Of Pistols and Prayers

Of Pistols and Prayers
by Ise Lyfe



Watching this young man on stage took me back to my undergraduate days at San Francisco State College, 1965, when the drama department produced my first play Flowers for the Trashman.

In Ise Lyfe, I saw myself as a young man in the theatre after the drama department production, when I dropped out of college to establish my own theatre in the Fillmore District, Black Arts West Theatre, along with playwright Ed Bullins and others.

Watching Ise do his thing on stage, producing, directing, writing and acting, along with his crew of mostly young people, was indeed a pleasure. It is a pleasure to see youth doing anything positive, but especially being creative rather than destructive, trying to spread consciousness to his generation in dire need of such.

It is for this reason that I don’t want to be too critical on the brother, although I do have a few constructive remarks that may help him in the future. Firstly, I saw no need for him to come on and exit the stage in almost rapid succession. Stay yo ass on stage and present your message, even scene changes can be done on stage: let us see you transform or change persona on stage. The very process is part of the drama. Further, we don’t need to hear your voice off stage. Say what you got to say on stage, up front and personal. In our face. And not too much video. Again, we want to see you, not a video message, no matter it is a mixed media production. We didn’t come to look at a screen but to see you. You are the reason for the season.

The music was nice and worked in harmony with Ise, sometimes in perfect harmony. It was especially nice to see my favorite musician on stage, Destiny Muhammad, harpist from the hood. The long segment with the DJ was, for me, totally unnecessary and could be deleted. The central focus is Ise, nobody else. After all, this is a one man show. We don't need to hear nothing from the DJ.

For sure, Ise has the potential to be a great actor. We see he can transform into a myriad personas. And the poetry is good conscious hip hop. We can only suggest, and this goes for hip hop spoken word in general, discover the director, other than oneself, for the director can see what the actor can’t. He can tell the actor things he never imagined, no matter how talented. The actor can often suffer a kind of blindness, perhaps caused by ego, so don’t be too arrogant not to employ a director. In my case, I would at least utilize an associate director, although they would do so reluctantly, declaring, “Marvin, you ain’t gonna let me direct, you know that!” Still, I would at least call upon them for advice.

And we say to Ise Lyfe, welcome to the world of black theatre. It’s your turn, go for it! We encourage youth and adults to catch this production of a young man trying to do the right thing, i.e., being creative and attempting to spread consciousness. To escape this morass, we may indeed need a pistol and a prayer. A white man suggested the three Gs: guns, gold and getaway plan.
--Marvin X
Marvin X is one of the founders of the Black Arts Movement.

The Sisyphus Syndrome

The Sisyphus Syndrome




A jazz Opera by Amiri Baraka
Music by David Murray
Choreography Traci Bartlow
Eastside Cultural Center

Review by Marvin X


Sisyphus is the Greek god condemned to roll the rock up the hill for eternity. Each time he ascended, he was blocked by the forces of evil and the rock fell to the ground. DuBois and others have used the Sisyphus myth-ritual to describe the history of North American Africans. Each generation that makes progress on the path to freedom is blocked by the forces of reaction and the next generation must reinvent the wheel of justice, freedom and self-determination. Amiri Baraka’s Opera takes us up the mountain and down in the manner of Sisyphus. He shows us the trials and tribulations of a people striving for dignity, only to be obstructed by evil, call it racism, imperialism, capitalism, slavery, whatever.

Baraka has always been our myth-maker, from the Dead Lecturer (poems),
Dutchman (play), A Black Mass (play) and Slaveship (play), not to mention numerous other works attacking, revising and transcending Western mythology to tell the story of our existence in this wilderness. The Sisyphus Syndrome is his most recent attempt to lecture us in the didactic manner of BAM (the Black Arts Movement). Sonia Sanchez asked, “Will Your book free us?” Baraka answers emphatically, “Yes.” He proceeds to describe the problem through the dramatic form called Opera, a utilization of voice, song, music, dance, set design, video and sound. Of course BAM drama is ritual theatre, the merging of actors and audience, thus it is communal—there is no audience but rather a community of people gathered to learn, to heal and transform. Baraka is the shaman who gathers his tribe around the village fire, yes, Round Midnight, to envision a new day. What happened, what should happen and what will happen if we finally get it right, if we understand events, symbols and signs, the blocks along the mountain path to freedom, the joys, the celebrations of victories, then defeat, depression, more oppression, but finally, in the transformation and ascension to the mountain top Dr. King preached about the night before his assassination, April 4, 1968. Baraka catalogues the history endured and victories celebrated. Sisyphus is thus a lesson from the wise elder, the healer, for finally, Baraka’s myth is about healing and love, unity and love. He gives a shout out to Muslims, Christians, Socialists, Communists, and vegetarians to unite in a Black United Front. The chorus tells us this, the poetry as well, sometimes recited by the poet himself.

His book of poetry is classic Baraka, abstract at times, plain and simple other times, but it is poetry that is didactic and lyrical. He thus returns theatre to the Shakespearean tradition of the poetic drama. But he transcends Shakespeare, with the elements of ritual, the energy of the Holy Ghost church. While the words instruct and inform, the dance and music take us to the deep down funk of our lives. Baraka would call it Funklore. In one tune we hear that funky Al Green beat. And there is a rendition of my favorite tune Round Midnight signaling a low moment in our history, maybe the betrayal of Reconstruction, the lynching, torture and terror of American genocide.

In the BAM tradition, David Murray weaves his music as a weapon of freedom, literally using his horn as a device to check the devil, the forces of evil. David does a dance with Skelekin. We see the role of musician as shaman, protector of the tribe. We see the people’s army marching and dancing to music. The music once again propels us up the mountain, sometimes it is a gentle nudge, sometimes a shout, a scream, a moan, but in tandem with the choreography of Traci Bartlow, the music is for war, just as her movements are forward motion, the principle activity in the Sisyphusian myth-ritual, as interpreted by Baraka. Traci employs modern, African, jazz and hip hop movements to tell the myth. She is outstanding as choreographer, dancer and assistant director. Rashidi Byrd was excellent with his hip hop movements.

And there is love, for there shall be no revolution without love. Baraka reminds us of love and unity throughout, and the dancers exemplify by embracing each other and the audience or tribe, weaving in and out of the audience to make it feel, touch, taste and hear the Motion of History, a Baraka title.

The video symbols are apt since we are in the video Age, but because the images are a powerful montage of history and current reality, we are forced to learn from them, for they enter our consciousness along with the other dramatic elements to break the rock of ignorance. No one can sit in the audience and participate in this drama without a raising of consciousness, without desiring a further course in black studies, the history of imperialism and its counterpoint, revolution.

We applaud the acting of President L. Davis as Sisyphus. He is on the way to an acting career. His voice alone should take him there. Do we not hear a James Earl Jones in the making? His nemesis, Skelekin, Amil Islam, is another powerful young actor we expect
to be transformed by his role as Block Man. We suspect all the actors will be transformed by this production, artistically and spiritually, even the young actors from the Youth Guerilla Theatre, who completed the intergenerational aspect of the myth-ritual drama.

We thank the producers, Eastside Arts, for making this production possible. It is a much needed continuation of the Black Arts Movement. And as we exit the theatre, exhausted but joyful at the conclusion, we must suggest a reading of How To Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy, for we cannot leave the theatre to do nothing, rather the Opera’s intent is to get us involved in the dance of unity and radical consciousness. How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy is the antidote to problems presented in Sisyphus Syndrome: detoxify, recover and discover your role in the cultural revolution. We encourage you to attend our Pan African Mental Health Peer Group to recover from the addiction to white supremacy.

Dewey Redman and the Black Arts West Theatre

We fondly remember Dewey Redman at the Black Arts West Theatre playwright Ed Bullins and I founded at Turk and Fillmore, San Francisco, 1966, along with Ethna Wyatt, Karl Bossiere, Duncan Barber and Hillery Broadous. Into our theatre came a plethora of jazz musicians to accompany our plays, including Dewey Redman, Monte Waters, Donald Rafael Garrett, Earl Davis, BJ, Paul Smith, et al. They took authority of the music department by telling us to go ahead and do our thing, they would accompany us by coming on stage and accenting our words, or going out into the audience or even out the door to address the Fillmore Street crowds, including the bumper to bumper cars passing along Fillmore.

Dewey and bassist Donald Garrett were probably the most free in teaching us what would become known as Ritual Theatre, that smashing of the wall between stage and audience, merging them into the oneness so well known in the Christian ritual. The difference between the church ritual and the Black Arts ritual was that we came to smash tradition, not enforce it. Of course, we must know tradition before we can smash it. So Dewey, Donald and the rest taught us tradition then how to transcend it.

They forced us to abandon our concept of European theatre, dragging us, sometimes screaming and hollering, back and forward to our African dramatic tradition, freeing us once and forever.

Of course, the ultimate transformer of our dramatic consciousness was Sun Ra, the Grand Master of African theatre. Sun Ra taught the necessity of African mythology as the basis of ritual expression, and with his Arkestra demostrated the unity of music, dance, poetry and mixed media.
--Marvin X
Black Arts West Theatre, 2011

Marvin X's forthcoming drama is Mythology of Love, a womanhood/manhood poetic rites of passage, featuring Ptah Mitchell as Eternal Man and Aries Jordan as Eternal Woman.



Dewey Redman, A Biography



Dewey Redman (born Walter Dewey Redman in Fort Worth, Texas, May 17, 1931; d. Brooklyn, New York September 2, 2006) was an American jazz saxophonist, known for performing free jazz as a bandleader, and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett.

Redman played mainly tenor saxophone, though he occasionally doubled on alto saxophone, played the Chinese suona (which he called a musette) and on rare occasions played the clarinet.

His son is saxophonist Joshua Redman.

After high school, Redman briefly enrolled in the electrical engineering program at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, but became disillusioned with the program and returned home to Texas. In 1953, Redman earned a Bachelors Degree in Industrial Arts from Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical University. While at Prairie View, he switched from clarinet to alto saxophone, then, eventually, to tenor. Following his bachelor's degree, Redman served two-years in the US Army.

Upon his discharge from the Army, Redman began working on a master’s degree in education at the University of North Texas. While working on his degree, he taught music to fifth graders in Bastrop, Texas, and worked as a freelance saxophonist on nights and weekends around Austin, Texas. In 1957, Redman earned a Masters Degree in Education with a minor in Industrial Arts from the University of North Texas. While at North Texas, he did not enroll in any music classes.

Towards the end of 1959, Redman moved to San Francisco, a musical choice resulting in an early collaboration with Donald Rafael Garrett.

Redman was best known for his collaborations with saxophonist Ornette Coleman, with whom he performed in his Fort Worth high school marching band. He later performed with Coleman from 1968 to 1972, appearing on the recording New York Is Now, among others. He also played in pianist Keith Jarrett's American Quartet (1971-1976), and was a member of the collective Old And New Dreams. The American Quartet's The Survivor's Suite was voted Jazz Album of the Year by Melody Maker in 1978.

He also performed and recorded as an accompanying musician with jazz musicians who performed in varying styles within the post-1950s jazz idiom, including bassist and fellow Coleman-alum Charlie Haden and guitarist Pat Metheny.

With a dozen recordings under his own name Redman established himself as one of the more prolific tenor players of his generation. Though generally associated with free jazz (with an unusual, distinctive technique of sometimes humming into his saxophone as he played), Redman's melodic tenor playing was often reminiscent of the blues and post-bop mainstream. Redman's live shows were as likely to feature standards and ballads as the more atonal improvisations for which he was known.

Redman was the subject of an award-winning documentary film Dewey Time (dir. Daniel Berman, 2001).

On February 19 and 21, 2004, Redman played tenor saxophone as a special guest with Jazz at Lincoln Center, in a concert entitled "The Music of Ornette Coleman."
Redman died of liver failure in Brooklyn, New York on September 2, 2006. He is survived by his wife, Lidija Pedevska-Redman, as well as sons Tarik, and Joshua Redman also a jazz saxophonist. The father and son recorded two albums together.

Obama Drama: Black Obama Speaks from the Outhouse

Paradise Free Jahlove 10:59am Jun 28

Black Obama Speaks!

This is a special report from your Nubian Network News, channel X! We have breaking news, the Black President that many of you thought you were voting for, Black Obama has escaped from Obama Lite! And he is now approaching the mike:

===

Brother and sisters, without further ado, if I may speak for Uncle Sam - and I am, as my first order of business I want to say to you...that I apologize for slavery!!!!

===

I apologize for making you work for 400 years without a paycheck! And then giving you pay checks which should have clearly been marked "insufficient funds"! And then calling you lazy!

===

Speak the truth! Yes we can!

===

I apologize for the Middle Passage...and the millions who lost their lives...and for the horrific and deplorable conditions of the Slave Ship; conditions of which many of you are still suffering today in the bowels of the slave ship America!

===

I apologize for not notifying many of you until two years after I signed the Emancipation Proclamation that you were free! And then keeping you in bondage by transfering you from chattel slavery to land slavery and economic slavery and wage slaver and mental slavery and slavery behind bars!

===

And I apologize for Jonestown and Rosewood and Greensboro and Black Wall Street and for what happened to those Four Little Black Girls in Birmingham and for Malcolm and Martin and Medgar and Marcus and all the Rodney Kings and Oscar Grants and Haiti and the slow and pitiful responses to Katrina which showed on a larger scale what has been happening to you in your neighborhoods for centuries everyday!

===

Stand up for justice! Yes we can!

===

I apologize because NOW IS THE TIME for reparations!

===

NOW IS THE TIME to bring the troops home!

===

NOW IS THE TIME to make love and not war!

===

NOW IS THE TIME to drop food and not bombs!

===

NOW IS THE TIME to get the Ugly American to stop terrorizing South America, Asia and Africa!

===

NOW IS THE TIME to stop being a beast in the Middle East!

===

NOW IS THE TIME to come home and put our own house in order, harmony and peace! And stop pointing hypocritical fingers at our neighbors!

===

NOW IS THE TIME to set Mumia and all Political Prisoners free...and stop being so cowardly and racists against those seeking freedom and justice from oppression!

===

NOW IS THE TIME to bring back the original Black Statue of Liberty, representative of a people who came up from slavery and broke free from tens of thousands of chains of bondage with bravery!

===

NOW IS THE TIME! And not until each and every American is free will America be free...free to truly say, "Bring me your tired, your poor and your hungry!" For then we will be a living example of a country who knows how to provide food and shelter and peace to everyone!

===

NOW IS THE TIME! NOW IS THE TIME! NOW IS THE TIME!

===

(c) 6-26-2011, by Paradise

Obama Drama, Scene #3: Interview with Marvin X

Marvin X Interviews President Obama

Marvin X, Thank you Mr. President for agreeing to meet with me.

Prez, The pleasure is all mine. I've been reading your blogs and find them quite interesting.

MX, I hope you don't say what Minister Farrakhan said about my comments on him.

Prez, What did he say?

MX, He said I raked him over the coals.

Prez, I agree with Minister Farrakhan. You can be quite hard hitting.

MX, They call me the sledgehammer.

Prez, Indeed you are.

MX, Call it tough love.

Prez, OK.

MX, Furthermore, I supported you wholeheartedly from the beginning. You obviously haven't seen my book Pull Yo Pants Up fada Black Prez and Yoself.

Prez, No I haven't.

MX, But I must agree with our mutual friend Dr. Cornell West. I'm sure you are aware that he said we must protect you, respect you, but check you.

Prez, Yes, I heard his remarks. And you know what I said, "You brothers need to cut me some slack."

MX, Prez, you don't need slack. You need us riding your back like Roy Rogers on Trigger.

Prez, Don't you think I have enough pressure on me?

MX, Well, I once forced the resignation of the president of Fresno State University. Well, actually he said he was pressured from above (Gov. Ronald Reagan) and below (student protests after the college refused to hire me). So we see you are the type of guy who must be pressured from above and below, from the right and the left.

Prez, How much pressure you think a person in my position can take?

MX, You got Mechelle to chill you out!

Prez, You're right about that.

MX, But I wrote about her putting a foot in your ass when you get weak.

Prez, I don't think that's necessary

MX, Well, you seem to capitulate at every turn. You call it the nature of politics, of course.

Prez, Well, I certainly don't call it capitulation. That's a bit harsh. I try to negotiate and compromise with my opposition.

MX, Prez, It seems to me you give in too quickly, sometimes when it ain't even necessary.

Prez, Marvin, it's the nature of the beast I'm dealing with.

MX, Ever heard of playing hardball? I mean I was happy you got the health insurance plan through but at what price, selling out to the insurance lobby?

Prez, I don't call it selling out, it was compromise, the best we could do under the circumstances.

MX, Prez, why have you not created a jobs program? You bailed out the banks and corporations but not the people, why?

Prez, Marv, you know I have a most difficult job and we tried a stimulus package, and it worked to some extent.

MX, But, Prez, there are still millions of unemployed. Yet at the same time you are promising terrorist jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan if they lay down their arms. Should the American unemployed take up arms to get your attention?

Prez, Marv, please, what are you suggesting, revolution?

MX, If that's what it takes to get you to consider the consent of the governed. Is not the first priority of this nation the people, not corporations and banks?

Prez, Well, corporations are people now.

MX, Prez, you know what I mean.

Prez, Of course.

MX, How can you provide funds for educating, housing and employing terrorists abroad but not at home? It just doesn't make sense, Mr. Prez.

Prez, You're right, Marv.

MX, Now you're getting ready to raise one billion dollars to keep your job, but you can't find a few billion for the millions of unemployed

Prez, You're right, Marv. I can do better. Let me regroup with my advisers and think about it.

MX, Yeah, Prez, I want to support you reelection but I find it most difficult. And the brothers on the street as well. They were happy when you won, they said it was great to know they could look up to someone besides a rapper. But lately they are saying fuck you, Mr. Prez.

Prez, I'm sorry to hear that.

MX, You should know this is what they're saying, Fuck you!

Prez, I often wonder about the mood in the hood.

MX, You should wonder before something terrible happens to your country because of your neglect and misplaced priorities. Can I ask you something personal?

Prez, Go for it!

MX, Do you feel like a white man or black man?

Prez, Well, when I'm with Mechelle, I feel black. When I'm with my Secretary of State, Hilliary, I feel white.

MX, I thought Hillary was black, along with her husband, Dirty Bill.

Prez, Marv, let's not name call, please.

MX, OK. On a more serious matter, how long did you know Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan?

Prez, We had him under surveillance for some time.

MX, Years, months?

Prez, a long time.

MX, Should I congratulate you for slaying the dragon?

Prez, That's up to you.

MX, Well, you probably deserve a feather in your cap. A couple of Brownie points.

Prez, Marv, thanks.

MX, But, Prez, where's the body?

Prez, We threw it in the ocean.

MX, C'mon, Prez, do I look like Willie Foofoo?

Prez, Marv, we did, trust me.

MX, Prez, I'm an ex-dope fiend. I know how people lie.

Prez, Marv, are you calling me a liar?

MX, I didn't say that, Prez, but my elder, Dr. Nathan Hare, taught the fictive theory. Everything the white man (and black man or white/black man) says is fiction until proven to be a fact. Where are the facts, Prez?

Prez, Marv, trust me. We thought it best to dispose of the body in the ocean.

MX, But who's going for this, Prez, it sounds shaky.

Prez, We concluded that was the best way to end the matter of a man who murdered three thousand Americans.

MX, Prez, how many Muslims have you murdered since you became President?

Prez, I can't answer that.

MX, Between Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, how many, especially with the collateral damage?

Prez, Can't answer that. It was all in defense of America.

MX, Is a few ignorant men living in mountain caves really a threat to America?

Prez, They can be.

MX, C'mon, Prez. Let's change the channel. What happened with the closing of Gitmo?

Prez, We tried but couldn't pull it off.

MX, What about the secret prisons in America?

Prez, I'm not aware of them.

MX, Maybe you should check with homeland security?

Prez, Our priority is the safety of Americans.

MX, Does this include murdering American citizens rather than bringing them to trial?

Prez, Not necessarily.

MX, What about the man in Yemen you are trying to kill who is an American citizen?

Prez, He's a special case.

MX, But he's an American.

Prez, Marv, don't press the issue.

MX, That's exactly what I'm doing.

Prez, Don't press it, Marv.

MX, Let's discuss the Middle East for a moment. I've written about your speech in Cairo and Indonesia. I've imagined what you will say about Muslims tomorrow, May 19. You know as long as you occupy one inch of Muslim land there shall be Muslims who view you as a Crusader and they will vow to fight you to the death.

Prez, Marv, I'm aware how Muslims feel about us occupying their lands. And we plan to vacate all Muslim lands at the earliest possible date.

MX, Does this include having your friends in Israel do the same?

Prez, Well, that's a matter for the Israelis, not us.

MX, But you are their very best friend. You support them right or wrong, true?

Prez, I wouldn't say that. But we have an enduring relationship.

MX, Don't you see the day is rapidly arriving when they cannot claim to be the only democracy in the area, that they will bow down to the God of Justice, not peace but justice?

Prez, Events are rapidly changing in North Africa and the Middle East. Therefore we must all make a paradigm shift in our thinking and behavior, including Israel.

MX, What about your friends in Saudi Arabia?

Prez, They will need to make substantial changes as well.

MX, And Bahrain?

Prez, It's a special case. We have strategic interests there.

MX, You seem to be saying America practices selective suffering. You now support the Egyptian revolution, the Tunisian, Yemen, but not in Saudi Arabia or Israel, Jordan, Bahrain.

Prez, Marv, we have our interests that must be secured first.

MX, What if and when these nations explode in your face, overnight, as is happening as we speak. Seems like you'll be running after the football or playing catchup?

Prez, We'll do what we must when we must.

MX, Thank you, Mr. Prez.

--Marvin X

5/18/11

Black Bird Press News and Review

http://www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com/

Marvin X Writes Obama's Speech to Muslims

As-Salaam-Alaikum
I, Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States of America, come before you tonight in the name of Almighty God Allah. We, the America people, are pleased to see the people of North Africa and the Middle East rising up against our long time friends in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and elsewhere.

Of course we instituted a no fly zone over Libya but it is most difficult to do the same in Gaza. The recent unity of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is nice but simply not in the interests of our dear friends in Israel, nor is it in the long term strategic interests of America and her friends throughout the region, especially our brothers in the House of Saud.

While we endorse the cries for freedom in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen, we cannot support the people in Bahrain. We suspect they are simply agents for Iran and therefore we cannot support their cries for freedom. We have no plans of moving our Fifth Fleet from Bahrain, especially since it is a counterweight to Iranian provocations. We therefore endorse the sending of Saudi troops to crush the Shia uprisings in Bahrain.

As per Saudi Arabia, we love democracy but it is simply not in our interests to have the Saudi regime destabilized because of a few unhappy citizens, again, many of them are agents of Iran, especially those Saudi women who want to drive cars.

As per Iran, we call for democracy in that nation, even though we accept full responsibility for overthrowing the democratically elected leader, Mossedeq, and installing the Shah who oppressed his people for many years.

We know you share our joy with the elimination of the hated terrorist Osama Bin Laden. Even though we created him and supported him, the time came for his removal, even though we were aware he was living in a mansion with his three wives in Pakistan. He served us well, but the time came for his disposal. You know how we handle those who outlive our usefulness, e.g., Saddam Hussein.

We promised a total troop removal from Iraq, but circumstances may prevent this unless it is expedient for my upcoming election. We hope the people of Iraq understand, especially that guy Sadr and his army of the poor in Sadr City who fought with us to no avail.

Our regional partners, namely the Sunni neighbors of Iraq, have warned us not to leave Iraq under a Shia regime, again this will only benefit Iran, the enemy of world peace. Not Israel and certainly not America who is the champion of world peace as you all know throughout the Muslim world, not matter that we are now occupying Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and making inroads into Libya. You may be surprised to learn that it is not the oil we want in Libya but the water. Yes, water will be a precious commodity in the coming days. We pray to Allah you can understand why we do what we do.

As per Afghanistan, we have promised the Taliban if they lay down their arms, we will give them schooling, housing and employment. We wish we could offer the same to our boys and girls in the hoods of America who are terrorizing their communities with drugs and guns, but our budget crisis will not allow education, housing and jobs for the boys and girls in the hood, although we can do this for the Taliban. As you know we did this in Iraq and this was the real cause of the decrease in violence, not the socalled surge of Baghdad under General Betrayus.

As you know, General Betrayus will be taking over the Central Intelligence Agency. We appreciate his role in prolonging the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. We feel he has been successful in routing the 100 to 500 Al Quida in Afghanistan, especially after we sent him thirty thousand additional troops.

Finally, our friends in Pakistan may have some misgivings about the unilateral move we made to eliminate Osama bin Laden, but we want them to get over it and not make any silly moves like seeking revenge with their nuclear option.

I close in the name of peace, As-Salaam-Alaikum.
President Barack Hussein Obama

Obama Drama: Scene #2: Speech to Muslims

Marvin X Writes Obama's Speech to Muslim World

As-Salaam-Alaikum

I, Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States of America, come before you tonight in the name of Almighty God Allah. We, the America people, are pleased to see the people of North Africa and the Middle East rising up against our long time friends in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and elsewhere.

Of course we instituted a no fly zone over Libya but it is most difficult to do the same in Gaza. The recent unity of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is nice but simply not in the interests of our dear friends in Israel, nor is it in the long term strategic interests of America and her friends throughout the region, especially our brothers in the House of Saud.

While we endorse the cries for freedom in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen, we cannot support the people in Bahrain. We suspect they are simply agents for Iran and therefore we cannot support their cries for freedom. We have no plans of moving our Fifth Fleet from Bahrain, especially since it is a counterweight to Iranian provocations. We therefore endorse the sending of Saudi troops to crush the Shia uprisings in Bahrain.

As per Saudi Arabia, we love democracy but it is simply not in our interests to have the Saudi regime destabilized because of a few unhappy citizens, again, many of them are agents of Iran, especially those Saudi women who want to drive cars.

As per Iran, we call for democracy in that nation, even though we accept full responsibility for overthrowing the democratically elected leader, Mossedeq, and installing the Shah who oppressed his people for many years.

We know you share our joy with the elimination of the hated terrorist Osama Bin Laden. Even though we created him and supported him, the time came for his removal, even though we were aware he was living in a mansion with his three wives in Pakistan. He served us well, but the time came for his disposal. You know how we handle those who outlive our usefulness, e.g., Saddam Hussein,

We promised a total troop removal from Iraq, but circumstances may prevent this unless it is expedient for my upcoming election. We hope the people of Iraq understand, especially that guy Sadr and his army of the poor in Sadr City who fought with us to no avail.

Our regional partners, namely the Sunni neighbors of Iraq, have warned us not to leave Iraq under a Shia regime, again this will only benefit Iran, the enemy of world peace. Not Israel and certainly not America who is the champion of world peace as you all know throughout the Muslim world, not matter that we are now occupying Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and making inroads into Libya. You may be surprised to learn that it is not the oil we want in Libya but the water. Yes, water will be a precious commodity in the coming days. We pray to Allah you can understand why we do what we do.

As per Afghanistan, we have promised the Taliban if they lay down their arms, we will give them schooling, housing and employment. We wish we could offer the same to our boys and girls in the hoods of America who are terrorizing their communities with drugs and guns, but our budget crisis will not allow education, housing and jobs for the boys and girls in the hood, although we can do this for the Taliban. As you know we did this in Iraq and this was the real cause of the decrease in violence, not the socalled surge of Baghdad under General Betrayus.

As you know, General Betrayus will be taking over the Central Intelligence Agency. We appreciate his role in prolonging the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. We feel he has been successful in routing the 100 to 500 Al Quida in Afghanistan, especially after we sent him thirty thousand additional troops.

Finally, our friends in Pakistan may have some misgivings about the unilateral move we made to eliminate Osama bin Laden, but we want them to get over it and not make any silly moves like seeking revenge with their nuclear option.

I close in the name of peace, As-Salaam-Alaikum.

President Barack Hussein Obama

Obama Drama: Scene #1: Speech on Afghanistan

A fictional speech by President Obama on Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Good evening, my fellow Americans. You some silly motherfuckers. Do you think I'm gonna bring a bunch of troops home from Afghanistan when my generals tell me they can make a few more billion dollars if we keep the troop level up. I'm not gonna do that, hell naw. As long as my name is Barack Hussein Obama. Yes, who sane Obama, but you insane if you think the thirty thousand troops I sent over there to kill those mountain goats are coming home anytime soon.

Oh, I might bring home two or three thousand, mostly the wounded with their brains shot out, those with no legs, no arms, we'll send them home, but you know it takes 30 thousand to capture or kill 100 to 500 Al Quida, yes, do the math, 30 thousand men at the cost of one million dollars each--now we don't pay them damn fool grunts no million dollars, but the generals get most of it for their retirement and when they come home to set up defense related corporations. You know the drill, don't you? You know politics and capitalism is dirty, filthy and funky like a ghetto ho. Hee hee hee. vote for me, I'll set you free!

You know we gotta take care of our generals, since they protect us round the world so you dumb somebitches can ride around in your SUVs, playing soccer mom and your husbands can ride through the ghetto at night picking up little black girls for prostitution. Now if you fuck with my little girls, I'm coming after that ass like I did that boy, our boy, Osama bin Laden.

Yes, I got that motherfucker. Hell, it was close to election time so I had to do something. Shot that motherfucker between the eyes and had my boys fuck his three wives fore we got outta Pakistan.

Back to Afghanistan. It is ten billion dollars a month to chase them mountain goats up and down them fuckin mountains, some ten thousand feet to twelve thousand feet up. But we makin progress so we can't leave now. Too much money involved and too much dope. Karzai and his brother is dealing too much dope and it's too good to cut and run now, except for a little drawn down fore election time, hee hee hee. Vote for me, I'll set you free, you dumb motherfuckers, especially my nigguhs.

How ma nigguhs doing in da hood? Ya'll still got yo shirt on, pants? I know you ain't got no job, ain't got no house, but you know I had to help my boys on Wall Street. I ain't stupid now, hell, I'm a Harvard nigguh, my nigguhs. Gotta help my brotherhood of thieves and robbers. If ya'll stop going to prison and come to Harvard, we'll show you how to be real criminals.

And they lettin all nigguhs and poor people into Harvard for free, what's wrong wit ya nigguhs? Get yo ass out dem prison cells and come to Harvard so you can be trained to be a real criminal. Look, we ain't gonnna keep payin no $200,000 a year to keep you little snotty nose motherfuckers in juvenile hall. We go put you in Harvard. I'll talk to my man Skip Gates bout giving you a little black studies, none of dat radical shit, some miller lite shit, but I want you to major in crime, how to rob motherfuckers in broad daylight, cheat people out da homes, jobs, take everything, don't leave a motherfucker nothing. Take his wife too. Hee hee hee, vote for me, I'll set ya free!

Back to Afghanistan. I told them mountain goats if they lay down their arms I will pay for them to go to school, get them housing and get them jobs. But them motherfuckers too dumb, can't count to ten. They can fight like hell when they wanna, but they don't want no schoolin, remind me of you nigguhs in da hood. But they worse than you nigguhs, these mountain goats won't even let the women go to school, lease you boyz in da hood ain't dat stupid. Vote fa me, I'll set ya free.

Now you boyz and girls in da hood might wonder why I don't give you motherfuckers jobs if you lay down yo guns and stop terrorizing you mama, daddy, grandpa and grandma, yo woman and babies, yes, you nigguhs is killing yo babies too--sometimes ya'll bad as them mountain goats bombing everything with they good suicide asses. Talkin bout they go get some virgins in Paradise. Do the women get dicks in Paradise? Hee, hee hee. Vote fa me, I'll set ya free!!!!

Let me finish this bullshit speech up so I can hit my cigarette, maybe a little one on one too. Mechelle make me go to a special little room she fixed up for me in the White House to do my thang. You know how them bitches is, always wanna fix up some shit fa a man. Bitch, I'm the motherfuckin Prez, bitch! Better leave me the fuck alone and take care of dem guls and yo mama.

Back to Afghanistan. We go bring home two or three thousand troops and don't fuck with me about it. Matter of fact, kiss my black yellow ass, especially you Republicans and that Cornel West bitch! American people, good night. Prosperity is just around the corner, soon a chicken in every pot. Hee hee hee. Vote for me, I'll set you free!

--Marvin X

6/23/11

Marvin X is known variously as Plato, Rumi, Mark Twain, the Sludgehammer, human earthquake. He's written thirty books, eight last year. jmarvinx@yahoo.com

http://www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com/