - "A luta continua" - "the struggle continues."    Heather Gray Justice Initiative    A POST MORTEM FOR BLACK POWER The Black community was virtually regarded by all of its constituents as sacred territory. The community was neither to be fouled nor abused. Without formal pronouncements, the folkways of the community established and defined the norms of behavior. (William Small)    William Small February 9, 2018 Justice Initiative     As one who for over half a century has actively tried to engage in the political process in order to empower African descendant peoples, I now find myself asking the question "what ever happened to Black Power"? I have been around long enough "to remember when". I remember when there existed in Black communities a spirit that spoke to collective interests and common concerns. This was something beyond what the sociologists simply characterize as "community". The Black community was virtually regarded by all of its constituents as sacred territory. The community was neither to be fouled nor abused. Without formal pronouncements, the folkways of the community established and defined the norms of behavior. The behaviors of young folks in the community suggested that they were, in fact, modeling the behaviors of the age group in front of them. Generally speaking, everyone was consciously concerned with being a good member of the community. This spirit prevailed even while we as young people did "young people's stuff". Black Power Has Always Been A Reality:  Long Before It Was Named My community was predominantly a working class community. In spite of that general designation, the doctors, "the undertakers", the dentists and "the lawyer" lived among us. They provided for many of us the visual inspiration to do more and importantly to be more. This is not a hyperbolic description of life in a black community in central New Jersey in the 1940's and 50's. In those days, even the criminals would insure that all heavy criminal activity would be conducted "outside of the community" and everyone was a guardian of the elderly. This was the essence of "Black Power", before it was so named. It existed long before the term was coined. "Black Power" was Black people working in relative solidarity and in concert with one another for the good of the whole. Addicted to the best logic of the human spirit our shoulder was "to the wheel" as we harbored the belief that we could make a way out of no way and build solid futures employing the principles that some of us would later adopt as the foundational principles of Kwanzaa. I am not so naive as to believe that my home town in central New Jersey was the universal experience reflecting Black life in America during this period of time. Regular family visits to the South, while growing up, made the inequity in the opportunity structure patently clear. Nevertheless, there existed a spirit of connection that superseded the geographical differences. When I moved permanently to the South at the end of the last century, community elders still existed who talked about "slavery times". The Historical Black Community Spawned the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement To Eliminate Policies and Practices That Oppressed Black People  The reference to slavery times was not to the slavery of the antebellum South, it was instead the slavery of post-Civil War reconstruction and "Jim crow" policies. It was the legal political and economic conditions that for centuries had served to debilitate and openly restrict Black life in America, well into the 1970's and beyond.  What makes their story so remarkable, in retrospect, is the fact that in spite of the oppression, and the legal and physical intimidation, it was this cohort of ordinary Black America that simply got tired of being sick and tired and who corralled the racial pride, the community solidarity and collective consciousness to create one of the most effective movements, to date, for the transformation of American society. It must not be forgotten, that it was primarily this historical experience and the movement for social and political equality that spawned and then introduced the modern Civil Rights Movement. This was, in fact, Black Power. The Chapters in that history, that would become known as the Black Power Movement, was yet to be conceived. We had it long before we named it.  Although the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement were both pro Black in orientation and architectural design, neither was philosophically anti-white in origin or objective. In spite of this fact, each phase of the movement that sought to eliminate policies and practices that oppressed Black people was met with brutal force and state sponsored violence. At the same time, any activity that was calculated to resist the violent practices being exercised under color of law or privilege were soundly condemned as the illegal and unwarranted use of violence. America was very boldly standing for white supremacy and against the idea that Black people, wherever we were to exist, had no claim to equal rights. The very concept that Black people anywhere on the face of the earth might claim the moral right to resist physical force with physical force was unconscionable. The roots of this warped thinking are very deeply rooted in the psyche of America. In fact, this sickness is so deeply rooted in the social framework of American justice until it flourishes undisguised to this date. The dictate prevails that Black people should be patient, appreciative, hopeful, and never fight back against authority. Any other standard, even today, is either criminal or at a minimum rebellious. America's Violent and Divisive Response to the Black Power Movement In spite of the dangers inherent in doing so, thousands of young Americans, to include African American first generation college aspirants, put their dreams and career plans on hold to stand in solidarity with unknown kin and fellow human beings who had been historically oppressed and marginalized. Their open commitment was to repair America, not to destroy it. Their strategies were "high minded" and conscious of the national and international impact that they would have on the world stage. They framed America's moral response with fire hoses, police dogs and vigilante killings that told the world and demonstrated to the worldhow "little" America thought that Black Lives mattered. The world was watching then and the world is watching now. This was happening in America, the Democratic bastion of the modern world, a century after the formal abolition of American chattel slavery. Interestingly, American citizens, who are still carrying the dossier for social justice and respect for the sanctity of black life, are still seen by the "state" as "irresponsible agitators". The term "Slavery", as it existed in different periods of American life, must never be used without descriptors of context or definition. To do so is to "normalize and de-fang" perhaps what was the most demonic system ever designed to rape an entire continent and systematically destroy a human population. I make this statement conditionally, out of the respect for the continuing suffering, abuse and devastation visited upon Native American Nations in the conquering of the North and South American continents. The failure to incorporate an honest appraisal of American chattel slavery, and its lingering effects, into an analysis of the historic and contemporary challenge facing Black people the world over and to western civilization is to insure the inability to find a solution for repair. The Black Power Movement that evolved in this era literally scared the establishment. Fear, it could be argued, is the principal barrier that must be overcome in order to make advances in the struggle for social justice. Fear, is the standing enemy of Black Power. Fear of reprisal, fear of the loss of privilege, fear of the obligation to compete on equal terms. These fears and others are Stokely Carmichael  all barriers to the creation of just and equitable societies. Long discussions were structured around the very simple and obvious meaning of the term "Black Power" that Brother Stokely Carmichael introduced into the conversation. The "establishment" never could manage to construct a logical, safe and comfortable translation of those two words. As often as not, community leaders of all colors and stripes seemed to be equally confused and offended by the term. The introduction of the term into the popular discourse of the Movement exacerbated tension and internal conflict. The Civil Rights Movement was maturing. The institutions of American society were neither prone to sleep or to accommodate that maturation. Due to the expansion of political consciousness in the society in general - particularly among the youth who were increasingly concerned with the Vietnam War - the "desegregation of lunch counters was rapidly creating a new movement energy and a broader focus on issues of international social and political justice. America had to respond and respond it did. It did so by using the successes of "the movement" to sow the seeds of division and adopt the time tested strategy of divide and conquer. More importantly, and more directly, through the Counter Intelligence Program, it unleashed the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover. It allowed the FBI and American law enforcement to infiltrate, and to destroy by any means necessary - to include assassination - the opportunity for America to embrace the meaning of her creed. In brief, this plan destroyed coalitions, created suspicion, and generated new movement objectives. Government strategies segmented the civil and human rights struggle into a race for power, identity, and benefits among groups seeking Gay rights, Women's rights, Indian rights, Black rights, Spanish rights etc. The negative but successful effects of this strategy were to be later reinforced through so called affirmative action programs and similar government sponsored activities. Black Power ultimately had to compete with "Green Power...$$$." Green Power continues to be the great un-equalizer. What Is The Next Step In The Movement? What Black Leaders and Black Scholars need to study and understand is how to escape "the participation trap" and get back on "the empowerment track". How did we wind up here? What are the factors and circumstances that resulted in the substitution of the word "Rights" for "Power" in our popular political vocabulary? How did a movement to secure "jobs and justice" turn in to a super-sized initiative "to integrate and foster brotherhood"? More importantly, what accounts for Women's Rights, Gay Rights, and white supremacy (however camouflaged) literally flourishing in this post movement era, while Black Rights and Indian Rights have yet to become a part of the modern "rights vocabulary" or thought process? Today, Black Americans have neither Black Power nor Black Inalienable Rights. This fact holds, in spite of the increased numbers of African American men and women who enjoy successful lives and careers. None of what can be responsibly identified as progress has served to sufficiently close the gap or to afford greater security and protection to Black life. The tea leaves are still relatively easy to read, if we dare to do so honestly. Social, political and economic inequality, continue to frame the lead paragraph in the message. Under-employment, under-education, mass incarceration and other forms of state complicit violence continue to provide the details for the rest of the story. The message now and for centuries has been recited without apology. The question is whether or not we can accept the fact that the strategies for empowerment that we define and adopt cannot be constrained and defined by concerns that devalue collective Black self-interest. Neither can the conditions for Black political participation in the struggle to become self-determining, be subjected to the approval of the individuals and institutions who are also the architects of global Black oppression. Sankofa Moment  The Sankofa Moment A "Sankofa moment" of reflection teaches that we must define new strategies and a new definition of Black progress. The trip to the top for a few has not been the blue print or the solution to provide the remedy for the masses. The evidence suggests that we must reconnect with the history of our past achievements and contributions to world civilization. The evidence further suggests that we must reconstruct the bonds of African solidarity that are so essential for global Black empowerment and for the elimination of global black marginalization. Finally, we must consciously seek to start a process to build a modern agenda for political, social, economic and educational Black empowerment. This foundational agenda must consistently be driven by the spirit of an earlier time when we proclaimed that we have "no permanent friends and no permanent enemies, only permanent interests". The "scrubs" have been taken off and the report has been written. The conclusion accurately recites the fact that Black Power is dead. The cause of death is recited as abandonment and neglect. In spite of the death, what remains are a number of vital organs to be transplanted and a treasure trove of knowledge about how to better use and protect them in the next phase of the struggle. My prayer is that we will be wise enough, bold enough and free enough in our minds to do so. ************************************************************************************* Dr. William Small, Jr. is a retired educator, and a former Board Chairman and Trustee at South Carolina State University.