Life on the run
<p>Ive been slipping on my Tumblr and/or journaling game. All i do is get kicked out of libraries on both sides of the Bay and Estuary. </p> <p>Writing in this fashion more often should help when i start to really craft my thesis. Also, having some record of what i did during this phase of my life would be valuable to have And share later.</p> <p>Anyway, besides reading and not comprehending, or people-watching, i suppose i have a new activity for my bus rides home from Cal.
>Bay Area Black History Bibliography
Here are a few books dealing with African American history in the Bay Area region of California that are in my personal collection
Allen, Robert L. The Port Chicago Mutiny: The Story of the Largest Mass Mutiny Trial in U.S. Naval History. 1989. New York: Amistad Books, 1993.
Brown, Angela. A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story. Anchor Books, 1993.
Crouchett, Lawrence P. A Biography: William Byron Rumford, Life and Public Service of a California Legislator. El Cerrito, California: Downey Place Publishing House, Inc., 1984.
Davis, Angela Y and other Political Prisoners. If they Come in the Morning. 1st printing, New York: Signet Books, 1971.
Davis, Belva. Never in my Wildest Dreams: A Black Woman’s Life in Journalism. Berret-Koehler, 2011.
De Graat, Lawrence, Kevin Mulroy, & Quintard Taylor. Seeking El Dorado: African Americans in California. Los Angeles: Autry Museum of Western Heritage with University of Washington Press, 2001.
Deterville, Duane and Jerry Thomson. Black Artists in Oakland. San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, Co., 2007.
Forbes, Flores A. Will you die With Me? My Life and the Black Panther Party. New York: Atria Books, 2006.
HoSang, Daniel Martinez. Racial Propositions: Ballot Initiatives and the Making of Postwar California. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010.
Meeker, Martin, ed. The Oakland Army Base: An Oral History. Berkeley: The Bancroft Library, University of California with the City of Oakland and the Port of Oakland, 2010.
Muhammad, Keith. Grant Justice: Lessons Learned Fighting for Justice in the Murder of Oscar Grant. Self-Published, 2011.
Raiford, Leigh. Imprisoned in a Luminous Glare: Photography and the African American Freedom Struggle. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2011. (autographed)
Seale, Bobby. Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton. 1973. Reprint, Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 1991. (autographed)
Self, Robert O. American Babylon: Race and the Struggle for Postwar Oakland. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003.
Solnit, Rebecca, Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010.
Wheeler, B. Gordon. Black California: The History of African-Americans in the Golden State. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1993.
Williams, Ronald II, ed. Forty and Counting: An Anthology Commemorating Four Decades of African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley: Department of African American Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 2010.
There are a number of other great books dealing with the history of African American men and women in the Bay Area, but they are not in my possession, yet.
Name 20 Veggies
Last night in Oakland, I saw a billboard that read, “Can you name 20 veggies in the next two miles?” I spent about 15 minutes with a friend trying to name as many as I could. Here’s part of a list of vegetables, that come to mind now:
Artichokes
Avocado
Bamboo Shoots
Beans
Brussel Sprouts
Broccoli
Bell Peppers
Carrots
Collard Greens
Corn
Cabbage
Eggplant
Garbanzo Beans
Greens
Jalapeños
Lettuce
Lima Beans
Kale
Mushrooms
Mustard Greens
Onions
Pak Choy
Peas
Peppers
Potatoes
Radish
Tamale
Turnips
As I proceed in my third year as a Vegetarian, I feel I should be able to sprout a larger list. But it’s a start.
Some Afro Shaping tips from a 2006 video I made. That was the year I was planning to run for Mayor of Alameda.
Interesting campaign language:
“You can have a fro like Reggie James, too!
20 Second Clip from Reggie James 4 Mayor Campaign sponsored by Friends of the Fro Committee
How to get your afro round like Reggie’s!”
It’s over a year old, but I just saw this commercial for the first time. I can appreciate the creativity, but the, literal, commercialization of Hip Hop Culture, is a little harder for me.
On one hand, Hip Hop lovers are in all segments/industries, but culture vultures capitalize on culture.
U.S. Constitution and Slavery
What does the United States Constitution say about Slavery and/or the Slave Trade? Technically, nothing. “The words “slave” or “slavery” do not exist in the Constitution. However, slavery is referred to in a couple of places,” as pointed out by About.com. Three three references are:
- The “Three Fifths Compromise”
- The Possible Abolition of the Slave Trade
- The Fugitive Slave Act
“Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. ” (Article I. Section 2)
For the sake of taxation, enslaved Africans, or “all other persons,” were considered 60 percent of a person. Every five enslaved Africans were to count as three.
“The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.”
No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.
The Ballot or the Bullet. 1964.
Nearly 50 years later, we need to buy bullets.
Many people are taking it upon themselves to sanitize, sugar coat, and water down Brother Malcolm’s message. Why? Because at difficult junctures in time, opposed to having the population considering ‘radical’ or ‘subversive’ alternatives, it is easier to have us focused on efforts that reinforce the status quo.
Further Reading: Malcolm X’s “Ballot or the Bullet” speech. (PDF)
‘Show Zero’ on KALX Radio
Oh, how I need a nap. Nonetheless, with good reason:
I completed my first show on KALX today. Well, it was “Show Zero,” a live training, but it was a great experience.
In reverse chronological order, here’s my playlist:
Pharcyde - “Passing me By”
Gregory Isaacs - “Love me With Feeling”
Peter Tosh - “Downpressor Man”
Janka Nabay & the Bubu Gang - “Feba”
Pierre Antoine - “Kalabuley Woman”
Fatoumata Diawara - “Kanou”
Wynonie Harris - “I’ll Never Give Up”
Odetta - “Lo & Behold”
Odetta - “My God and I”
Lester Young - “Boogie Woogie”
Cab Calloway - “Cruisin’ with Cab”
Albert King - “I Found Love in the Food Stamp Line”
Curtis Mayfield - “Right on for the Darkness”
I’ll be on the air again Tuesday morning from 3:30-6:30am. I sleep now.
Black Tuesday
Rewriting yesterday’s entry, as it seems that I hadn’t saved it. Tuesday got off to a slow start. I slept in after staying out late Monday. The day seemed to fly by, but here are the most memorable moments:
- Office hours with my history professor
- Seeing beautiful, inspiring classmates in EOPS
- Discussing Souls of Black Folks in class
- Prayer in the Tilden Room
- Signing up for DJ Training at KALX
