ominous ISSUE
THE AFRICAN HERITAGE MAGAZINE
BAVUAL
AMERICA IN 2033
THE DYSTOPIAN VIEW
VOODOO THE DARK ART
STRAIGHT OUT OF L.A. STREET LIFE TO Screen LIFE
FINDING THE DOLLAR$ FOR YOUR BUSINESS FALL 2023
10.00
IS FOOTBALL TOO VIOLENT?
IN THIS ISSUE
10
42
58
6 MY TAKE
Look Out for Your Neighbor - And Your Neighborhood
7 THE DRIFT
The World Seems to Have Given Up on Integration
9
ONE YEAR LATER Update on Stories in the Fall 2022 Issue
10 FAMOUS AUTUMNS
18 AMERICA IN 2033 (COVER) The Dystopian View
42 VOODOO: The DARK ART The Forbidden Religion of West Africa and the West Indies
52
THE CULTURE Television's Influence on African Americans' Image PART II: 1990-2023 Film Review: The Woman King
Nat Turner's Slave Revolt In Virginia Ends With His Hanging, 1831
12
TRUE GRIT
58 DESTINATIONS
Straight Out of L.A.
Like It or Not, Dave Chappelle Speaks His Mind
68 AFRICAN FACES OF THE WORLD
THE TIMES 14
FALL 2023
America's Missing Black Men, Women and Children
Argentina's Longtime Persecution of Blacks
BAVUAL 3
IN THIS ISSUE
80
90 76
BAVUAL VIEWS MODERN LIFE
80
JOCKS
84
THE HUSTLE
90
JUST THE FACTS
The Way of the World Circa 2023 In Cartoons
Is Football Too Violent?
84
NEXT ISSUE
THE EVOLUTION OF BLACK MUSIC
Where to Find the Money to Run Your Business
Cost of Living in the United States, Most and Least Affordable Countries
92
roll of honor Legends of Autumn
96
benediction The Quotable James Baldwin
BAVUAL
4
FALL 2023
BAVUAL
THE AFRICAN HERITAGE MAGAZINE
Bavual Vol. 2 Issue 4 Fall 2023
Editorial Earl A. Birkett Editor Rick D. Bowers Deputy Editor Stephen G. Hall, PhD, Special Editor Associate Editor Kristen Jones Design & Illustrations Debasish Sarma Editorial Advisor Myeshia C. Babers, PhD
BAVUAL: Swahili for "power, strength, force"
Marketing Multitrends International earl.a.birkett@gmail.com Advertising Multitrends International earl.a.birkett@gmail.com (201) 360-1139 Subscriptions Visit www.bavual.com or contact Earl A. Birkett at eab@bavual.com Write to: 42 Broadway, Suite 12-278. New York, NY 10004 Phone: (212) 419-5831 Email: eab@bavual.com
THE COVER: New York City nuked, partial A.I.
Published Quarterly by Birkett Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Earl A. Birkett President Contents copyright
2023 Birkett Communications, Inc.
BAVUAL 5
MY TAKE
Earl A. Birkett
LOOK OUT FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR - AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD “Being a good neighbor is an art which makes life richer.”- Gladys Taber
In hindsight, everything looks more appealing than it actually was. You’ve heard the sayings, now clichés : “In our day, we kept the door unlocked,” and “In our neighborhood, everyone raised the kids.” As a Baby Boomer and someone most likely to spout these sentiments, I can tell you quite honestly that they were not universal nor were they completely true, yet I can attest that there was more caring for one’s neighbor when I was growing up. My Long Island neighborhood of Lakeview was nearly all-black; however, it was adjacent to two white villages, Lynbrook, largely Italian, and Malverne, which was predominantly Jewish and Irish. The South Shore was working class, so that might have helped somewhat, and the local schools were desegregated by the U.S. Supreme Court when I was 6 years old. While I had trouble attracting white classmates (except one) to my 6th birthday party in 1967, by the time I reached high school, there was plenty of interaction with the white students. There was no racial friction that I could detect, and we socialized quite a lot. I had many white friends, and my best friend at the time was an Italian kid from Lynbrook. I remember the white teachers looking out for my welfare, seeing that I was not rousted by the other students, tutoring me when my grades were low (usually in math), and driving me home when I missed the school bus. In Lakeview itself, the children played together, there were frequent block parties (mainly thrown by my parents), and I often stayed at the neighbors who babysat me. In short, we all got along. How did this pleasant atmosphere change over the years? Of course, some of the familiar families moved away and less engaging ones replaced them. The children graduated high school and went out in the world, to college, the army, distant jobs or what have you. I noticed the block gradually turning inward and distant. The drug epidemic of the 1980s turned some houses into crack dens, and while the neighbors complained, there was little done about it. That epidemic eventually subsided, to be replaced with other crises, namely an increase in crime in the form of home break-ins and fights at school. I noticed in my 20s, 30s and 40s that there was less and less interaction between white and black students and families, and each side gradually became more suspicious of one another. The result mirrors the larger society: Make America Great Again versus Black Lives Matter. So here we are in 2023. The neighbors no longer look out for one another, nor do they commune together, not in the same way, and black and white communities have grown apart as well, often receding into suspicion, at times spilling over into hostility. Long Island has changed, as has the nation. It is colder, less inviting, and has fallen victim to societal stereotypes. It is indeed two worlds, and there is little interest in communing with one’s neighbor. It’s sad, really, because the current generation will never experience life as I knew it in the 1970s. Can we - will we - ever return to those halcyon days of yore? Given the current state of interracial and intraracial relations, I am not sure if that’s even possible anymore, but it sure is desirable given the alternative. We don’t seem to be able to live together; however, it is impossible to live apart.
BAVUAL
6
FALL 2023
THE DRIFT
THE WORLD SEEMS TO HAVE GIVEN UP ON INTEGRATION I don't know exactly when or how it happened, but it did happen: The concept of racial, ethnic and political unity has virtually disappeared from civilization. You can look anywhere - Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, Democrats and Republicans in red and blue America, English-speakers and French-speakers in Canada, the wealthy and the poor in Central and South America, clashing tribes and races in Africa, Jews and Muslims in the Middle East, autocrats and freedom fighters in China and Russia, Hindus and Muslims in India and Pakistan, natives and immigrants in Europe - and you can see that virtually no one likes each other. Are the winds of integration blowing hot anywhere? North America. There appears to be no breakthrough in the deterioration of race and class relations between white, black, brown and Asian people in the United States and language differences between English and French speakers after some progress in the 1970s. If anything, the friction is worsening, especially in the U.S., where talk of secession and civil war is out in the open for the first time since the 1960s. Central and South America. The huge gap in wealth between rich and poor in most countries in the region, especially in Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela, combined with the terror instilled by authoritarian governments, has sparked the immigration crisis at the Southern border of the U.S., which has only intensified since the 1980s. The Caribbean. The West Indian islands suffer from the same classism that afflicts their neighbors to the west, only it is a symptom of relations between native islanders and the largely British descendants of the colonialists who have sapped their wealth since slavery times. You can see it in how they live: Blacks are stuck in crowded slums while whites enjoy the finest hotels and palatial estates. FALL 2023
Europe. The rise in immigration from black Africans and Muslims to Northern nations such as Great Britain and France has led to a backlash from native whites who worry about eventually being replaced by these groups (not likely). Religious turmoil is all over the place. The “Troubles” between Protestants and Catholics, though somewhat muted in recent years, still persist, and the fight between Jews and Muslims, going on for thousands of years, threatens to engulf the entire region and even spark another world war. Even Sunni and Shiite Muslims are in a struggle amongst themselves. Asia. Religious and cultural differences inflict China (with the Uyghurs), India and Pakistan (where Hindus and Muslims despise each other since they achieved independence from the British in 1947), and Russia (with its perennial persecution of Muslims in Chechnya). Africa. The extreme intolerance to the LGBTQ+ community, influenced in part by the Republican Party in the U.S., permeates many nations on the continent such as Ghana and is one of the world’s great human rights violators. Australia and the Pacific. The aftereffects of colonization and imperialism before and since World War II have kept native islanders as permanent second-class citizens. So, what is the solution to this grave problem? Stop hating your brothers and sisters, and sit down and break bread with them. Discuss your differences and listen to what they have to say. Be compassionate and humane in your dealings with each other. That’s it. Period. It’s not rocket science.
BAVUAL 7
UPDATE
ONE YEAR LATER The Follow-Up to Articles That Appeared in BAVUAL's Fall 2022 Issue "THE DRIFT: THE STAIN OF FASCISM AND WHITE NATIONALISM” BAVUAL was concerned by a takeover of the American government by Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections, which would have ushered in a fascist reign. That half-happened; the GOP narrowly took control of the House of Representatives and as of yet is unable even to elect a Speaker and obstructs key military and diplomatic appointments in the Senate. Despite being a criminal defendant and sexual abuser, Donald Trump is running even or slightly ahead of President Biden in 2024 polls. “FAMOUS AUTUMNS: THE PIONEERS: MARSHALL, WILDER AND BROOKE” The difference between these honorable black politicians and jurists and the vast lot of their contemporaries is literally night and day. Most of the black Republicans are consumed by the MAGA movement, making them look like cruel dupes and fools, and the corruption of Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Marshall’s successor, is nothing short of disgraceful. “TRUE GRIT: JUSTICE SISTERS” It took two strong, brave black women, Fulton County (GA) District Attorney Fani Willis and New York Attorney General Letitia James, to take down the most unscrupulous man ever elected to the presidency, Donald Trump. Since last fall, Willis has actually indicted Trump on 13 felony counts that could land him in state prison for decades, while James could fine Trump at least $250 million and end his ability to do business in New York for years, thus crippling his financial future. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was not even on the radar screen yet, but he was the first to indict Trump, before Willis and U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith, on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The fall issue, the first HBCU guide, featured an emblematic HBCU graduate on its cover. The first edition featured the above cover, but reprinted editions will feature the cover below. Also, with the departure of art director June Padgett, the magazine underwent a complete redesign starting with this issue.
“EVALUATING THE PRESIDENTS” BAVUAL’s ratings of the American presidents is largely unchanged, except that Trump has become even more of a fascist monster than last year, and Biden has fashioned himself into a sea of sanity in a storm of Republican calamity. “THE HUSTLE: KANYE WEST: THE RISE AND FALL OF YE” Few celebrities have fallen so hard so fast as the Grammy-winning exhusand of Kim Kardashian and erstwhile billionaire mogul Kanye (Ye) West. Latching on to the fascist and racist MAGAs has destroyed the goodwill it took him many years to build. Ye has since become a Missing Person. It would take a miracle to revive his dead career. FALL 2023
BAVUAL 9