Culture Currents

Today, Aug. 15, 2018, marks the four year anniversary of the terrible day 2-year-old Mi’Yana “MyMy” was taken away from her family. On this day, four years ago, a speeding driver hit her, drove over her tiny frame and left her defenseless body on the street. Today, her family still mourns her loss. Her twin brother has spent the last four years missing his twin sister. Her mother continues to mourn the loss of this beautiful angel, and the SFPD still has not found the person that hit and ran and murdered MyMy.

An event celebrating natural hair, described as aspirational conversations with the artists and curator, is coming to Oakland Saturday, Aug. 18, 1-3:30 p.m. The three principal artists of “The Black Woman Is God” exhibition presents ‘A Sacred Beautiful – a Natural Heritage Hair: An African Diasporan Photo Exposé’ – KaliMa Amilak, Nye’ Lyn Tho and Egyptsia Mcgillvery – establish themselves as cultural zeitgeist spirits by using the novel visual language of the natural hair movement cultural iconoclasts.

Salt, grease and fried meat filled the air with just a hint of burnt sugar thrown in. My mind wandered to breakfasts past sizzling in a greasy diner. This time, however, I was on my bike, riding past an empty lot in East Oakland at 6:30 a.m. No houses or restaurants were remotely close. And then I saw the smoke and heard the sizzle. It was coming from one of a long line of late model Subarus, Hondas, BMWs, Acura sedans and even a Mercedes.

Boots Riley has a problem with Spike Lee's “BlacKkKlansman,” and he explained why in a three page essay. Besides being the veteran rapper from Oakland’s The Coup, Riley is also a filmmaker who created the movie “Sorry to Bother You,” which, like Spike’s film, has a lot of buzz surrounding it. If you’re familiar with the subject matter of “BlackKkKlansman,” then you know it’s based on the true life story of former Colorado Springs officer Ron Stallworth and how he infiltrated the local Ku Klux Klan through the telephone.

The contributions that Kelvin Brooks the activist, father, brother, uncle and, as the community refers to him, “OG Legend,” made towards the betterment of BVHP and the City and County of San Francisco are countless. The loss of Kelvin Brooks on Aug. 18 from an asthma attack is ironic as he spent hours in neighborhood meetings addressing the toxins in the air specifically in BVHP. The passing of this great leader will cause a deep void of sadness in the community.

Over two months have passed since Meghan Markle’s televised royal wedding. And yes, I did look forward to her marrying England’s Prince Harry, youngest son of Prince Charles and the late, internationally loved “people’s advocate” Princess Diana. Tears actually surprised me watching the May 19 event unfold – but not for the standard idolized glitz or glorified upper crust glamour. Britain’s notorious tabloids were mixed.

Richard Edward Brown was a father, grandfather, friend and revolutionary. Richard resided in San Francisco beginning at a young age and joined the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. He served and protected his community and his people in it. There was a creed the Panthers lived by called the 10 Point Program. The very first point described Richard and his life: “Point One: We want Freedom. We want the power to determine the destiny of our Black Community.”

With our planetary situation worsening – from massive flooding in India to Bangladesh, fire-nados raging out of control from Siberia to California and record high temperatures in Scandinavia and the Arctic, etc. – you and your organization are encouraged to join the worldwide RISE FOR CLIMATE JOBS & JUSTICE on Saturday, 8 September. In our region, the march will convene at the Embarcadero in San Francisco, at 10 a.m. This major people’s mobilization precedes the so-called “Global Climate Summit.”

Let me be the first to say it: Nia Wilson would be alive today if somebody else had been elected president in 2016! The man arrested for Nia’s murder was not alone. He had an accomplice. The president was not there in person Sunday night, July 22, at the MacArthur BART subway station when Nia Wilson was brutally stabbed to death and her sister viciously attacked, but his spirit was.

After gracing the planet for 76 years, Aretha Franklin joined the ancestors Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. President Obama: “Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade – our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace.”

Poor is the word without the deeds ... poor the deeds without the WORD – ... During the time of Big Man his words were commitment to action ... his determination exposed the people’s cries we HEARD – ... Where the spectator merely shouts creates noise that static sound without rhythm or RHYME – ... Big Man stood front and center at the eye of the storm in the arena of struggle ... and intoned the poor and oppressed will rise time after time after TIME –

Cal Shakes’ stunning production of “The War of the Roses” by Eric Ting and Philippa Kelly, directed by Eric Ting, continues through Sept. 15. It is an amazing adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Henry VI trilogy and Richard III. I was not intimidated when I learned that the show was about four hours long. However, I did approach my seat cautiously and, at intermission, when I looked at my watch, I could hardly believe two hours had passed. I loved it. The time literally flew by.

We lost Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin on Aug. 16 (March 25, 1942-Aug. 16, 2018). We also lost Kofi Annan (April 8, 1938, to Aug. 18, 2018), the seventh United Nations Secretary General and the first from Sub-Saharan African to lead the International organization. When we think about Black women and their navigation of public spaces, we remember the recent deaths of Nia Wilson, 18, and Jessica St. Louis, 26, who were not safe when they should have been #safehername.

Movement people must start reading the great works from the past that give us the first steps of understanding how we can set this oppressive and neo-liberal world on fire. One of the good things about the book “1968” is how it delineates for 21st century revolutionaries the international composition of revolutionary activity in every country on the planet. It shows why this struggle, to be successful, must be international in scope and range. Capitalism-imperialism is a worldwide system. Our political and economic system called the World Proletarian Socialist Revolution must be international in scope and range.

“You were right, Tiny. Interdependence does work for us poor mamas.” My revolutionary poet, fellow welfareQUEEN at POOR Magazine and co-founder of Homefulness and KEXU radio Laure McElroy and I spoke quietly on the phone in the kind of intimacy befitting deep sister comrades like we were and had been for many years of deep struggle and deep resistance. Writing this today is so hard for me between tears and pain. I’m so unsure of how to go on without her love. On Sunday, Sept. 23, we held a multi-nationed tree-planting ceremony in Laure’s honor at Homefulness.

Elbert “Big Man” Howard died in Santa Rosa at the age of 80 on July 23. The memorial service was held on Aug. 25. Howard was one of six founding members of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. He was well known as one of the most instrumental members in many facets of organizing during his time with the party. The memorial was packed with original Panthers who shared candid stories of their time with Howard.

It’s all about the ancestors, believe it or not. The invisible realm controls the outer. Those who believe in magic are in touch with reality – a truth, the initiated, those beings open to a creation story they participate in. Life is a collection of unedited stories; the end of a chapter does not mean the end of the book. With that said, the MAAFA Commemoration is upon us once again, celebrating its 23rd anniversary.

It was Saturday, June 30. We were gathered in the courtyard of Midtown Garden Apartments. Bobby Webb carefully removed his sax from the black bag and took the stage. It didn’t take long for us to realize we were in the presence of a master virtuoso, immediately demonstrating his versatility. In retrospect, Bobbie (Spider) Webb may have been playing his own epitaph on that Saturday at the end of June. Less than three months later, Bobbie Webb left the world stage he had graced so brilliantly.

“MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED YEARS … Of Afrikan Resistance! ... MORE THAN FIVE CENTURIES … Of fighting for our Freedom! ... MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED YEARS … Of building our revolutionary movements! ... MORE THAN FIVE CENTURIES … Of Self-Determination and Reparations! ... From my latest recording “500 YEARS OF AFRIKAN RESISTANCE!!!” © (P) Hotep Music ** Since Europe first attacked Alkebulan-Afrika more than five centuries ago and kidnapped and enslaved our people in Portugal and Spain, WE have resisted!

Bayview Hunters Point is the soul of San Francisco. It’s changing but its history and heroes can’t be erased and must be celebrated. They are the foundation and inspiration for the thriving community we will rebuild. In “Picture Bayview Hunters Point,” a labor of love, says director Joanna Haigood, Zaccho Dance Theatre, a BVHP-based cultural treasure, performs that history and presents those heroes unforgettably. Bring everyone, especially the children and young people, to this lavish but free performance – inside and outside the Opera House.