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Books by
Marvin X
Love and War: Poems /
In the Crazy House Called America /
Woman: Man's Best Friend /
Beyond Religion Toward Spirituality
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* * * *
Parable of July 4, 1910
By Marvin X
As Oakland braces for a possible
riot in response to the verdict
in the Oscar Grant murder trial,
let us recall another date in
American history that shall live
in infamy, July 4, 1910. On this
day a century ago,
Jack Johnson whupped a white
man's ass to become the first
black heavyweight champion of
the world. What followed his
victory was one of the bloodiest
days in American history as
whites attacked blacks in mob
fashion and killed them in
vengeance, jealousy, and envy.
Jack Johnson was a big, black,
bold, arrogant, uppity North
American African who terrified
racist whites with his bravado.
Unashamedly, he paraded through
the streets in his expensive
cars full of white women. The
USA created a law just for him,
the Mann Act or White Slavery,
to prevent persons from crossing
state lines allegedly for
prostitution. Jack left the
country but eventually returned
to face prison time for his
"crimes." There is presently a
petition before President Obama
to exonerate Jack Johnson
posthumously.
More than his athletic prowess,
Jack Johnson symbolized the
liberation of black manhood, for
he let it be known he was indeed
free to do what he pleased by
any means necessary. In short,
he was fearless. We would not
see such fearlessness until
Black Panther Huey Newton drew
his pump shotgun on a pig in San
Francisco. In that moment, the
black man retrieved his nuts
from the sand. But today in
Oakland we seem to have
retreated and the enemy has
advanced. We have a black mayor
and police chief, yet blacks are
being crucified by the police.
It is as though the Black
Panthers were never here. Is
this due to a collective
amnesia, a political anorexia?
There is most definitely a
paralysis in collective action.
Where is the boldness of Jack
Johnson,
Huey Newton? This July 4th
weekend, where is the liberation
message of Frederick Douglas?
Douglas questioned the entire
foundation of July 4, 1776.
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Where were you, July
4, 1776
in the celebration
on the plantation
where were you, July
4, 1776....
—mx |
What is the Declaration of
Independence to a slave, or for
that matter, to a descendant of
slaves in 2010? Indeed, we have
made great strides, we have a
black President, but he seems to
get cut down at every turn, much
like Jack Johnson. And in the
end, he may be crucified, much
like Jack Johnson, or for that
matter, Oscar Grant. His
generals mock him and Tea Party
trailer house trash whites want
to lynch him.
Here in Oakland, the consensus
was that the judge in the Oscar
Grant murder trial would not
release the verdict until after
the 4th of July weekend for fear
of racial disturbances since
anger, money, alcohol, and guns
might be a potent mix in the
hood during the holiday weekend.
In fact, the jury did not go
into deliberation until late
Friday.
Perhaps we need to ponder the
meaning of July 4th this
weekend, for the coming week may
portend ominous events here in
Oakland, the very meaning of
justice may be ridiculed from
the courthouse itself. The judge
and jury may very well slam dunk
justice in the face of the
righteous. Just know for every
action there is a corresponding
and equal reaction. It may not
be immediate, but it is sure to
come.
3 July 2010
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* * * *
Parable of
Oakland A Beautiful Day in the
Bay
Today, Friday, July 2, 2010, was
a beautiful day in the Bay. No
matter the siege of police
terrorizing the hood, as per
usual, but even more so in
anticipation of violence when
the verdict is announced in the
murder trial of the BART police
officer who murdered Oscar Grant
in cold blood while he lay
handcuffed on his belly, shot in
the back by a brute beast in
blue uniform.
Today, was a beautiful day in
the Bay. The sun came out early,
the fog disappeared before
morning. What a blessing to see
the sun, to feel the ocean
breeze off the Bay waters. The
Oakland/Berkeley hills in the
background. It doesn't get
better than this anywhere in the
world. The Bay is one of the
most beautiful places on earth.
Yes, San Francisco is one of the
most beautiful cities on earth.
And no one loves San Francisco
more than Plato Negro. It is a
hustler's paradise and he was
king of the hustler's,
controlling the lucrative Union
Square area as if he owned the
turf, rending out blocks of turf
to street vendors—and
this was during his tenure on
Crack, but even then he was
called the richest Negro in
downtown San Francisco by the
old me who watched him hustle at
Market and Powell. The old men
say he made three hundred
dollars per hour hustling on the
street at the Cable Car
turn-a-round. Even Dr. Nathan
Hare tells how he bought
sunglasses from Marvin X at
Market and Powell. And when it
rained, he sold umbrellas. At
the 1984 Democratic convention,
he sold political buttons. The
San Francisco Chronicle
called him the Button King.
That was long ago. It is 2010
and Marvin X, aka Plato Negro,
is in Oakland at 14th and
Broadway, location of his
Academy of Da Corner. Writer
Ishmael Reed observed him at
work and said he was Plato
teaching on the streets of
Oakland. Ishmael said, "If you
want to learn about motivation
and inspiration, don't spend all
that money attending workshops
and seminars, just go stand at
14th and Broadway and watch
Marvin X at work."
Marvin X was at work today.
There was a riot at his Academy
of Da Corner. No, there was no
gathering across the street at
Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of
City Hall where the people shall
meet at 6pm on the day the
verdict is announced, although
the media was there is full
force anticipating the verdict,
along with a contingent of
police throughout the downtown
area, although many shops and
businesses were closed as they
were directed to do from City
Hall. Many workers had the day
off.
Marvin X arrived at his Academy
of Da Corner early and began
giving out 11x17 posters of
Oscar Grant with X's parable of
Oakland Police Riot on the
backside. Some people gave
donations, but most of the
posters were given away freely
as per his custom.
The reason he calls this the
most beautiful day in Oakland
because never in his memory of
hustling on the streets of the
Bay have people from the
multi-national communities
approached him for information.
Africans, Asian, Europeans,
Latinos and others asked for
copies of the Oscar Grant
poster. Asians rarely ask North
American Africans for anything.
But they came time after time
throughout the day for the
poster, Whites as well as Gays,
Lesbians, Africans, including
Ethiopians, who rarely ask a
North American African for the
time of day, but they came this
day, wanting to know about Oscar
Grant, crucified like Jesus but
even worse because he was
handcuffed on his belly, then
shot in the back by a beast in
blue uniform.
Everybody wanted to know when
the verdict was going to be
announced, or if it had. The
poster said whatever day it was
announced there would be a rally
at City Hall Plaza across the
street from Academy of Da Corner
at 6pm.
The OPD pigs passed throughout
the day in great numbers, there
agents were sent to obtain a
copy of the poster given out at
Academy of Da Corner, which
managed to have the biggest
gathering of people during the
day. Many people came bringing
donations to Plato Negro. The
day before a Christian lady had
given a donation to Plato Negro
and told him to give something
out in the name of Jesus. When
the woman gave him the generous
donation and requested him help
the people in the name of Jesus,
Plato was momentarily perplexed
since he had Jesus confusion,
but he concluded if the woman
told him to give her donation in
the name of Jesus that he was
duty bound to do exactly as she
requested.
But she came by as he was
dialoguing with his students on
this most beautiful day in the
Bay, and he introduced her to
them. She said it didn't matter
to her if Plato gave her
donation in the name of Jesus or
in the name of goodness, it
didn't matter. She had fallen in
love with Plato's grandson, Jah
Amiel, the three year old who
had told his grandfather that he
could not save the world, but
Jah Amiel could.
On that beautiful day in the Bay
another woman had come by to say
she had come one day with a gift
for the little savior boy but he
was not to be found.
And so there was no riot on this
day, only at the Academy of Da
Corner where all the people of
the Bay came through for a
blessing. Even people drove up
in cars to deliver gifts, such
as the people who came with a
poster for Plato Negro to give
out that said "Love Not Blood
for the streets of Oakland."
Even BART Board Director Carol
Ward Allen drove by and shouted
from her car for a poster,
although she gets my emails on
Facebook.
But it was this kinda day in the
Bay. People anticipating the
verdict, but seeking truth
beyond the verdict. Humanity
wanted answers in the name of
humanity. Shall injustice reign
or justice? How can a coward go
free who kills under the color
of law? No national can
understand this, no rational
human being of any stripe or
color or gender. Yes, the gay
and lesbian brothers and sisters
came by asking for a poster.
One Christian brother asked for
numerous copies to give out to
people in the name of Jesus. I
did not deny him. Several people
came to get posters to post in
windows of businesses to let
people know they were down with
Oscar Grant, reminding one of
the 65 Watts Riot when Asians
posted signs in their windows
saying "Me Soul Brother Too!"
What beauty is this, what
wonder, what price glory, what
strange fruit, what horror in
the night and day of our
loneliness. A Latino
photographer arrived and took
pics of Plato giving out
posters. A sister came to say
she wanted justice for the
cowardly murder of Oscar Grant,
nothing less, nothing more, no
buildings on fire, no broken
glass, no beat downs by police,
only justice for Oscar Grant,
punishment for the coward who
killed him in cold blood. She
said he should not walk this
earth any longer for his crime
against humanity. She dared the
photographer to record her
remarks.
We know this woman, yet we know
her not. We know her because she
was in the riots of the 60s, she
was the cause, the reason for
the season, she defended her son
against the police, the pigs,
she transcended death to assume
a new life beyond death, beyond
passivity and weakness, she was
that holy woman who came forth
in defense of her manchild. She
was there to ignite the flame of
rebellion, without her man, the
father of her manchild in the
promised land.
And she was there today as the
sun shined brightly on the Bay,
no matter the pigs four deep in
cars and SUVs who circled
repeatedly around Academy of Da
Corner, but they don't
understand, Academy of Da Corner
stands on the blood of martyrs,
on the blood of Lil Bobby
Hutton, Samuel Napier, William
Christmas, Fleeta Drumgo,
Eldridge Cleaver, Huey Newton,
Fred Hampton, Bunchy Carter,
John Huggins, George Jackson, on
the shoulders of Brother Booker,
Ruchell McGee, they don't
understand why we stand
fearlessly daring any
motherfucker on this earth to
fuck with us. Yes, we stand on
the shoulders of Harriet Tubman,
Nat Turner, Sojourner Truth,
Ella Collins, Queen Mother
Moore, Betty Shabazz, Coretta
Scott King, and Clara Muhammad.
A beautiful day in the Bay. The
sun was hot, the sea breeze
cooling, the riot was at the
Academy, students gathered
around for Supreme Wisdom. What
greater day than this?
2 July 2010
Source:
Parables and
Fables of Marvin X
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* * * *
Parable of
Oakland: A City Traumatized
At this hour, Thursday, July 1,
2010, Oakland is a city under
siege, the OPD occupying army is
everywhere throughout the
downtown area and the hood. The
police are riding four deep,
stopping cars and people in the
hood, from the west to the east
to the north. Downtown stores
and businesses were shuttered
today and many workers have been
told to take the day off
tomorrow, for fear the pitiful
verdict shall be rendered
basically exonerating the BART
police of murdering Oscar Grant
on New Year's Day last year
while he lay handcuffed on his
stomach.
A bullet was pumped into his
back by the officer charged with
his murder, but the judge has
instructed the jury that first
degree murder is out, only
second degree murder and
manslaughter is the possible
outcome. Second degree murder or
manslaughter is tantamount to a
verdict of innocence, when he
should have been found guilty of
first degree murder. When you
shoot a man handcuffed on his
belly, this is premeditated
murder in the law book of the
hood.
The people of Oakland see what's
about to happen, something
similar to the Rodney King
verdict. We attended the rally
at City Hall today and conversed
with some of the leaders from
the Laney College Black Students
Union who spoke to the media.
We advised them to take heart
from the fact that when Louvelle
Mixon took out the four OPD
officers in a shootout, he did
so in the name of Oscar Grant.
As Dr. Fritz Pointer said, we
take an "obscene pride" in the
actions of Louvelle Mixon, that
he applied ghetto justice to the
occupying army that has been
abusing and murdering us for
years under the color of law.
The OPD has not earned our
respect but our hatred and
contempt. They are as much an
occupying army as the US in Iraq
and Afghanistan, and they need
to remove themselves from our
neighborhoods and permit us to
secure our own neighborhoods as
the US is allowing insurgents to
do in Iraq and Afghanistan. If
they can pay the Sunni
insurgents in Iraq and the
Taliban in Afghanistan to lay
down their arms by providing
them with jobs, housing, and
education, they can do the same
for the youth of Oakland who
have been terrorizing our hoods
because they lack jobs with a
living wage, housing, and
education that is free of the
white supremacy curriculum,
including black studies that
does not address community
issues and need.
Yes, preachers,
teachers/professors, and
politicians have betrayed us,
and the police have enforced the
betrayal. Thus, we do not put
the total blame on the police,
but the corrupt leadership of
our community in general that
has sold us out for a mess of
pottage.
So an entire city is suffering
trauma. The young men are being
arrested at every turn this very
minute. The workers are
suffering from losing time from
work. The small business owners
must board up their stores and
safeguard their cars. The common
people are vowing to not enter
the streets when the verdict is
rendered. This is chaos on the
highest level.
The BSU students, after
conversing with me, suggested
perhaps they should stay away
from the protest after the
verdict, since it is surely to
be a set up by the police. Let
the anarchists get their heads
whupped, but let us stay away to
fight another day.
1 July 2010 Academy of Da
Corner, 14th and Broadway,
downtown Oakland
Source:
Parables and Fables of Marvin X
*
* * * *
Parable of
Oakland Police Riot
The Oakland Police are planning
to riot. This is the community
consensus based on conversations
at the crossroads. They shall be
waiting for the crowd to gather
in front of City Hall after the
verdict is announced in the
Oscar Grant murder trial. The
consensus among the people is
that the BART police officer
shall not be found guilty of
murder. The prosecution has been
weak as water, with no real
effort to convince the jury
Oscar Grant was murdered in cold
blood last New Year's day.
Oakland police have been
planning for weeks how they will
handle the expected protests.
They have been training in riot
control, the old condemned North
County jail has been prepared to
handle protesters. Even the jail
above City Hall has been made
ready. All downtown businesses
have been told to close early on
Thursday and don't leave cars
parked in the downtown area.
OPD Chief Bates says he wants
peace but is prepared for war.
Mayor Dellums concurs. The
religious leaders, aka Pharaoh's
magicians, are in league with
the police to keeps the masses
calm.
Yet the consensus among the
people is that, if anything, it
shall be a police inspired riot,
instigated by agent
provocateurs, Cointelpro agents
and undercover police. The
police want a riot so they can
justify not getting laid off,
having their budget cut and
forced to contribute to their
retirement fund. A good riot
will make them eligible for
Federal funds such as gang
abatement monies and other
grants from criminal justice and
Homeland security.
So the OPD is ready to whup
heads and slaughter
demonstrators after they are
instigated by agent
provocateurs.
As far as we're concerned,
justice for Oscar Grant was
granted by Louvelle Mixon. Dr.
Fritz Pointer said Mixon's
shootout with the OPD allowed
the Oakland masses to enjoy an
"obscene pride" after years of
police abuse under the color of
law.
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We are against all
violence except in
self defense. When
the police stop
acting like an
occupying army and
understand they work
for the people and
not the reverse,
perhaps then, and
only then, shall
there be real peace
in the hood.
The Supreme Court's
decision to allow
Americans to defend
themselves with guns
must be understood
by reading the
subtext: let them
niggers keep killing
each other, so long
as they don't cross
the line into the
white community. If
they cross the line,
we're ready for
them.
We know who sells
guns to the brothers
and sisters in the
hood, and we know
who allows the dope
in. We cannot
disassociate guns
and drugs from
politicians and
developers who are
eager to gentrify
ghetto neighborhoods
with buppies ,
yuppies and puppies.
They will employ
such tactics as gang
abatement and
eminent domain to
ethnically cleanse
the hood for the
pseudo liberal black
and white
bourgeoisie.
A friend attended a
gang abatement
meeting full of
whites. He wondered
aloud where are the
guys who are targets
of gang abatement?
Four of them were in
jail and two others
are home owners who
must now stay one
hundred blocks from
their homes. |
 |
We cannot view this problem
solely in a local context, but
it must be seen within the wider
context of the global wars
against the poor in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen,
Somalia and elsewhere. Through
the tribal chiefs, America paid
insurgents in Iraq to lay down
their arms--that was the real
surge, not the phony surge of
General Petraeus, that was
essentially the ethnic cleansing
of neighborhoods in Baghdad,
separating the Sunni from the
Shia by in numerous checkpoints,
along with forcing four million
internally and externally
displaced refugees. In the most
restive Anbar Province, Sunni
insurgents were paid to lay down
their arms and join the security
patrols in their neighborhoods.
This is the reason for the
dramatic decrease in violence.
They are employing the same
tactic in Afghanistan. The plan
is to pay the Taliban billions
to lay down their arms and
pledge allegiance to the corrupt
Karzai who is hardly the
president of a nation but the
Mayor of Kabul, the Capital. The
Taliban shall be given jobs,
housing and education.
Isn't this fantastic! Jobs,
housing and education! Why not
try this tactic in the hoods of
America, specifically in
Oakland, Mayor Ron Dellums, OPD
Chief Bates, Attorney General
Holder, President Barack Hussein
Obama. But oh, no, you rather
pay the Taliban because they are
a threat to your national
security, although there is more
violence in the hoods of America
annually than the combined
violence in Iraq, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.
Is not the violence in the hoods
of America a threat to national
security? Children can't go to
school, men and women can't go
to work and come home safely,
worshippers can't attend church,
the elderly are prisoners in
their homes in the day and
night. Where is the national
security?
It is costing you one million
dollars per soldier per year to
occupy Afghanistan, yet you have
not reported the killing of one
Al Queda soldier on the soil of
Afghanistan. And then you say
you must stay in Afghanistan
until you improve the army who
is so illiterate they are too
retarded to defend themselves,
yet these are the people who ran
out Alexander the Great, the
Monguls, the British, the
Russians, and soon they will run
your asses out. Yet you tell us
you must occupy their land until
they are literate enough to
defend themselves?
I rest my case. Let us pray for
peace in the streets of Oakland,
a valiant city, home of the
Western Pullman Porters, home of
the Black Panthers. Are you part
of the problem or part of the
solution?
Academy of Da
Corner (14th and Broadway)
29 June 2010
Source:
Parables and
Fables of Marvin X
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* * * *
*
* * * *
|
Oscar Grant Trial The
Jury's Debate—On Wednesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge
Robert Perry declared the shooting wasn't a premeditated act and
thus not first-degree murder. Judge Perry's ruling left the jury
with four options: second-degree murder, voluntary or
involuntary manslaughter, and acquittal. "We got everything that
we wanted," Oscar Grant's uncle Bobby "Cephus" Johnson
told the San Jose Mercury News. "We thought it was
second-degree from the beginning." So what, exactly do the
charges mean and what's the jury considering in deciding them?
Here's a breakdown of the evidence and the competing arguments
jurors will likely weigh for each charge. . . . . If Stein's
case is not enough to reach second-degree murder, Mehserle could
be convicted of either voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. |
 |
For voluntary manslaughter, jurors must
be convinced that Mehserle killed Grant in "the heat of passion" and in an
unreasonable reaction to a perceived threat. The lesser charge of
involuntary manslaughter is for the unintended killing of another person,
but with "criminal negligence." The prosecution would need to prove only
that Mehserle's behavior was wildly unprofessional. Colorlines
*
* * * *
 |
Lovelle Mixon,
26, was pulled over
by two motorcycle
officers in Oakland,
California Saturday
afternoon for a
routine traffic stop
at 1:08 p.m. Mixon,
driving a 1995
Buick, who police
later discovered was
wanted on a no-bail
warrant for
violating parole on
an assault with a
deadly weapon
charge, opened fire
on Sgt. Mark Dunakin,
40, who died of his
injuries on
Saturday. Sgt.
John Hege, 41, who
has been in grave
condition at
Highland Hospital,
died at noon on
Sunday according to
CNN.
Mixon then fled into
a nearly multi-unit
apartment complex.
SWAT officers
stormed the building
and exchanged
gunfire with the
assailant, who was
brandishing an
assault rifle.
Mixon killed Sgt.
Ervin Romans, 43,
and Sgt. Daniel
Sakai, 35, and
slightly wounded an
unidentified
officer, who was
treated for a minor
bullet graze to the
head and released
from an area
hospital. |
The
suspect, Lovelle Mixon, was
killed in the gun battle.—Bitten
and Bound
*
* * * *
Parable of the San Francisco Negro
/
Parable of Living in the Last Days
/
Parable of
Oakland the Death and Resurrection of A City
*
* * * *
Parable of Oakland at the Precipice (7 June 2010)—Youth
say City officials were slow to seek an indictment of the officer who
murdered Oscar Grant as he lay on the ground and was shot in the back by a
beast in blue uniform. It took violent street protests to make the DA file
murder charges against the officer. Mayor Ron Dellums is yet to meet with
the suffering family of Oscar Grant. We remember his behavior as Congressman
when we organized a rally at the Oakland Auditorium in 1979 to protest the
killing of 15 year old Melvin Black by the OPD. Neither the Congressman nor
Oakland's first black mayor, Lionel Wilson attended the rally of five
thousand people.
The OPD had been killing a black man a month. After the rally, the police
killings stopped, but Crack and drive by killings began and continue to this
day. So it seems the political chicanery continues with City officials
planning to upstage the people's rally with one of their own to steal the
thunder of the people's rage and anger at the likely not guilty verdict.—Parables
and Fables of Marvin X
*
* * * *
Operation Small Axe
theatrical trailer
Operation Small Axe
takes a raw and unflinching look at life under police terrorism in Oakland.
Through the stories of Oscar Grant, Lovelle Mixon and POCC Minister of
information JR Valrey, the film focuses on the occupation of Oakland's
communities of color by militarized and racist police forces. Oscar Grant
was shot in the back and killed by Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer
Johannes Mehserle on January 1st of this year. On March 21st, Lovelle Mixon
was killed by Oakland police after having allegedly shot five OPD officers,
killing four.
*
* * * *
Operation Small Axe on YO!TV
YO!TV talks with the
Minister of Information JR about his documentary, Operation Small Axe, which
touches on topics of police, Oscar Grant, and Lovelle Mixon in 2009
*
* * * *
Operation Small Axe
By Jean Damu
The Oscar Grant case and its tumultuous response has received much national
attention from print and electronic news outlets but few have attempted to
put this case into a broad social context to the extent a recent film,
Operation Small Axe, attempts to do.
Oscar Grant was the black youth shot and killed by Oakland Bart police
officer Johannes Mehserle in the early morning hours of Jan. 1, 2009.
The Oscar Grant case is a child of the cell phone revolution because had the
shooting not been recorded by numerous Bart passengers on their cell phones
and those videos being replayed and replayed by local and national
television outlets the outrage over the shooting never would have escalated
to the point it eventually did. Nevertheless Small Axe does a wonderful job
reflecting the long simmering hatred that exists between the
disenfranchised, nearly totally alienated black youth in Oakland and the
armed occupation forces that masquerade as police and public transit
protection forces.
Small Axe Director Adimu Madyun has his hands full keeping this film
on point and even though the overall impact of the film is powerful,
compelling and revealing, a film everyone needs to see, it’s not clear he
succeeded.
Part of the problem is revealed as the final credits scroll downward. J.R.
Valrey, a long time Bay Area journalist and activist is the film’s Executive
Producer. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with J.R. Valrey producing a film
except that most of the film is about him. What? I thought the film was
about the Oscar Grant shooting? Well so did I, but now I’m not so sure. See
the problem?
With further reflection I think the film really is about J.R. Maybe the
title Operation Small Axe refers to him and the work he’s engaged in
the black communities. The confusion is typical of some of the controversy
surrounding Valrey. He promotes himself as a journalist but invariably he
becomes the story. Fifteen to 20 minutes into the film one asks, “Hey, what
about justice for Oscar Grant?” Later for that, we’re focused on Valrey’s
case now.
One of the more interesting scenes plays out at the scene of the march, 2009
Lovelle Mixon-OPD shoot out. Huge kudos to Madyun for connecting the Oscar
Grant and Lovelle Mixon shootings. The interviews with the neighborhood
people following Mixon’s killings of four Oakland police officers and his
killing would open many closed eyes.
But the interesting portion of this scene is Valrey interviewing a white
woman. She identifies herself as a reporter and refuses to reveal how she
feels about the shootings. Valrey won’t accept her attempt to be neutral and
finally accuses of her working for the police and making the situation quite
uncomfortable for her. It was not a pretty scene and is indicative of how
easy it is, with the righteous certainty that only you are correct, to
alienate potential allies. It is also a political sectarianism that allows
him to place listener supported KPFA radio, on which he airs his Block
Report, in the same class category as Associated Press. He defends this as
“aggressive journalism.”
The totality of Operation Small Axe is overwhelming. Madyun and
Valrey have done a great job reflecting the anger and alienation, primarily
of black youth (but others as well) with a society that many see as sending
in occupation armies to firmly plant boots on the necks of the unemployed
and unemployable.
One thing missing, especially in regard to the Lovelle Mixon incident was
any reference to the commission report analyzing the OPD’s actions. The
report tries to put a friendly face on the police response but ultimately it
was an indictment of what took place and the decisions made. Reference to
the report would have validated the feelings of many of Mixon’s neighbors.
Finally, we owe Madyun and Valrey another round of thanks for introducing us
to the aunt of Deondre Brunston, Keisha Brunston.
Brunston relates to us how her nephew Deondre was machine gunned to death by
Los Angeles County police in Compton in 2002. This is the most unbelievable
portion of the film and it should have aired much closer to the beginning.
According to Brunston, and as we witness from the video, Deondre is sitting
on a porch communicating with police. Suddenly a police dog charges him and
police open fire. Brunston was hit 22 times and flopped around like Bonnie
and Clyde in the Sam Peckinpah film. By mistake the police also shot the
dog. The police then rushed upped, embraced the dog and rushed it to a
helicopter and flown to an animal hospital where it later expired.
Meanwhile, steam rising from his chest Brunston is ignored, not even
examined.
It is the ultimate statement on blackness and whiteness in America. A dogs
life is worth more. See this film.
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Operation Small Axe can be obtained on DVD from 339 Films or
Block Report Radio.
http://www.393films.com/
http://blockreportradio.com/
*
* * * *
Deandre Brunston vs.
L.A. County Sheriff Dept.
What we see next in the video provided
. . . is Deondre sitting on a porch communicating with police. Suddenly a
police dog charges him and police opens fire. Brunston was hit 22 times and
flopped around like Bonnie and Clyde in the Sam Peckinpah film. By mistake
the police also shot the dog. The police then rushed to embrace the
dog rushed it to a helicopter and it was flown presumably to an animal
hospital where it later expired. Meanwhile, steam rising from his chest,
Brunston is ignored, not even examined, never provided the least bit of
assistance, nor is any attempt made to determine if he is even alive. Police
simply put up the yellow tape and ignored the apparently lifeless body.
*
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The right verdict in
Mehserle case—Involuntary manslaughter might seem an
unsatisfying outcome for the killing of the unarmed Oscar Grant
on Jan. 1, 2009, but it was consistent with the evidence that
could be proved beyond a reasonable doubt against former BART
police Officer Johannes Mehserle. Anything less would have been
an injustice. Anything more would have required conclusions
about Mehserle's state of mind that were not sufficiently
supported in trial. .
. . Mehserle, 28, claimed it was an accident, that he
thought he was firing a Taser instead of a handgun at the
detainee. The explanation stretched the bounds of plausibility,
given the difference in weight, feel - and position on his
holster - between the nonlethal weapon intended to immobilize
and the Sig Sauer P226 pistol that is used to kill. He clearly
was negligent. It was a crime, not an accident.
The other two conviction options
available to the jury - second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter -
would have required the jury to find that Mehserle meant to kill Grant. The
evidence indicated the officer's state of mind was contradictory at best.
His reaction immediately after the shooting suggested disbelief at what he
had done. Yet his explanation of having mistaken his gun for a Taser did not
emerge for several days. In other words, there was reasonable
doubt about his intent, which was the standard the jury needed to overcome,
even if that will not fly in the court of public opinion.
SFGate |
 |
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California
transit cop verdict sparks looting—About 1,000
people gathered in a peaceful protest in downtown
Oakland on early Thursday evening. Many expressed
anger, with a huge banner strung over an
intersection on a traffic light pole reading
"Oakland says Guilty."
"It's
unbelievable this guy is getting less jail time than
someone who wrote a bad check," said Barbara
Plantiko, a 41-year-old immigration lawyer at the
protest. "I just don't buy he got confused. I don't
think that it was an accident."
Some protesters wore masks
depicting Grant's face.
Looters targeted stores selling
jewelry and beauty supplies and grabbed shoes from a
Foot Locker store in downtown Oakland, while the
phrase "Riot for Oscar" was spray-painted on a bank
building, according to a Reuters eyewitness.
Reuters
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After dark, mobs form, smash windows, loot
/
The right verdict in Mehserle case
*
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|
Parable of I Am
Oscar Grant—As I walked the crowd
with a brother, he wondered whether
anything was going to happen. I told him
just wait til dark. And so it was,
although I departed the area before
dark, passing police amassed on the back
streets.
There was looting and arrests. Massive
police presence in the downtown areas,
police from all the outlying areas,
including CHP, Fremont, Berkeley,
Richmond. The Footlocker was looted,
obviously people needed shoes!
The anarchists were there dressed in
black. Now we heard the anarchists at
the G-20 meeting in Toronto, Canada were
agent provocateurs. Unless the police
justify need, 80 OPD will be laid off
Monday, so we suspect they are part of
the problem. Again, the youth said at
the rally that the police are the
outside agitators. |
 |
I also told
those who interviewed me that Oscar Grant received
justice when Lovelle Mixon killed four police
shortly after they murdered Oscar, thus he executed
people's justice. And Dr. Fritz Pointer said it
best, "When Lovelle Mixon took out those four pigs,
the masses enjoyed an 'obscene pride' after years of
abuse under the color of law."
Personally, I abhor violence. I do not kill a fly in
my house, nor a spider, a gnat. But there comes a
time when human beings must stand and represent
their humanity. We cannot be consumed by wild
beasts. You want to hear Oscar's mother after the
verdict, "My son was murdered, murdered, murdered!"
Yes, I am Oscar Grant. He is my son lost to self
inflicted violence. He is my son caught between the
police and his own black brothers. He is my son
killed but never reported in the papers, never in
the media, never in the court, a son silent in the
night. I am Oscar Grant.
I want justice. I want education, not incarceration.
I want employment with a living wage. I want housing
fit for human beings. I am Oscar Grant.
(8 June 2010)—Marvin
X, Parables and Fables
*
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 |
Police officer convicted in California
subway shooting— Johannes Mehserle
was found guilty of involuntary
manslaughter. He shot Oscar Grant in the
back in Oakland, California, on 1
January 2009, while attempting to subdue
him following a fight.
Mehserle told the Los Angeles court that
he had mistaken the pistol for an
electric Taser weapon on his belt. . . .
The trial was moved to Los Angeles
because of the tensions in Oakland.
Speaking after the jury's finding,
California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger called on state residents
"to remain calm in light of the verdict
and not to resort to violence". Mehserle,
28, faces years in prison.. . . .
Mehserle fled to Nevada following the
shooting and was arrested about two
weeks later.
BBC
|
posted 4
July 2010
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The Persistence of the Color Line
Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency
By Randall Kennedy
Among the best things about
The Persistence of the Color Line
is watching Mr. Kennedy hash through the
positions about Mr. Obama staked out by
black commentators on the left and
right, from Stanley Crouch and Cornel
West to Juan Williams and Tavis Smiley.
He can be pointed. Noting the way Mr.
Smiley consistently “voiced skepticism
regarding whether blacks should back
Obama” . . .
The
finest chapter in
The Persistence of the Color Line
is so resonant, and so personal, it
could nearly be the basis for a book of
its own. That chapter is titled
“Reverend Wright and My Father:
Reflections on Blacks and Patriotism.”
Recalling some of the criticisms of
America’s past made by Mr. Obama’s
former pastor, Mr. Kennedy writes with
feeling about his own father, who put
each of his three of his children
through Princeton but who “never forgave
American society for its racist
mistreatment of him and those whom he
most loved.” His father distrusted
the police, who had frequently called
him “boy,” and rejected patriotism. Mr.
Kennedy’s father “relished Muhammad
Ali’s quip that the Vietcong had never
called him ‘nigger.’ ” The author places
his father, and Mr. Wright, in
sympathetic historical light. |
 |
* *
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 |
The Price of Civilization
Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity
By Jeffrey D. Sachs
The Price of Civilization is a book that is essential
reading for every American. In a forceful, impassioned, and
personal voice, he offers not only a searing and incisive
diagnosis of our country’s economic ills but also an urgent call
for Americans to restore the virtues of fairness, honesty, and
foresight as the foundations of national prosperity. Sachs finds
that both political parties—and many leading economists—have
missed the big picture, offering shortsighted solutions such as
stimulus spending or tax cuts to address complex economic
problems that require deeper solutions. Sachs argues that we
have profoundly underestimated globalization’s long-term effects
on our country, which create deep and largely unmet challenges
with regard to jobs, incomes, poverty, and the environment.
America’s single biggest economic failure, Sachs argues, is its
inability to come to grips with the new global economic
realities. Sachs describes a political system that has lost its
ethical moorings, in which ever-rising campaign contributions
and lobbying outlays overpower the voice of the citizenry. . . .
Sachs offers a plan to turn the crisis around. He argues
persuasively that the problem is not America’s abiding values,
which remain generous and pragmatic, but the ease with which
political spin and consumerism run circles around those values.
|
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Pride and Glory (2008)
Edward Norton (Actor),
Colin Farrell (Actor), Gavin O'Connor (Director)
* *
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|
Race, Incarceration, and American Values
By Glenn C. Loury
In this pithy discussion, renowned scholars debate the American penal system through the lens—and as a legacy—of an ugly and violent racial past. Economist Loury argues that incarceration rises even as crime rates fall because we have become increasingly punitive. According to Loury, the disproportionately black and brown prison populations are the victims of civil rights opponents who successfully moved the country's race dialogue to a seemingly race-neutral concern over crime. Loury's claims are well-supported with genuinely shocking statistics, and his argument is compelling that even if the racial argument about causes is inconclusive, the racial consequences are clear.
Three shorter essays respond: Stanford law professor Karlan examines prisoners as an inert ballast in redistricting and voting practices; French sociologist Wacquant argues that the focus on race has ignored the fact that inmates are first and foremost poor people; and Harvard philosophy professor Shelby urges citizens to break with Washington's political outlook on race. The group's respectful sparring results in an insightful look at the conflicting theories of race and incarceration, and the slim volume keeps up the pace of the argument without being overwhelming.—Publishers Weekly / Economist Glenn Loury |
 |
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
* *
* * *
Ancient African Nations
* * * * *
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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
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Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
* *
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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update 28
March 2012
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