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COVER
Craig Donnell, Jr., Alyse Proctor, Ke’Lan Mitchell
Volume V, Issue II
Photo: Raye Jackson
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Welcome to number TWO of TWELVE. This is our special annual edition we call “Work of Art” (WOA). This year’s theme is Panther Power, recognizing both the Black Panther Party and Marvel Studio’s movie, Black Panther, both of which originated in 1966.
KCSoul.com TWELVE Magazine is part of the KCSoul.com network. Owned by H.G.E. Marketing, LLC. Views & opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of H.G.E. or contributors. © 2017 H.G.E. Marketing LLC Higher Ground Entertainment
INSIDE SPECIAL: Black PantherThe Movie
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WOA: Hero
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HISTORY: Black Panther Party
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FEBRUARY 2018
As a WOA issue, the pages serve as frameable art, but the editorial serves to capture key moments in history, and inspire you! Stay tuned for more from TWELVE. You have an opportunity to contribute to the content by writing, submitting story suggestions, and of course, attending our events and more. Contact us today at info@twelvekc.com. Sincerely,
Twelvekc.com | @TWELVEKC
WOA: 12 Black Panther art
What’s Different? Read It & Experience it Live Though a lifestyle publication isn’t unique, TWELVE evolves the genre. It’s the only magazine that you both read and live. We set out to create more than a literary piece. We’ve merged both the online world and the live event into the “magazine experience”. Once a month, we release new magazine content. The magazine is paired with a live events, where the feature elements and characters of our magazine are brought to life for you to touch, taste, feel and experience. The live experience becomes part of gathering ground of additional stories, photos, and more for new content. Digital | Print | Live. #12Mag Movement
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SPECIAL THANKS To all of Our Writers, Designers, Planners, Contributors, Advertisers & Supporters of Xii.
Ken L.
PICTURED: Samara Molix-Marshall Photo: Ken Lumpkins
twelvekc.com info@twelvekc.com
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@twelvekc
FEATURE
It’s Black Panther Mania. The world is in awe over the release of Marvel’s first Black action hero film.
Wakanda Forever
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L to R: Director Ryan Coogler on set with Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther/T'Challa)
Ph: Matt Kennedy | ©Marvel Studios 2018
By LeAndrea Mack
M
arvel’s Black Panther movie is exciting and new in every way. A new type of superhero, a unique vengeance for the villain and a different style of battle. At the same time, it superbly remains true to Marvel’s traditions and franchise that’s garnered such a large and avid following. The Black Panther’s origin story fits seamlessly into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The movie’s ending leaves you satisfied but with so many opportunities for Marvel to explore in the future. I look forward to seeing more from the people of Wakanda, the King’s allfemale warrior army - the Dora Milaje, and T’Challa’s little sister Shuri.
The movie was primarily set in the fictitious African country, Wakanda where ancient traditions coexist with advanced technology 7
the that the rest of the world has yet to discover. The traditions are passed down through the elders. The technology is built on the fictitious metal, Vibranium, which defies the laws of known science, for example, absorbing soundwaves, vibrations, and kinetic energy – think Captain America’s shield, which is also made out of vibranium from Wakanda. In the wrong hands, vibranium can be a massively destructive weapon, which is why Wakanda has chosen to stay essentially hidden within the African continent. Perhaps what makes this Marvel movie a superhero story like none we have ever seen before is its exploration of a nation of black people who have never experienced colonialism or institutionalized racism…clearly a fairytale, but a supremely fascinating one! “Black Panther” bucks the traditional cine(Continued on page 22)
WORK OF ART
Work of Art Feature.
Our Black Panther action hero tribute. Dedicated to the strength, power and skills we possess and the ability to own our future.
HERO SOMETIMES WE NEED A
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Model: Craig Donnell, Jr. Photo: Raye Jackson
FILM
TWELVEKC.COM
The energy and excitement were at an alltime high as special screenings debuted around the country. The drama wasn’t just on the screen, but in the theaters, too. Guests held receptions and arrived in Afrocentric garb and costumes. Here in Kansas City, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Xi Tau Omega chapter, held a screening with the KC Alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. on February 17, 2018.
Monica Thomas, photos.
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HISTORY
The Black Panther Party Blair Stapp (Composition by Eldridge Cleaver) - Huey Newton seated in wicker chair, 1967 Emory Douglas - All Power To The People. 10
TWELVEKC.COM
BLACK PANTHERS I t was bound to happen--a Revolution. The fight for civil rights at its height in the 1950s and 1960s would slowly change the mode of operations from asking for rights to demanding rights and protections of African-Americans, making way for us to own our destiny. In 1965, there was a continued litany of tumultuous events from the murder of Malcom X, who championed selfdefense and Black empowerment to the Selma marches, which eventually helped lead to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. That was a significant a win for civil rights, but rights on paper still had to be defended, especially against the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
Before we go further, let’s set the record straight. Though both originated the same year, the Black Panther comic hero launched in July of 1966 by Marvel Comics, is no relation to the Black Panther Party (BPP), founded in October of 1966. Both are inspirational tales, yet the BPP didn’t live in an imaginary land of riches and superpowers. Instead, the BPP addressed real life strife with little means beyond the will to survive. In fact, survival is the root of the name. The black panther, co-founder Newton learned, wasn’t an aggressor. It doesn’t strike first but fights when backed into a corner, hence the inspiration for the party’s name.
DON’T START NONE... WON’T BE NONE.
Other iconic incidents at the time included the 1965 Watts riots of Los Angeles, wherein the Black community was at odds with the police over the systemic mistreatment of African-Americans. The angst and tension continued the next year into 1966. Organized, collective strength was needed. Several stepped up with efforts on both the nonviolent side of the spectrum and the self-defense side nationwide. Early organizations such as CORE (Congress of Racial Equality, SNCC (Student Non-violent [later changed to National] Coordinating Committee) and Deacons for Defense & Justice were a few. Among the most notable self -defense activists, similar in many respects to the Deacons, were the Black Panther Party (BPP). The group was founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, California. 11
The group was originally known as the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The group was the manifestation in response to poverty, disparity of rights between whites and blacks and ills of social justice – particularly police brutality. It was as much a feel-good effort, too. At a time black color and culture was under attack, the BPP members rocked afro hairstyles as a symbol of black pride and beauty. The Black Power movement was at hand!
Service, education or black pride may come to mind when you heard about the BPP, yet there’s a slanted more myopic view characterizing the Black Panther Party as gun-toting, beret wearing anarchists. The stigma of being operatives subversive to the US, was the spin put forth by J. Edgar Hoover, FBI director at the time. He dedicated inordinate amounts of time to undermining the BPP and similar organizations. Hoover called the BPP “the greatest threat” to America. The Bureau’s COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) was one of the linchpins that would thwart activities of the BPP. Misinformation, false claims and incarceration were the tactics used to divide and destroy the BPP. (Continued on page 16)
Pictured (l to r): Samara MolixMarshall, Adrian Blount, Jasmine Hernandez, Ally Lee Photographer: Raye Jackson
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WORK OF ART
Work of Art Feature.
Never forget our history. The fight for justice continues. The need for cultural pride remains. Make your mark in the world by doing your part to serve.
HISTORY NEVER FORGET OUR
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BLACK PANTHERS
A still from "The Black Panthers: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION. Director Stanley Nelson. Photo courtesy of Pirkle Jones and Ruth Marion-Baruch
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Charles Bursey hands a plate of food to a child seated at a Free Breakfast
Program. Photograph courtesy of Pirkle Jones and Ruth-Marion Baruch
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BLACK PANTHERS Co-founders of the Black Panther Party, Chairman Bobby Seale (left) and Minister of Defense Huey Newton (right). They are standing in front of the first office for the Black Panther Party, The Oakland Poverty Center in Oakland, California in 1966
(Continued from page 11)
Admittingly, the BPP were known to roll up on a block, bearing arms, to ensure equitable treatment of African-Americans stopped by police to ensure. The intent was to discourage police brutality, which was occurring all too frequently in black communities. Even more, the actions which were perfectly legal and reflected a tenable position of Americans relying on the fortitude of the constitution. However, the BPP “defense” stance would lead to increased scrutiny, court cases, and even stand-offs with the police. To tell a more complete story of the BPP, you’d have to delve into the organization’s community service and nationwide impact. Free health clinics, Free Breakfast for Children Program, voter registration drives
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Photo: Ken Lumpkins
and free legal aid are all major parts of their legacy, as the organization evolved. One of its most important efforts was raising awareness of sickle cell anemia where over 30,000 people were tested through their national program. The group formally disbanded in 1982. COINTELPRO, feuds among factions within the ranks of the Party, along with police action and even murder cases, contributed to this demise. It’s unfortunate due to the group’s legacy of service and uplifting of African-American culture and empowerment. Today, the BPP’s fight continues because the plight of inequality continues. A revival, of sorts, came about in 1989 with a (Continued on page 20)
Pictured (Ally Lee Photographer: Ken Lumpkins
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WORK OF ART
Model: Rashouna Harris Photo: Raye Jackson
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Author Unknown
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(Continued from page 16)
New Black Panther Party. However, the new group has been criticized as a black hate, anti-white separatist group, counter to the original roots of just black pride and protection. More widely known nationally is the Black Lives Matter organization which has picked up the baton to continue the fight against police brutality and other critical parity initiatives. It’s now our time to stake a claim in owning our future. In the end, we should remember the Black Panther Party taught the power of survival by being reliant on the power of our voice, collective strength and the belief in inalienable rights.
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WORK OF ART
Pictured (l to r): Jasmine Hernandez, Samara Molix-Marshall, Ally Lee, Veronica Rollins, Adrian Blount, Photographer: Keyana Collins
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(Continued from page 7)
matic notion that the good guy is all good and the bad guy is all bad. The plight of the villain, Erik “Killmonger” Stevens, is uncomfortably relatable and at some point in the movie, you can not help but sympathize because of the cards he was dealt. That being said, that will NOT stop you from routing for King T’Challa, aka the Black Panther, and cheering him on to victory. In addition to the blockbuster level movie-making that we’ve come to expect from Marvel films, “Black Panther” has beautiful African style. From the African garments, headpieces and jewelry to the overall swag and style of the Wakandans, this movie made the Marvel’s 1966 comic book character an instant classic with a superhero that looks different from America’s typical mainstream setup.
In fact, one of the reasons this movie
is set to break records and usher in a new type of superhero (and other nonwhite male main characters in Hollywood) is what some are observing as Shuri (Letitia Wright)
Ph: Matt Kennedy ©Marvel Studios 2018
a watershed moment in cinematic history. The Black Panther, Marvel’s first movie directed by an AfricanAmerican, earned an estimated $201.8 million in its North America opening weekend with sites like Fandago.com, reporting sales surpassing any other superhero movie from this (Continued on page 37)
L to R: T'Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan)
Photo: Matt Kennedy ©Marvel Studios 2018
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THE DARKEST HOUR IS JUST BEFORE DAWN Author Unknown
Model: Craig Donnell, Jr. Photo: Raye Jackson
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Model: Christopher Galloway Photo: Raye Jackson Graphix: Ken Lumpkins 24
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Written: October 15, 1966 | Source: War Against the Panthers, by Huey P. Newton, 1980
The Black Panther Party...What’s It All About?
The Ten-Point Program We Want Freedom. We Want Power To Determine The Destiny Of Our Black Community. We believe that Black people will not be free until we are able to determine our destiny.
We Want Full Employment For Our People. We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every man employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that if the White American businessmen will not give full employment, then the means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.
We Want An End To The Robbery By The Capitalists Of Our Black Community. We
tion labor
believe that this racist government has robbed us, and now we are demanding the overdue debt of forty acres and two mules. Forty acres and two mules were promised 100 years ago as restitufor slave mass
and murder of Black ple. We will accept ment in currency will be distributed to our munities. The Germans are now the Jews in Israel for the genocide of the Jewish The Germans murdered six million Jews. The Ameriracist has taken part in the slaughter of over fifty million Black people; fore, we feel that this is a modest demand that we make.
peothe paywhich many comaiding people. can there(Continued on page 32)
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WORK OF ART
IT MAY BATTLE ME. IT WON’T BEAT ME. Author Unknown
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Model: Veronica Rollins Photo: Raye Jackson Graphix: Ken Lumpkins
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Model: Alyse Proctor Photo: Raye Jackson
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Author Unknown
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The Black Panther Party...10 Point Program (Continued from page 26)
We Want Decent Housing Fit For The Shelter Of Human Beings. We believe that if the White Landlords will not give decent housing to our Black community, then the housing and the land should be made into cooperatives so that our community, with government aid, can build and make decent housing for its people.
We Want Education For Our People That Exposes The True Nature Of This Decadent American Society. We Want Education That Teaches Us Our True History And Our Role In The Present-Day Society. We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of self. If a man does not have knowledge of himself and his position in society and the world, then he has little chance to relate to anything else.
We Want All Black Men To Be Exempt From Military Service. We believe that Black people should not be forced to fight in the military service to defend a racist government that does not protect us. We will not fight and kill other people of color in the world who, like Black people, are being victimized by the White racist government of America. We will protect ourselves from the force and violence of the racist police and the racist military, by whatever means necessary.
We Want An Immediate End To Police Brutality And Murder Of Black People.
We believe we can end police brutality in our Black community by organizing Black self-defense groups that are dedicated to defending our Black community from racist police oppression and brutality. The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States gives a right to bear arms. We therefore believe that all Black people should arm themselves for self- defense.
We Want Freedom For All Black Men Held In Federal, State, County And City Prisons And Jails. We believe that all Black people should be released from the many jails and prisons because they have not received a fair and impartial trial.
We Want All Black People When Brought To Trial To Be Tried In Court By A Jury Of Their Peer Group Or People From Their Black Communities, As Defined By The Constitution Of The United States. We believe that the courts should follow the United States Constitution so that Black people will receive fair trials. The Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives a man a right to be tried by his peer (Continued on page 36)
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STAY WOKE
Model: Adrian Blount Photo: Keyana Collins
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NEXT
THE BEST VIEW COMES AFTER THE HARDEST CLIMB. Author Unknown
Model: Craig Donnell, Jr. Photo: Raye Jackson Graphix: Ken Lumpkins
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The Black Panther Party...10 Point Program (Continued from page 32)
group. A peer is a person from a similar economic, social, religious, geographical, environmental, historical and racial background. To do this the court will be forced to select a jury from the Black community from which the Black defendant came. We have been, and are being, tried by all-White juries that have no understanding of the "average reasoning man" of the Black community.
We Want Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice And Peace. When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle them, a decent respect of the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
Transcription/Markup & corrections: MIM/Brian Baggins Online Version: Marxist History Archive (marxists.org) 2001 36
(Continued from page 22)
franchise, which is no easy feat since the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise topped $12 billion dollars last July, according to a report by Forbes magazine. It is worth noting that this movie debuts during a terribly volatile time in America when accusations of police brutality, disproportionate incarceration of African-Americans, and insufficient representation of people of color, and women, are consistently
case, the Black Panther movie is a must-see for any superhero, action junkie, regardless of race or gender because it is just that good! “Black Panther” makes history behind the camera, too. The movie’s director is 31-year-old African American and Oakland, California native, Ryan Coogler, who’s first feature film was Fruitvale Station, which won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. He also co-wrote and diPh: Matt Kennedy ©Marvel Studios 2018
L to R: Okoye (Danai Gurira), Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o), and Ayo (Florence Kasumba)
making national headlines. When Disney’s Marvel Studios announced their plans to make the Black Panther movie in 2014, there was no way they could have known that the 45th president of the United States would usher in a racist and sexist climate frighteningly reminiscent of times we desperately hoped had been relegated to the dark corners of America’s history. The timeliness of Black Panther’s stark contrast of today’s racially charged and gender biased reality is poignant. Whatever the
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rected Creed, the seventh film of the Rocky franchise. Kendrick Lamar also released an album featuring music from and inspired by the film. Although I wrote this article with no spoiler alerts, I will say, there are two end scene credits, and the second, is a must-see if you follow the MCU franchise.
Model: Ke’Lan Mitchell Photo: Raye Jackson
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Author Unknown
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