Black Bird Press News |
- Destruction in Mali
- The Wisdom of Plato Negro
- Revolution from Egypt to the Americas: My people are rising by Mohja Kahf
Posted: 05 Jul 2012 09:40 PM PDT Statement issued By Dr. Molefi Asante FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE! AFROCENTRICITY INTERNATIONAL ASKS FOR AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE FROM A SILENT AFRICAN UNION ON THE MALIAN QUESTION Afrocentricity International condemns the destruction of historic monuments in the ancient city of Timbuktu and calls for an immediate response by the African Union to the Ansar Dine criminals who have chosen to bring their destruction to the heart of West African culture. Led by Ag Ghaly, a Tuareg nomad who converted to the Pakistani style Islam, Ansar Dine is allied to MUJUAO of Algeria and Boko Haram of Nigeria . Since it is not clear if the African Union has either the will power or the military capability to respond to the assault against one of the most sacred of African cities then we call upon the nations of Africa , acting in their capacity as regional powers, to arrest this destruction. However, we demand in the name of African people the immediate response of the African Union to this crisis! Afrocentricity International does not believe it is the responsibility of NATO, the European Union, or the United States AFRICOM to save Africa . Africa must save itself! If Africa cannot save itself and will not save itself, then it cannot be saved. The rampant campaign against the monuments in the north represents another strand of death to African culture. Over the past millennium we have lost the indigenous treasures of some of the world’s greatest civilizations to the outrages of foreign religionists. They have even fought among themselves for the honor or dishonor of claiming to be better than the others who support these foreign invasions of Africa ’s culture. In their attacks and assaults they have smashed everything of value, all treasures from the past, manuscripts, sculptures, evidences of ancient African art and culture, and stamped their feet on our ancestors’ graves. These are not men with a divine mission; they are pure and simple criminals whose ambition is to rule and they will use any ruse to destroy monuments and manuscripts that were created by Africans out of our own tradition. The people of Mali Africanized many of the symbols that came with invaders; they did not accept the idea that Africa was devoid of culture prior to the coming of the Arabs and whites. Afrocentricity International looks at this situation as we have looked at other instances of this destruction to our culture. It is a political and mental war, carried on for ages against the best that is Africa, and in Mali we are seeing the latest, but not the last, attempt to ruin Africa . As in Sudan , now in Mali , the attackers and the attacked are both Muslims. But in Mali we know that the ancient graves of the 333 saints include many African philosophers and thinkers who made the civilizations of Mali and Songhay the rivals to the world’s greatest cultures. But what do these Ansar Dine criminals do? They destroy the monuments of the greatest ancestors of African people and claim they are doing it in the name of Allah. But Allah has given them no such command; they must be condemned, captured, and brought to justice for their crimes against humanity. The attackers who have sacked the mausoleums of Timbuktu allied themselves to the Tuareg MNLA, a group fighting to have the government recognize legitimate grievances of the northerners. Soon after the Taureg rebels seceded the northern part of Mali from the rest of the country in March 2012, the little known Ansar Dine group supposedly with support from Al Qaeda in Libya drove the secular MNLA out of Timbuktu and Gao and took over as the absolute rulers of the north. They have taken rights away from women, killed people they claim were violating the Koran, and imposed Sharia law. These Neanderthalian activities have plunged Mali deeper into the closet of ignorance than almost any other nation in Africa . Afrocentricity International blames Malian leadership for the crisis because that leadership did not practice equality, justice, and respect toward its own people and opened the door for this throwback gang of terrorists who have now laid hold to the land of Sunni Ali Ber . Once again the crisis in Mali has proved what Afrocentricity International has always claimed that when you accept the religion and ideology of foreigners, you will end up fighting against your own interests. Indeed, the rumble in the ancient cities of Northern Mali, Timbuktu , Jenne, and Gao, is nothing more than a down payment on the problems that Africa will face in Burkina Faso , Senegal , Niger , Chad , Guinea , and Ivory Coast . Indeed, we have already seen this problem in Nigeria and Ivory Coast . It is yet to be resolved and will not be resolved until Africans, any Africans, some Africans, have the courage to speak up in the interest of Africa and not in the interest of Europe or the Arabs. The dilemma is real; the task is our responsibility. Afrocentricity International supports any effort to bring the crisis in Mali to an end, but we insist that the criminals who destroyed the precious historical monuments must be brought to justice. Unity is our aim; victory is our destiny! Dr. Ama Mazama, Per-aat International Dr. Molefi Kete Asante , International Organizer July 4, 2012  |
Posted: 05 Jul 2012 08:34 PM PDT Marvin X is Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland.-Ishmael ReedThe Wisdom of Plato Negro Parables/Fables.jpg) Marvin XHe’s the USA’s Rumi!—Bob HolmanJeremiah, I presume! –Rudolph LewisINTRODUCTION To all seekers of truth living in the post modern world, this volume of literature is your pragmatic hustler’s guide and intellectual syllabus for success. Some people found it strange when scholar Ishmael Reed first compared Marvin X, the son of Owendell and Marian Jackmon to the classical Greek Philosopher Plato (427 B.C.), son of Ariston and Perictione. No one can argue that both Plato and Marvin X have proven in their dialogues/writings to be great thinkers and critics of their respective eras. Although separated by over two thousand years of history and clearly two distinct worldviews, research proves that these poet/philosophers strangely share similar souls. Recently while reading about the Dialogues of Plato, I came across a quote by William Chase Greene, former Professor of Greek and Latin at Harvard University. Greene describes Plato’s works by profoundly stating, “In yet another field the Platonic Philosophy seeks to find an escape from the flux. Those poets and artist who are content to record the fleeting impressions of the senses, or to tickle the fancies and indulge the passions of an ignorant people by specious emotional and rhetorical appeals, Plato invites to use their art in service of truth.” These are timeless words describing Plato’s classic works, yet if you simply replace Plato’s name with Marvin X in the above quote, and review Marvin’s work over the past 40 years, you won’t be surprised why he has adopted the title “Plato Negro”. In this classic volume Marvin X truly becomes Plato personified, as we see him transcend from master poet to philosopher. Plato was once a master poet until the death of his teacher Socrates in (399 B.C.). This marked a turning point in Plato’s life causing him to fully convert to philosophy. The same can be said now with Marvin X who recently lost his master teacher John Douimbia and has since elevated beyond poetry, reincarnating as the philosopher “Plato Negro”. These “New Dialogues” of The Wisdom of Plato Negro provide a post modern Gorgias, Sophist, Symposium of Laws, on how to hustle and survive in the new Obamian American Republic. It is clear that Marvin X has become the true Platonist of the day by demonstrating his Platonic love for the people, taking us on a symbolic trip through the parable of the Cave, where all true analysis takes place, inside the true self. As an African Philosopher, as ironic as it sounds, the works of “Plato Negro” prove to be a major contribution to the field of African Philosophy. These works provide a model for a standard approach toward reflective thinking and critical analysis for African people, still trying to define their own philosophical worldview. What Plato’s works did to inspire classical Greece and the European generations to follow, we hope this brilliant piece of literature from “Plato Negro” will shed light on Africans today and future generations to come. Write on “Plato Negro”. --Ptahotep A. El (Tracy Mitchell) Minister of Education, Academy of Da Corner Contents Introduction by Ptah Allah El Preface: A Dialogue—Ishmael Reed, Dr. Nathan Hare, Dr. Rodney D. Coates Parables and Fables Parable of Love p.1 Fable of the Donkey 5 Fable of the Elephant 7 Parable of the Heart 8 Parable of the Sacred 10 Parable of the Poor Righteous Teacher 12 Parable of the Parrot 14 Parable of a Happy Dope Fiend 15 Parable of the Man who loved his Mama 17 Parable of the Madpoet 21 Parable of the Witchdoctor 24 Parable of the Preacher’s Wife 29 Parable of the Rabbit 32 Parable of the Black Bourgeoisie 34 Parable of Iraq 37 Parable of the War that is not War 39 Parable of the Colored People 41 Parable of the Man Who Left the Mountain 44 Parable of Girl Ignut of Men 48 Parable of the A Students 50 Parable of the Good Children 52 Parable of Man, Beasts, Ancestors, Nature 53 Parable of the Drunk Man 54 Parable of the Hustler 57 Parable of the Woman at the Well 59 Parable of the Gambler 61 Parable of Letting Go 62 Parable Death of Dreams 64 Parable of the Bar 66 Parable of the Table 67 Parable of the Bitter Bitch 68 Dialogue on Bitch 70 Parable of the Weather 75 Parable of the City of God 77 Parable of the Sick Soul 78 Parable of the Criminal Society 80 Parable of Monks and Ministers 83 Parable of the Dirty South 85 Parable of the No People 86 Fable of the Black Bird 87 Parable of the Real Woman 89 Parable of the Cell Phone 91 Parable of the Man With the Gun in Hand 94 Parable of the Gangsta 96 Fable of the Rooster and the Hen 98 Parable of the Pit Bull 100 Parable of Black Man and Block Man 102 Fable of the Sleeping Lion 103 Parable of the Baby Carriage 104 Parable of the Woman in the Box 106 Parable of the Fire 107 Parable of the Basket 110 Parable of the Man Who Wanted to Die 111 Parable of Snow in Oakland 113 Parable of Neo-colonialism at University of California, Berkeley 115 Parable of What Right? 118 Parable of Gov. Moonbeam 120 Parable of the Family 123 Parable of the North American African as Haitian 125 Parable of Same Sex Marriage, Straight Men, Prostitution 128 Parable of Zionism and National Insanity 130 Parable of the Green Revolution 132 Parable of Gang Violence and Political Power 134 Parable of Who Asks the Negro? 137 Parable of broken systems, broken minds 139 Parable of Cornel West as angry black man 143 Parable of the Sub-prime Negro 144 Parable of the Man Who Talked with Cows 146 Parable of A Day in the Life of Plato Negro 147 Dialogue on White Supremacy 151 Parable of Grand Denial 155 Parable of Imagination 159 Parable of Dope, Mamas and Preachers 167 Parable Fall of America 170 Parable Evil in the World 171 Parable of American Gangsta J. Edgar Hoover 173 Parable of Sobriety 177 Parable of Michael Jackson 180 Parable of Suicide 181 Parable of the White Man 183 Parable of the Ash Cloud 188 Parable of One Million School Dropouts 190 Parable of Creativity and Sexuality 192 Parable of Desirelessness 195  |
Revolution from Egypt to the Americas: My people are rising by Mohja Kahf Posted: 05 Jul 2012 01:23 AM PDT Revolution from Egypt to the Americas: My people are rising by Mohja Kahf: Syrian poet/novelist/professor Dr. Mohja Kahf is full of passion about current events in her beloved Syria and the Middle East. |
https://theblacklist.net/
Comments