March with me

Black-August-Meet-Greet-composite-081717-Sam-Jordans-by-Carol-Harvey-web-141x300, March with me, Local News & Views
Did you miss the Black August Meet & Greet at historic Sam Jordan’s Bar & Grill on Aug. 17? Then don’t miss the next one, on Sept. 21, 6-9 p.m., and we’ll try to hold them every month on the third Thursday. Allen Jordan, the host with the most, ushered us out to the patio in the back, and we spent the whole time going around and listening to what each of the 50 or so people had to say. Fascinating! Plenty of stars – and stars in the making; you see only grayheads here, but many young folks came too. Bay View editor Troy Williams is at the top speaking in front of a classic poster of Sam Jordan as a prizefighter. In the next row are Deirdre Wilson, Jamal El Karaki and Keith Wattley, then Bay View publisher Willie Ratcliff. Next are Allen Jordan, then Marvin Mutch and Watani Stiner. In the last row are Adilifu Fundi and Sharon Martinas. See you next third Thursday, Sept. 21, 6-9 p.m., at Sam Jordan’s, 4004 Third St., San Francisco. It’s Bay View publisher Dr. Willie Ratcliff’s 85th birthday, so come hungry for birthday cake! – Photos: Carol Harvey

Editorial by Troy Williams

I have chosen to use a piece of poetry as my editorial for this month. I had not written poetry in years but was inspired after reading an article written in the Bay View by Chinyere Egu, listening to the music of Grand Opus, and spending the weekend with my daughter and grandchildren.

Spoken word, whether it came in the form of old Negro spirituals or old school hip-hop, has always inspired our people to move beyond the limitations of our current situation. Moving beyond our current situation is not just addressing some external threat to our people but addressing how we have allowed those threats to internalize. Hopefully the poem speaks for itself.

For me, our freedom is not violence, aggression nor dependence on some external force that is our oppressor. It is assertive and begins with knowledge of self and love of seed.

March With Me

Some always talking about what’s wrong with me
Well let’s take a moment and see
Whether we the ones in need of third degree
Or some just need a little closer scrutiny

They came like missionaries looking for souls to convert
A ploy so covert – it leads us away in a hearse
Or worse – shackled and chained thinking it the fate of some curse
In the bow of a ship built of concrete and dirt

It’s your children you hurt when you let them lurk in your mind
Told you time after time, “You one of a kind”
By design some attempt to keep us asleep
With dreams of escaping nightmares of the street

Criminal just-us, a microcosm of divide and conquer
50 years later shots still clapping like thunder
The beast will cease to feast when we pause and wonder
Then out of thirst and hunger – shout, “NO LONGER”

Pick up the Bay View – what do you read
Written by people with conscious degrees
The visionaries are woke – beyond mere hope
Able to cope – cause love for our people our dope

Spent the weekend with my seed
She’s counting on me to succeed
So with every breath I breathe
I want you to march with me

Troy-daughter-Torri-Brian-Sr.-grandsons-Byrin-Brian-Jr.-in-boat-082717-Lake-Merritt-web-300x225, March with me, Local News & Views
Floating on beautiful Lake Merritt are Bay View editor Troy Williams and some of his family: Troy with grandson Byrin and behind them Brian Sr. and Troy’s daughter Torri, the parents of Byrin and Brian Jr., who’s sitting between them.

Bay View editor Troy Williams can be reached at Troy@sfbayview.com or 415-671-0789.

P.S. Troy highly recommends that all who can must see the film “Crown Heights” during its first run; it’s now showing in theaters everywhere. What’s it about? “When Colin Warner is wrongfully convicted of murder, his best friend Carl King devotes his life to proving Colin’s innocence” is the synopsis. Troy calls it the best film he’s see in a decade, evoking all the emotions of the prison experience. Black filmmakers need you to patronize their films upon release, so they can raise the money to make more films that change minds and change the world.

 

Grand Opus – Joc Scholar and Centric – present “Enter the Opus.”