Newspaper Page Text
O’Jays don’t show
Page 5-THE PANTHER, February 1974
Sly Carries The
Sly “jams” at the fifth annual Martin Luther King Jr.
concert.
Malcom X:
By KATHEY LEWIS
It has been nine years
since the brutal assassina
tion of Malcolm X,on New
York City’s Audubon Ball
room stage. His name has
echoed through the years
in our minds and the minds
of adults and younger chil
dren. Even though many of
us were only children when
Malcolm was killed, we un
derstood that a great Black
man had been physically e-
rased from the earth.
The mental and spiri
tual impact of Malcolm was
undeniable. His charisma,
and ability to talk and un
derstand Black people from
all facets of life was due
to his own background which
was that of a pimp, dealer,
thief and all around street
dude. Malcolm rose above
all obstacles and barriers
existing in white America
to establish an impressive
following and group of con
verts. Minister Malcolm as
he was called, within the
Muslim mosque, did a lot
to add to the numbers of
Muslim followers and sup
porters. The Nation of Is
lam was a vehicle of
education and elevation for
Malcolm, and he shared
these facts with others in
gaining their confidence.
Later, although never ne
glecting or belittling the
benefits of the Muslim Na
tion of Islam, Malcolm suf
fered many psychological anc
spiritual crisis due to dis
turbing revelations in the
Nation. After his several
months of training, and years
of spreading Mr. Muham
mad’s teachings, Malcolm
began to be disillusioned with
Muhammad and a serious
division came about. Mal
colm’s militant ideas con
flicted themselves and sac
rificing their lives. He did
not completely believe in a
Remembered
separatist policy which pro
vided defense for Muslims
only. Also jealousy wa-grow
ing among the Nation to
wards Malcolm. The white
press stimulated jealousy
and much controversy about
Malcolm. Malcolm’s ef
forts were purposefully de
leted from the Muhammed
Speaks newspaper, which
he had founded due to the
increasing popularity he
had acquired.
Later , Malcolm discov
ered that blind faith was
often illogical faith in his
break from Muhammad. This
became a very decisive
and dangerous decision for
himself. It was necessary
due to the vindictive state
ments and actions towards
Malcolm. Also the threat
of death which was planned
against him, according to
Malcolm, was something
that nearly drove him in
sane. All of his faith was
suddenly overturned and
it was inevitable that Mal
colm redefine his objec
tives. He organized the
Muslim Mosque Inc., whose
purpose was to alleviate
Afro Americans from the
oppressions; economic, so
cial, and political, which
they suffered from daily.
This separation in the Mus
lim religions has remained,
and subtantial numbers of
Malcolm’s believers are
still working in the name
of Islam.
All of this about Malvolm
is to refresh those memo
ries about his livelihood and
his importance to Black peo
ple.. Malcolm’s assassina
tion was on Feburary 21,
1965
On Feb. 10, there
will be a movie, Malcolm
X, shown in Davage Audi
torium by the Clark Col
lege Cinema Club, with
a brief memorial eulogy.
Weight For King Benefit
By ROBERT C. COOK
The fifth annual celebra
tion concert held at the
Omni Jan. 14 hailing Mar
tin Luther King Jr.,’s 45th
birthday, ranged from amu
sing to commemorative in
quality. More than 8,000
people, including Governor
and Mrs. Jimmy Carter and
Congressman Andrew Young,
jammed the Concert, which
featured the Ramsey Lewis
Trio, Maxine Weldon, Al
bert King and Sly and the
Family Stone.
After an hours - delay
in starting the concert, tri
bute was paid to King and
his work, and several oth
er people who were invol
ved some way in the civil
rights struggle. One of the
highlights of the concert
was the presentation ot the
second Martin Luther King
Non-Violent Peace Award to
Farm Workers Union Pre
sident Caesar Chavez. The
award was presented by Mrs.
Coretta King, widow of the
late Dr. King.
Following these awards,
the Ramsey Lewis Trio ap
peared. The performance of
the group was hampered by
what seemed to be a poor
sound system.
The very talented Maxine
Weldon came on next, and
thrilled the crowd from the
beginning to the end of her
exciting performance.
Albert King followed Mrs.
Weldon in place of the
O’Jays, who were originally
billed to appear. Albert
King was good if you liked
blues, but such wasn’t the
case for dozens of scream
ing disappointed fans, who
continued to shout for the
O’Jays all through King’s
performance.
The concert starting
late, the long delays in set
ting up the stage between
acts and the O’Jays not
appearing seemed to make
the crowd moody. When Sly
and the Family Stone ap
peared, the crowd seemed
too tired and sleepy to res
pond to his dynamite per
formance.
Sly must have become
aware of the bad vibes, be
cause he tried in vain to
stir the crowd. The only
results were many angry
screaming O’Jays fans lea
ving.
Although much time and
effort was used to plan the
concert, the final product
left much to be desired.
'Life Force’ Continues Wave
of Progressive Black Music
By RONALD HARRIS
Black music is one of
the most important forces
that has sustained African-
American cultural develop
ment on the North Ame
rican continent.
But even though music
today is totally incorpora
ted into our life styles,,
Black people, historically
and presently, fail to re
cognize and patronize im
portant musicians that have
come from the Black com
munity. Black musicians
have suffered greatly be
cause of this lack of re-
cogniton.
Such is the case of an
Atlanta based group known
as “Life Force”.
“Life Force”is made up
of a group of progressive
musicians and is probably
one of the most important
groups working in Atlanta
at the present
The group consists of Joe
Jennings, a Clark College
music instructor, an alto
and soprano saxophones; Ho
ward Nicholson on tenor sa
xophone and flute; Ojeda
Penn, a Morehouse instruc
tor, an acoustic and elec
tric pianos; Donald Strick
land on drums; Dewey Sam
pson on bass; Brother Odej
on congas; and Jonez Ansa
on varied and sundry per
cussion.
“Life Force” has been to
gether about two and ahalf
years, playing concerts mo
stly in the South.
The group performs both
original and compositions.
The musicians in the group
seem to be continually sea
rching for ways to expand
on their musical capabili
ties.
“Our group consists of
musicians that want to ex
ploit their own creative abi
lities,” Jennings said sit
ting in his office at Clark.
“We are interested in crea
ting our own type of mu
sic.”
Jennings seems to be the
catalyst of the group. As
one watches him play, both
eyes shut tight, knees sligh
tly bent, it becomes obvious
that the only chart he uses
is somewhere behind his
eyes.
Jennings is right in the
middle of the music, broil
ing up at you with what
seems to be a fantastic emo
tional thrust.
Nichols, who is the poli
shed formalist of the group,
is equally impressive on his
horn.
“Nichols is one the best
tenor players around,” Jen
nings said.
Nichols’ solos are orderly
and precise but with a power
that almost knocks you ov
er. Unlike Jennings how
ever, Nichols seems to stand
above and beyond his work,
pairing his nails.
Using a broad percussive
base, “Life Force” has
developed a sound which at
times hedges on that deve
loped by Pharoah Sanders.
One of the main obsta
cles that “Life Force” faces
now is exposure, spreading
their music in a jazz bar
ren city. i.e. Atlanta.
“Life Force performs regularly at the Black Arts Center on Mason Turner. Picture
(from 1 to r) are Ojeda Penn, Dewey Sampson, Joe Hennings, Howard Nicholsc *. an
Brother Ojeda.