Tags
Amiri Baraka, Black Panther Party, Bobby Hutton (1950-1968), Bobby Hutton Grove (Oakland CA), Bobby Seale (b. 1936), Chocolate Beats Radio, Digable Planets, Elaine Brown (b. 1943), Gil Scott-Heron, KPFA, Nneka, Oakland Museum, Omi Gallery, Pacifica Radio Network, Tupac Amaru Shakur (1971-1996), Ursula Rucker
LUMPENPROLETARIAT GONZO: It’s hard to imagine it’s been half a century since the Black Panther Party hit the scene in the USA. Soon, it’ll be a century, as grievances fester. For how long? I remember, as a young Chicano, discovering the Black Panther Party through hip hop and other art forms in the 1980s.
The Black Panther Party inspired many of us and educated us, as did Malcolm X, or el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, which led some of us back to MLK, then to César Chávez and others like Reies Tijeriña and Corky González and Hunter S. Thompson and the Brown Buffalo Oscar Zeta Acosta with his Revolt of the Cockroach People; and others like Howard Zinn; and Noam Chomsky; and Buffy Saint-Marie; and back to others like KRS-One; and dead prez; and Zack de la Rocha; and Run the Jewels.
The Black Panther Party is still incredibly relevant, important, and necessary. Feed the struggle. Feed your community. Defend your community. Feed your soul.
Perhaps, your local community is also honouring the Black Panther Party’s 50th Anniversary, as are observant communities in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area and other locales. In the Bay Area, there are many museums and galleries featuring exhibits honouring the BPP50th. Also free speech radio is paying tribute to the BPP50th. Tune in, here, for revolutionary observance before the radio echo fades and vanishes into the historical penumbra. Listen here. [1]
UPDATE—[24 OCT 2016] Hard Knock Radio has provided us with some new coverage of the events and activities commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Black Panther Party, including audio excerpts from the BPP 50TH gala, which featured former political prisoner and Black Panther Party member Eddie Conway as well as keynote speaker Danny Glover. Listen here. [2]
Messina
***
BPP 50TH—[accessed 11 OCT 2016] [statement from ad hoc committee of former members of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense]
Dear Friends and Comrades,
October 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party. An ad hoc committee of former members of the Party is hosting events commemorating the anniversary from October 20-23rd in Oakland, California.
The theme of our commemoration is “Where Do We Go From Here?” The Black Panther Party is well-known and admired in Oakland and around the world for its stand against police brutality, for its Survival Programs— which included free breakfast for school children and free health clinics—its coalitions with other people of color, and its effort to bring about revolutionary change in America. The anniversary events will explore and celebrate the history and legacy of the Black Panther Party.
We hope you will join us in commemorating this historic 50th anniversary by participating in the various workshops and panels of the conference, enjoying our wonderful dinner and gala, advertising in our souvenir program book and volunteering.
Sincerely yours,
Clark Bailey, Coordinator
Black Panther Party 50th Anniversary Host Committee
Learn more at BPP 50TH.
***
HARD KNOCK RADIO—[24 OCT 2016] [station identification by Erica Bridgeman(sp?)]
[Opening audio collage] (c. 1:53)
DAVEY D: “What up, everybody? Welcome to another edition of Hard Knock Radio. Davey D, hangin’ out wit’ you this afternoon. On today’s show, we let you hear some of the sounds, that took place over this past weekened, as Black Panthers commemorated their 50-year anniversary. A lot of guests, from Danny Glover on down to former political prisoner Ed Conway. All that and more, coming up after the afternoon headlines.” (c. 2:18)
[News Headlines (read by Gabriela Castelan) omitted by scribe] [3]
[First segment: Black Panther Party 50th Anniversary audio clips, including a Bobby Seale endorsement for Hard Knock Radio, the dedication of Bobby Hutton Grove, and more.]
[Music break: “Who’ll Pay Reparations On My Soul” by Gil Scott-Heron]
“Who’ll Pay Reparations On My Soul” by Gil Scott-Heron
[Next segment: audio clips from the Black Panther Party 50th Anniversary gala event of former political prisoner and Black Panther member Eddie Conway and keynote speaker Danny Glover, both of whom are on the editorial board of The Real News.]
“Escape From Babylon” by Paris
(c. 41:00) [snip]
Learn more at HARD KNOCK RADIO.
***
SAN FRANCISCO BAY VIEW—[15 MAY 2016] Wanda’s Picks for May-June 2016 Elaine Brown’s “A Taste of Power,” a memoir which chronicles her leadership of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense when co-founder Huey P. Newton is imprisoned, still resonates with me. The idea that a Black woman is nominated to the leadership position of the most powerful civic organization in the country at that time is still remarkable and speaks to what Kathleen Cleaver calls revolutionary imagination.
Learn more at SAN FRANCISCO BAY VIEW NATIONAL BLACK NEWSPAPER.
***
[Partial transcript of actual radio broadcast by Messina for Lumpenproletariat and Chocolate Beats Radio.]
CHOCOLATE BEATS RADIO—[9 OCT 2016] [SNIP]
“Ain’t No Such Thing As a Superman” (1975) by Gil Scott-Heron
[until we’re free]
“Until We’re Free” (1973) by Elaine Brown
[woman of the ghetto]
“Woman of the Ghetto” by Marlena Shaw
“Who Will Survive America?” by Amiri Baraka
[(c. 18:58) Programme host Idris gives community announcements regarding civil rights and Black Panther Party events “celebrating this year the 50th anniversary [of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense]. And there’s a lot of great exhibitions and events coming up this month in the [SF-Oakland] Bay Area. One event: The Survival Pending Revolution Black Panther Party 50. And that’s a exhibition at the Omi Gallery of Oakland, 2323 Broadway. It’s going on October 7th through January 7th. There’s also an exhibition [inaudible] 2.0 at [] gallery. There’s also an exhibition at the Oakland Museum. So, I can give a list. And we’ll give some more throughout the show. But we’re gonna get into some more music, actually, some poetry from—may he rest in peace—brother Amiri Baraka, who was very instrumental at empowering a soundtrack for the Black Panther movement. So, this is also taken from the Listen Whitey: Sounds of Black Power compilation. And we’ll have more music coming up, inspired by that and the events throughout the [SF-Oakland] Bay Area celebrating the legacy and the strength and the memory of those lost during those epic times. And we’ll just play some music in honour of that, here, on Chocolate Beats Radio.” (c. 21:10)]
[SNIP]
[(c. 47:00) new music from Solange]
“Cranes in the Sky” (2016) by Solange
[(c. 57:30) Gil Scott Heron’s “Winter In America”]
“Winter In America” (1974) by Gil Scott-Heron
[(c. 59:59) KPFA station identification]
[SNIP]
[(c. 1:07:00) “Fake Bonanza” by Mos Def]
[SNIP]
“Walking” by Nneka
[SNIP]
“That’s the Way of the World” by Earth, Wind & Fire
[SNIP]
“C.R.E.A.M.” (2014, cover) by Ensemble Mik Nawooj
[SNIP]
[SNIP] (c. 3:59:28)
Learn/experience more at CHOCOLATE BEATS RADIO.
***
[1] Terrestrial radio transmission, 94.1 FM (KPFA, Berkeley, CA) with online simulcast and digital archiving: Chocolate Beats Radio, this one-hour broadcast hosted by Miss Idris, Sunday, 9 OCT 2016, 01:00 PDT. [Due to copyright restrictions, music programmes are usually removed from public access two weeks after the initial broadcast.]
Playlist, Chocolate Beats Radio (9 OCT 2016):
- “Ain’t No Such Thing As A Superman” by Gil Scott-Heron (taken from Greatest Hits)
- “Until We’re Free” by Elaine Brown (taken from Listen Whitey)
- “Woman of the Ghetto” by Marlena Shaw (live in Montreal) (taken from Listen Whitey!)
- “Who Will Survive America” by Amiri Baraka (taken from Listen Whitey!)
- “Brother, Where Are You?” by Oscar Brown, Jr. (taken from )
- “Uhuru Sasa” by Gary Bartz (taken from Greatest Hits)
- “Red Black and Green” by Roy Ayers
- “Our Generation” by John Legend
- Jazzmatazz Tribute by Jay Electronica (taken from ROC Nation)
- “Cranes in the Sky” by Solange (taken from A Seat at the Table)
- “Roll Call” by Cody Chestnut (taken from B-Sides)
- “My People” by Jazzy Jeff (with Raheem Divine) (taken from Beat Generation: 10th Anniversary)
- “Winter in America” by Gil Scott-Heron (taken from Listen Whitey!)
- “For Us” by Solange (taken from A Seat at the Table)
- “Fake Bonanza” by Mos Def (taken from True Magic)
- (c. 1:10:00) “Inner City Boundaries” by Freestyle Fellowship
- (c. 1:14:40) “Rappin’ Black” by Watts Prophets
- (c. 1:15:00) “Dial 7” by Digable Planets (taken from Blowout Comb)
- (c. 1:19:30) “On the Subway” by The Last Poets
- (c. 1:21:00) “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott-Heron
- (c. 1:24:00) “Prophets of Rage” by Public Enemy (taken from Fear of a Black Planet)
- (c. 1:27:20) “Walking” by Nneka (with Jay Electronica and Nas)
- (c. 1:28:30) “The Rose That Grew From Concrete” by various artists, including Jasmine Guy and Nikki Giovanni (taken from The Rose That Grew From Concrete, 2009)
- (c. 1:35:45) host Idris recaps playlist
- (c. 1:38:25) “The Awakening” by 4Hero (with Ursula Rucker)
- Donnie Hathaway
- “Little Ghetto Boy” by Donnie Hathaway (taken from The Colored Section)
- (c. 1:53:30) “Cranes in the Sky” by Solange
- shout out to the people of Haiti from host Miss Idris (Chocolate Beats Radio)
- (c. 1:56:40) “Africa” by D’Angelo
- station identification by host Idris
- (c. 1:59:40) “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” by Rose Royce
- (c. 2:03:55) “That’s the Way of the World” by Earth, Wind & Fire
- (c. 2:09:30) “Happy Feelings” by Maze (taken from The Greatest Hits of Maze)
- host Idris updates the playlist
- (c. 2:17:30) false start: “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder
- (c. 2:18:40) “As” by Stevie Wonder (taken from Songs in the Key of Life)
- (c. 2:25:50) “For the Love of Money” by The O’Jays
- “Lady Marmalade” (1975) interpreted by Labelle
- (c. 2:35:39) Easy by The Commodores
- (c. 2:40:00) “Searching” by Roy Ayers [sampled in the classic track “Be a Father to Your Child”]
- (c. 2:44:00) host Miss Idris updates playlist
- (c. 2:45:25) “After The Dance” by Marvin Gaye
- “Get On the Floor” by Michael Jackson (taken from Off the Wall)
- (c. 2:54:00) (taken from The Whiz)
- host Miss Idris updates the playlist and identifies the terrestrial radio station transmission
- (c. 3:00:00) “No Love” by Little Dragon
- “This Ain’t Love” by Joss Stone (taken from Water For Your Soul)
- (c. 3:08:30) “The Sweetest Thing” by Lauryn Hill
- (c. 3:13:05) “Killing Time” by Destiny’s Child
- (c. 3:18:00) “The Teaching” by Meshell Ndegeocello (taken from Money Talks Soundtrack)
- (c. 3:25:40) [piano track: unknown] by [artist: Erykah Badu (vocals); Questlove (drums)] (taken from Men In Black Soundtrack)
- (c. 3:26:50) host Miss Idris updates the playlist
- (c. 3:29:00) “Fight” by Alicia Keys (taken from Ali Soundtrack)
- (c. 3:33:10) “Feel the Music” by Guru (taken from Jazzmatazz, Volume #2: The New Reality)
- (c. 3:39:00) [track: Patience] by [artist: Chaos] (taken from Exit)
- (c. 3:43:00) “9th Wonder (Blackitolism)” by Digable Planets (taken from Blowout Comb)
- (c. 3:47:30) “C.R.E.A.M.” (2014, cover) by Ensemble Mik Nawooj (symphony orchestra with S.F. Bay Area MCs Do-D.A.T. and Sandman) (taken from Ensemble Mik Nawooj: A Hip-Hop Orchestra)
- (c. 3:51:10) Host Miss Idris updates the playlist
- (c. 3:53:00) “Eric B For President” by Eric B and Rakim
- (c. 3:59:28) [end of terrestrial radio transmission]
[2] Terrestrial radio transmission, 94.1 FM (KPFA, Berkeley, CA) with online simulcast and digital archiving: Hard Knock Radio, this one-hour broadcast hosted by Davey D, Monday, 24 OCT 2016, 16:00 PDT. [For some unfortunate reason, perhaps due to an inability to edit out music with copyright restrictions from audio archives after they’ve been broadcast, Hard Knock Radio archives are usually removed from public access two weeks after the initial broadcast.]
[3] KPFA News Headlines (read by Gabriela Castelan), summary:
- First news headline was what we understand through our critical media literacy studies as junkfood news or news abuse. The first headline is about the personality of Donald Trump and the meme about Trump’s response in the final debate about possibly complaining about the 2016 presidential election outcome, if he suspects electoral fraud. Nothing new is revealed, but the corporate news memes of superficial differences between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are perpetuated, as the real issues and substance of their political records are obfuscated, not to mention alternative political candidates are censored, underreported, and marginalised.
- Dakota Access Pipeline resistance update: police pepper spray people resisting the pipeline construction.
- Tom Hayden died yesterday.
***
[11 OCT 2016]
[Last modified 08:35 PDT 25 OCT 2016]
