more marvin x

Chicken Bone: Artist Profile: Marvin X
In the mid-1960s, playwright Marvin X founded the Black House, the Black Education Theater and many other Tenderloin stages that served as headquarters for the Black Arts Movement.

In 2004, X put on the Tenderloin Book Fair and University of Poetry, a sprawling daylong lit fest. Now 61, he's writing a book about Islamic history in the Bay Area and is writing a play with Dead Prez.

King: The Black Arts Movement is built on many ideals. Which, for you, are the strongest?

Marvin: The Black Arts Movement is about consciousness-raising music and literature. It's about the Paul Robeson concept of the artistic freedom fighter; about making statements that saturate the political nervous system.

King: You've been called a radical activist. What would you tell a group of 20-year-old playwrights if they said they don't care about radicalism?

Marvin: I would say what Mao Zedong said: "Let a hundred schools of thought contend." I don't want anything to do with them. Go do your thing. I've got a mission to actually change something. Like Bush said, you with me or against me. Contrary to Bush, the main addiction in America is not oil, it's white supremacy. That's the addiction from which all other addictions spring. Deal with the problem of supremacy, and you'll solve the greed for oil, the murder for oil. That's what's radical to me. We need a thousand Frantz Fanons, and white people need to have a 12-step supremacy-recovery program. Go in, have a detox. Maybe it'll help you, and us.

King: Do you think hip-hop is to black culture now what jazz in the 60s was to the Black Arts Movement?

Marvin: No! Jazz in the 60s was aligned with the freedom struggle, the music of Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders. It was liberation music. Hip-hop don't have that, at least not on BET, MTV. That's because the ruling class don't want people awake. They want people asleep. . . . I grew up in a politically charged household. My parents were involved in the NAACP and published a black newspaper in Fresno, so it's not strange for me to be politically conscious.

King: What do you think about the concept of Black History Month?

Marvin: Now people are writing about the Black Arts Movement. But you won't dare invite the originators, who are still alive. You don't want them around because that would reveal your contradictions.

previously on Grenada:
marvin x
marvin x: first muslim american poet
my son, the fanatic

children's crusade

Washington Post: In Uganda, a Fresh Start For Former Child Fighters

The children are victims of a 20-year insurgency waged by the Lord's Resistance Army, a shadowy rebel group that wants to overthrow the government and install the Ten Commandments as law. Since it was founded in the 1980s, the group has kidnapped an estimated 20,000 children to serve as fighters, porters and sex slaves.

Thousands of the children have escaped. When they return home, many suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, having witnessed brutal killings -- sometimes of a parent or sibling -- or having been raped, beaten, deprived of water and food or forced to kill, according to a study published in the Lancet medical journal in March 2004.

For a previous post on Christian terrorism, check out: eric robert rudolph

"goodbye children"

World Net Daily: Isaac Hayes quits 'South Park' after spoof on Scientologists It makes sense that he would quit working on South Park after it started to mock his own faith. (Hayes is a Scientologist). But he apparently didn't have a problem with South Park mocking every other religion, so I don't think he can claim that he wants to respect all religions equally.

the south park where chef becomes muslim

sandra day o'connor says us risks edging near to dictatorship

Sandra Day O'Connor, a Republican-appointed judge who retired last month after 24 years on the supreme court, has said the US is in danger of edging towards dictatorship if the party's rightwingers continue to attack the judiciary.

In a strongly worded speech at Georgetown University, reported by National Public Radio and the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Ms O'Connor took aim at Republican leaders whose repeated denunciations of the courts for alleged liberal bias could, she said, be contributing to a climate of violence against judges.

Ms O'Connor, nominated by Ronald Reagan as the first woman supreme court justice, declared: "We must be ever-vigilant against those who would strong-arm the judiciary."

She pointed to autocracies in the developing world and former Communist countries as lessons on where interference with the judiciary might lead. "It takes a lot of degeneration before a country falls into dictatorship, but we should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings."

Common Dreams: Former Top Judge Says US Risks Edging Near to Dictatorship

louder than a bomb

In These Times: Louder Than a Bomb: an Interview with Chicago Hip-Hopper Kevin Coval by Aaron Sarver.

I just saw Kevin Coval recently. It was the second time I saw him live. He's a decent Chicago poet who has some interesting pieces dealing with his Jewish heritage and how it connects to his political convictions. He has this nice piece which connects the swaying of orthodox Jews while davening to hip-hop headnodding which he performed on Def Poetry Jam a while back.

a soldier's story

Has anyone out there seen A Soldier's Story ? That's one gooood movie. The film was based on the Pulitzer Prize winning work by Charles Fuller, A Soldier's Play about the murder of an African-American, Sgt. Waters (played by Adolph Caesar) near an army base. The officer sent to investigate the murder, Capt. Davenport (played by Howard E. Rollins Jr.) is also Black, and many of the soldiers on the base are also African-American. The initial suspicion is that the murder was racially motivated and committed by the Klan but the story (often told through flashbacks from when Waters was alive) gradually gets more and more complex.

The setting of the film is in some ways like one of those Russian Easter eggs... a shell within a shell within a shell. It takes place during World War II when the Allies are fighting against a Nazi regime... inside the United States which is still very racist, on an army base where segregation is still practiced, among African-American soldiers where some of them have very definite ideas of what it means to be Black.

For example, in one flashback scene, Sgt. Waters says to CJ, a Black solider from the south:

Them Nazis ain't all crazy. Whole lot of people just can't seem to fit in to where things seem to be going. Like you, CJ. See, the Black race can't afford you no more. There used to be a time, we'd see someone like you singin', clownin', yassuh-bossin'...and we wouldn't do anything. Folks liked that. You were good. Homey kind of nigger. When they needed somebody to mistreat, call a name or two, they paraded you.Reminded them of the good old days. Not no more. The day of the Geechee is gone, boy. And you're going with it. We can't let nobody go on believing we're all fools like you.

In another scene, Sgt. Waters talks about an earlier time during WWI,

You know the damage one ignorant Negro can do? We were in France in the first war; we'd won decorations. But the white boys had told all them French gals that we had tails. Then they found this ignorant colored soldier, paid him to tie a tail to his ass and run around half-naked, making monkey sounds. Put him on the big round table in the Cafe Napoleon, put a reed in his hand, crown on his head, blanket on his shoulders, and made him eat *bananas* in front of all them Frenchies. Oh, how the white boys danced that night... passed out leaflets with that boy's picture on it. Called him Moonshine, King of the Monkeys. And when we slit his throat, you know that fool asked us what he had done wrong?

I think I have more of Sgt. Waters in me than I care to admit. Probably some CJ too. And the less said about that, the better.

Also, check out: A Soldier's Story Script but this is like the script available for Deep Cover in that the document doesn't include the speakers' names. So it is useful if you want to find a particular quote, once you've already seen the film but it is not so useful if you want to follow the story. I also looked for the script to the original play online, but the only sites which come up are ones that aren't free.

not really the same thing but it is in the same ballpark

I was pretty surprised when Brownfemipower and other women of color bloggers were alluding to the fact that for some reason their blogs seemed to come up in searches for internet pornography (See A Radical Woman of Color Perspective). In the case of Planet Grenada, I use site meter and webstats4u.com to keep track of hits and in general I would say that visitors are getting what they came for. (Only occasionally, some people are looking for specific information related to the island nation of Grenada).

But what surprised me recently is that yesterday, I received the greatest daily number of hits EVER on Planet Grenada (413 page views) but the overwhelming number of them were from people searching for info on wafah dufour (Bin Laden's niece who posed half-nekkid... yes nekkid... in GQ and is trying to have a music career). Since I actually have a brief blog entry on her it is not as inappropriate as what is going on with the abovementioned radical women of color bloggers, but still, I would never have expected (or hoped) that this would be my most popular post.

What is also kind of odd is that the original post went up over a month ago so why is the spike happening now?

post traumatic slave syndrome

In These Times recently published an interview with Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary, author of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing. The basic idea seems to be that the legacy of slavery constituted a kind of trauma and consequently African-Americans today generally suffer from something akin to post-traumatic stress disorder. I have my reservations. Personally I'm a bigger fan of Frantz Fanon or Naim Akbar when it comes to understanding Black psychology. But from a certain perspective, they are all saying basically the same thing: Racism drives Black folks crazy. And somehow Fanon and Akbar both manage to sound optimistic and empowering as they say this.

Fanon says: Yes, Black folks (well... mostly the colonized Algerians) are crazy. Literally, clinically crazy. But so are the French. And things will be okay after the revolution.

Akbar says: Yes, Black folks are crazy (in a cultural sense). But things will be okay after you read my latest book.

But Leary sounds like she is saying Blacks are literally crazy in a clinical sense, in a way which tends to call into question Black humanity. Moreover, she sees the problem as rooted in past slavery rather than present conditions, which then puts serious limits on what we can do to get well. Anyway, tell me what you think.

gordon parks r.i.p.

I only want to be a soldier, I'm holding on, to a culture
Focused like Gordon Parks when it's sorta dark
For niggas that's flooded with ice, my thoughts the ark
- "Dooinit" , Common

NYTimes: Gordon Parks, a Master of the Camera, Dies at 93
Wikipedia: Gordon Parks

whites will be a minority in ny

New York Times: Whites to Be Minority in N.Y. Soon, Data Show
In New York City itself, whites have been a minority since the 1980's. But now the demographics of the surrounding area has been changing a lot as well.

the african palestinian connection

From Third Resurrection: The African Palestinian Connection by Rami Nashashibi

inner city muslim action network and latino activists

This particular march will be happening in Chicago, but there might be others in your vicinity. But I mainly think it is great that I.M.A.N. is even involved in this. They are an Islamic organization with a real commitment to helping people here and not just "back home" in Muslim countries.

Click here for more info on HR 4437
Click Here for more information about the march

In keeping with IMAN's (Inner City Muslim Action Network) larger commitment to advocate on behalf of and organize along side the most vulnerable and exploited sectors of our community, particularly in urban areas, IMAN is actively requesting larger Muslim participation in tomorrow's march and rally against Bill HR 4437.

Bill HR 4437, commonly referred to as the Sensenbrenner Bill (after Republican House Representative Sensennbrenner from Wisconsin), is one of the most draconian and unjust pieces of legislation to be introduced to congress in recent years. While it has deep implications for all immigrants and the larger society, it most viscously targets the large undocumented Latino community and anyone or any entity that provides them with the most nominal level of support, including the most basic human services.

IMAN will join a coalition of many leading Latino organizations and agencies across the state to take part in a Day of General Strike on Friday March 10th. Please join us to demonstrate the concern of the larger Muslim community for this social justice and human dignity issue. As sectors of the Muslim community continue to struggle with its own legislative injustices, our larger community cant afford to be silent or aloof from these types of actions and opportunities to build solidarity with our Latino brothers and sisters across the state. Moreover, this is a great opportunity for segments of the Latino community to interact with the Muslims through their presence at the march and through the Friday Jummah Prayer, which will be in English and translated into Spanish.

Email latino@imancentral.org or call the IMAN Office at 773-434-IMAN to speak with Adalberto Madrigal for organizing details

Meet at 11am to car pool in the parking lot of the New IMAN Health Clinic and Administrative Center at 2748 W. 63rd Street, just east of 63rd Street and California Avenue or meet at the marching location itself at 11:45am to march with IMAN at Ashland and Lake. Finally, some of you may wish to join us at the rally itself at the Federal Plaza at 230 S Dearborn St at 2pm, right after Jummah services.

what a country!

I think Bowling for Columbine was so on target. There is something in U.S. American history which laced "us" with a stream of fear and alarmism but somehow bypassed Canada. And it's something older than 9/11. My guess is that alot of it is wrapped up with slavery. Nat Turner, the Haitian Revolution, etc. The fear of the black/brown mass rising up. And so today, fear becomes an easy button for politicians to push.

Al-Jazeera: Canada allows Sikh knives in school

afro-latino? latino? black?

From Elenamary's site: Afro-Latino? Latino? Black? (On Mariah Carey)

race and dc comics

In the course of looking for links on black comic books (mainly the Storm/Black Panther wedding being done by Marvel Comics) I came across an article called The Racial Justice Experience: Diversity In The DC Universe: 1961 - Today by John Wells which summarizes how race has been dealt with by DC.

better late than never...

I was tagged by Black Looks a few weeks ago
1. Black and White or Color; how do you prefer your movies?

Color. (I'm not always deep. I'm a fan of the old Twilight Zones and a few old movies... 12 Angry Men comes to mind... but I generally want some color. Goodnight and Goodluck was alright but I'd much rather read about the McCarthy era in a book.)

2. What is the one single subject that bores you to near-death?

Sports. Like Huey Freeman says: "And today in sports, a black man somewhere ran with a ball and jumped with a ball and threw a ball and people got really excited as if they hadn't seen it a million times before"

3. MP3s, CDs, Tapes or Records: what is your favorite medium for prerecorded music?

8-Track.. lol... I used to DJ so I appreciate vinyl. I feel like I'm practically Amish since I've never downloaded music onto an I-pod or burned a CD on my computer. But seriously, I guess I'm still a CD-person.

4. You are handed one first class trip plane ticket to anywhere in the world and ten million dollars cash. All of this is yours provided that you leave and not tell anyone where you are going … Ever. This includes family, friends, everyone. Would you take the money and ticket and run?

With ten million I could take care of my family, friends, everyone.

5. Seriously, what do you consider the world’s most pressing issue now?

This is kind of a cop-out because it's kind of amorphous but I would say global north-south issues.

6. How would you rectify the world’s most pressing issue?

Among other things, political power needs to be decentralized, shared among different countries. We need a stronger UN, and other international bodies. Third world countries should democratize (on their own terms), develop and cooperate.

7. You are given the chance to go back and change one thing in your life; what would that be?

I have an answer but I'm not sharing.

8. You are given the chance to go back and change one event in world history, what would that be?

First I will get onto a soapbox and suggest that history actually isn't determined by individuals or specific events... especially if you think about Guns, Germs and Steel.
I also saw Butterfly Effect one too many times so I'm actually really skeptical as to how effective any changes would be.
But for the moment I'll say I would prevent exposing Europe to the Black Death. That way, Europe's Dark Ages would have progressed very differently, and so would the early encounter between the Indigenous people of the Americas and the Europeans.

9. A night at the opera, or a night at the Grand Ole’ Opry – Which do you choose?

Since I don't speak Italian, I will say Grand Ole' Opry.

10. What is the one great unsolved crime of all time you’d like to solve?

The 2000 Presidential election.

11. One famous author can come to dinner with you. Who would that be, and what would you serve for the meal?

Sushi with Suheir Hammad.

12. You discover that John Lennon was right, that there is no hell below us, and above us there is only sky — what’s the first immoral thing you might do to celebrate this fact?

I'm Muslim, but I have a certain amount of respect for Buddhism. I really do think that certain vices really do have real spiritual consequences which we experience even in this life. So I'm not actually certain that I would go out an rob a bank or something. Um.... eat a ham sandwich?

plan for iran

Alternet: The Peace Movement's Plan For Iran starts to raise the question of what people of conscience can do to prevent a war between the US and Iran.

post-oscar wrap up

So, the Academy apparently gave in to the pressure and the Palestinian film Paradise Now was designated as coming from the "Palestinian Authority".

Argentinian composer Gustavo Santaolalla won best original score for his work on Brokeback Mountain and he gave a thanks to all his Latin peoples.

Crash won for best picture. I thought the film was interesting and better than average but in certain respects it fell short. It did a fair job of discussing the complexities of race relations but the contradiction represented by Matt Dillon's character (being both hero and villain) was too big to swallow. Perhaps a better actor could have made it more palatable, but in the end I think the character, as written, is unbelievable. Other characters from Crash certainly represent varying combinations of virtue and vice but Dillon's character straddles too wide a fence for anyone to sit on convincingly.

I was surprised that Dolly Parton didn't win best song for Travelling Thru from the Transamerica soundtrack. I was impressed by the irony of having a country-style gospel song which talks about being "born again" in a movie about a transgendered person waiting to get their operation.

Instead Three 6 Mafia won the Oscar for best original song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from Hustle and Flow. On the one hand, it is good to see more Black people winning Oscars, especially since Jesus (as) doesn't get enough shout-outs at these kinds of award ceremonies. (And he did get a shout-out, along with George Clooney and their mommas) On the other hand, it is disheartening to vividly see what kinds of roles for people of color tend to get the big prize. (Denzel didn't get the Oscar for Malcolm X, he got it for Training Day. And in another year, Do The Right Thing didn't win best picture, but Driving Miss Daisy did) But maybe I'm being a little paranoid since even the white guys tend to win Oscars for playing crazy or broken men (Charlie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Rain Man, etc.)

Did anybody else watch the Oscars? What do y'all think?

Alternet: Crash wins!
Al-Jazeera: New Trouble for Paradise Now
Lyrics to It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp
Lyrics to Travellin Thru
Blog for Transamerica (with music)
Good Summary of Movie Award History which isn't IMDB

us intervention in venezuela

Common Dreams: US Intervention in Venezuela by Medea Benjamin looks at why the US calls Chavez undemocratic even though he keeps getting re-elected and has higher approval ratings than Bush.

chavez and iran

Miami Herald: Chávez's wooing of Iran called troubling