Plato Negro on the Art and Soul of Oakland

Plato Negro on the Art and Soul of Oakland
What we want to examine is how art was separated from the soul. We have a stinking suspicion that this is more of the Western psychodrevel for we are clear in our holistic philosophy that art and soul are one, that they cannot be separated or in anyway disconnected simply because one is the causation of the other, i.e., art is the absolute reflection of the soul.

And it was/is clear from the reality of the Art and Soul Festival that the Soul of Black Folks predominates this annual Labor Day event in Oakland, the most multicultural city in America, if you believe the hype. Ask the white restaurant patrons if they felt multicultural while being robbed at dinner in the string of restaurant takeover robberies of late by young hooded black men. And the Art and Soul Festival itself was as segregated as any even in deepest Mississippi. Saturday was probably the most multicultural day of the three day event. Sunday was white folks day to enjoy the Art and Soul of Oakland or the Bay Area, but come Monday, Labor Day, this was Nigger or Nigguh Day, depending on your ethnicity.

On Monday, the Blacks came early, lining up from 13th and Broadway for the ticket booth at 14th and Broadway. Compared to Sunday, one could say the whites were almost absent, and the Blacks were out in full force, no matter the severity of their Negrocities, the insanity of hip hop youth or the full blown madness of their parents. Labor Day was Oakland’s Congo Square day, to celebrate the beauty and love of unity, if only superficial, as in the varieties of color in the Black Nation, seeing them mix together in peace and harmony, for the most part, although we understand one vendor was robbed, though the event is fenced in, so we wonder how the robber thought he was going to get away. But back to the Art and Soul of this happening so needed in a town suffering much grief and trauma as a result of impotent political, educational, spiritual, economic and cultural leadership that dawns the persona of Invisible Man to the people, the suffering masses who are barely able to eke a living from the wage slave economy that has forced many Blacks from the city to the valley, in such central valley towns as Sacramento, Stockton,Tracy, Modesto, Madera and Fresno. Again, Art and Soul are one, or rather art is the reflection of the soul of a people, their deepest fears, loves, joys, hopes, dreams and aspirations. Separating art from soul is the likely cause of schizophrenia so evident in the youth, the gays, lesbians and even straight people. Why is their daily round a masquerade? As Chris Rock said of the woman, “Every thing about you is fake and phony.” Your hair is fake, your eyes, your nails, your smile, your fuck—you are a fraud, a scam that must be exposed before you do more harm to yourself and others.

You have forgotten the language of love, you and your man, thus you are consumed by the bitter bitch syndrome, you and your man—yes, he is bitter bitch too. When he buys his dope from the youth, they address him as “bitch ass nigguh.” In truth, he has separated his art from his soul. Rather than deliver truth to the youth so desperate for his attention and wisdom, he presents himself as a walking contradiction to everything he should be about.

On no occasion should the elders buy dope from children. This is a contravention of nature and the children rebel when they see us coming. Actually, they are hostile to us in general. For they have observed our many contradictions in male/female relations, parental/child relations, and the myriad fears they have seen us express when dealing with the hostile society we are passing onto them, which in no way are they prepared to handle, though a hip hop father told me of his concern that he support his daughter and instruct her so that she knows how to deal with a man when she matures.

He knows that if he does not instruct her, she is destined for failure in her male/female relations, after all, how will she talk with a man, how will she respect him and accept him, trusting him will all her affairs, when, in reality, as a young lady informed me—how can she accept my view of history and reality when she has never seen black people in power, only in submission to white supremacy. Art and soul must be integrated, and it is anathema to attempt the separation. It is similar to the problem with the people of Oakland and the police. When the police truly serve and protect the people, there will be no walls of separation between them, for they shall be one and the same. Until such a time, it shall be war between the people and the police. The Black Panther Party of Oakland ultimately realized it was futile to fight the police, since they can call such associates as the National Guard, United States Army, Air Force and Navy. But they also proved these official gangs (under the color of law) must be challenged and not allowed to be the brute beasts in blue uniforms they are known to be—simply another gang like the Cripps, Bloods, BGF and others.

We must stand on the shoulders of Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, Lil Bobby Hutton, John Huggins, Alprentice Bunchy Carter, Fred Hampton, George Jackson and the man thousands gone but not forgotten. And must not forget our women warriors as well,Ida B. Wells, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Angela, Asata, Clara Muhammad, Betty Shabazz, Coretta Scott King.

In short, we must unite our art and soul into one human machine of radical execution. We are the fearless and the selfless, the sacrificial and the sacred fighters who have come to avenge our ancestors and elders, and there is no price great enough that we are not willing to pay.