Are Black Men Going Mad?
"It's a wonder we all haven't gone stark raving mad."
--James Baldwin, interviewed by Marvin X, NYC, 1968
Have the words of James Baldwin come true? Clearly, if one watches the media these days, all we see are mad, insane, crippled, pathological black men, or others of a similar mentality attacking black men who are striving to do the right thing. As I write, NYC councilman James Davis is the victim of homicide, a man who fought against violence in the rotten apple. Supposedly his killer was black, which we will know shortly. Of course, Kobe Bryant is the latest "black beast" to supposedly attack the precious white woman. Then there is the brother who is a suspect in the killing of his teammate because he didn't make the team. And we have a pathological liar as Secretary of State who tried to convince the world Saddam was a threat, that he was within forty-five minutes of blowing up the earth with weapons of mass destruction no one can find, and no country in the middle east except Israel said he was a threat, not Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran or Syria.
And there is madman Charles Taylor, butcher, diamond whore for imperialism who lines dead bodies outside the American embassy to beg his colonial fathers to return.
Another mad fool runs South Africa, Mbeki, who refuses to acknowledge a connection between HIV and AIDS, allowing the continued spread of HIV, causing his people to die at an increasingly rapid rate.
Is it over for the black man, should we throw in the towel? It seems all but impossible to unite because joe doesn't like sam and ed don't like paul and muhammad don't like salim and on and on, meanwhile white men who hate each other's guts meet in the congress and senate to oppress the world, global capitalists who would murder their mothers for a dollar unite each day to enslave the world, but black men with two dollars in our pockets can't come together for five minutes to discuss how to make ten dollars.
And when a solution to the mental health crisis is offered, such as the Dr. Nathan Hare's Black Reconstruction mental health group, black men who know they should line up at the gate are in denial or simply run the other way, making their situation go from bad to worse, until something tragic happens and the community wonders why. Finally, I am reminded by what Dr. Frantz Fanon said, "The only way the oppressed man can salvage his mental health is by revolutionary action."
So you can run, Mr. Black Man, like you do when you see me on the street, but the ghost of madness is upon you, and only by confronting such ghosts will you relieve the terror in your pitiful heart, only by joining in a frontal attack on oppression in all its dimensions will you move toward regaining your sanity. Holding your woman's hand, as Kobe did after the fact, will not save you. Jesus said love the brotherhood first. You will either come together or go down alone,yes, without your woman who will leave because of the pitiful mother****** you are, she will leave you drowning in your tears because you are a danger to yourself and others.
And this shall be true for every black man throughout the Pan African world. When you get the discipline to stand up and march in rhythm like that million man North Korean army, you will get respect from yourselves and the world. Until then you shall drown in your ever encompassing madness and be cursed by your ever listening ancestors who live among you in the trees, the woods, the rivers and seas, in the wind and rain and sun, who shall make you tremble as you walk in fear, until you stand up and do the right thing, putting on the armor of God and keeping the faith of your traditions.
For more writings by Marvin X, go to www.nathanielturner.com - www.blackthinktank.com - www.marvinx.com
In The Crazy House Called America, essays by Marvin X, Black Bird Press, 2002, $20.00, plus $5.00 for postage and handling. Black Bird Press: 3116 38th Ave., Suite 304, Oakland, Ca 94619.
Many years ago, Marvin X taught English, African American literature, journalism, creative writing, drama, technical writing at various colleges and universities, including: University of California, Berkeley and San Diego, San Francisco State University, University of Nevada, Reno and elsewhere.
Posted w/Permission: "Feel free to spread the truth coming through me from the Creator. mx"
"It's a wonder we all haven't gone stark raving mad."
--James Baldwin, interviewed by Marvin X, NYC, 1968
Have the words of James Baldwin come true? Clearly, if one watches the media these days, all we see are mad, insane, crippled, pathological black men, or others of a similar mentality attacking black men who are striving to do the right thing. As I write, NYC councilman James Davis is the victim of homicide, a man who fought against violence in the rotten apple. Supposedly his killer was black, which we will know shortly. Of course, Kobe Bryant is the latest "black beast" to supposedly attack the precious white woman. Then there is the brother who is a suspect in the killing of his teammate because he didn't make the team. And we have a pathological liar as Secretary of State who tried to convince the world Saddam was a threat, that he was within forty-five minutes of blowing up the earth with weapons of mass destruction no one can find, and no country in the middle east except Israel said he was a threat, not Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran or Syria.
And there is madman Charles Taylor, butcher, diamond whore for imperialism who lines dead bodies outside the American embassy to beg his colonial fathers to return.
Another mad fool runs South Africa, Mbeki, who refuses to acknowledge a connection between HIV and AIDS, allowing the continued spread of HIV, causing his people to die at an increasingly rapid rate.
Is it over for the black man, should we throw in the towel? It seems all but impossible to unite because joe doesn't like sam and ed don't like paul and muhammad don't like salim and on and on, meanwhile white men who hate each other's guts meet in the congress and senate to oppress the world, global capitalists who would murder their mothers for a dollar unite each day to enslave the world, but black men with two dollars in our pockets can't come together for five minutes to discuss how to make ten dollars.
And when a solution to the mental health crisis is offered, such as the Dr. Nathan Hare's Black Reconstruction mental health group, black men who know they should line up at the gate are in denial or simply run the other way, making their situation go from bad to worse, until something tragic happens and the community wonders why. Finally, I am reminded by what Dr. Frantz Fanon said, "The only way the oppressed man can salvage his mental health is by revolutionary action."
So you can run, Mr. Black Man, like you do when you see me on the street, but the ghost of madness is upon you, and only by confronting such ghosts will you relieve the terror in your pitiful heart, only by joining in a frontal attack on oppression in all its dimensions will you move toward regaining your sanity. Holding your woman's hand, as Kobe did after the fact, will not save you. Jesus said love the brotherhood first. You will either come together or go down alone,yes, without your woman who will leave because of the pitiful mother****** you are, she will leave you drowning in your tears because you are a danger to yourself and others.
And this shall be true for every black man throughout the Pan African world. When you get the discipline to stand up and march in rhythm like that million man North Korean army, you will get respect from yourselves and the world. Until then you shall drown in your ever encompassing madness and be cursed by your ever listening ancestors who live among you in the trees, the woods, the rivers and seas, in the wind and rain and sun, who shall make you tremble as you walk in fear, until you stand up and do the right thing, putting on the armor of God and keeping the faith of your traditions.
For more writings by Marvin X, go to www.nathanielturner.com - www.blackthinktank.com - www.marvinx.com
In The Crazy House Called America, essays by Marvin X, Black Bird Press, 2002, $20.00, plus $5.00 for postage and handling. Black Bird Press: 3116 38th Ave., Suite 304, Oakland, Ca 94619.
Many years ago, Marvin X taught English, African American literature, journalism, creative writing, drama, technical writing at various colleges and universities, including: University of California, Berkeley and San Diego, San Francisco State University, University of Nevada, Reno and elsewhere.
Posted w/Permission: "Feel free to spread the truth coming through me from the Creator. mx"