Cover art by BAM Master Ben Caldwell
make black great again
beyond pyramids king tut
akhenaten's praise hymn
aboriginal monotheism
imperialism religion
negative confession
moses took ten
said thou shall not kill
then killed egyptian
kemit no mystery to us
resurrection theology
osiris isis horus seth
origin of jesus
sixteen crucified saviors
negro seventeen
strange fruit savior
crucified in the now
Travon Tamir Rice Sandra Bland
Oscar Grant Emmett Till Melvin Black
Nia Wilson Denzil Dowell
Lil' Bobby Hutton
Fred Hampton
many thousands gone
crucified on cross lynching tree
jesus in the now
make black great again
primordial hapi river travelers dwellers
beyond time
Sun Ra said
we other side of time
history his time
mystery our story
infinity
make black great again
simple task teach children
no matter condition yesterday now
is it difficult faya ancestor amiri baraka say
wanna pick cotton can't see ta can't see
git dat hunid pounds nigger 'fore I pull dis trigger
make black great again
seize tomorrow today
Even in his wretchedness Eldridge demanded me
do all things first class except nothing less
we da best
no shame stand demand
Jimmy Baldwin told me
ain't nothin' else happen here but you
make black great again
no weak kneegrows
shuffle dance imitation jim crow
no inclusion multi-cultural bottom rail
ancestors say bottom rail top
make black great again
no second class
we better'n white man
we the greatest
didn't Muhammad Ali say
equality with devil
what shit is this
chicken shit dog shit cow dung
stretch legs to sun leap run beyond time
no clocks work here no Apple watch
just be see
great black self
didn't michael j say man in mirror
remember da time
remember Sunny Blunt say beyond time
no survival we thrival of the greatest
no fluke
nina put spell on you
better ax somebody
dirty south say
mississippi goddam nina say
strange fruit billie say
make black great again
nothing can defeat you but you
lingering behind the vail
you not equal to nothing
master of all
no equality with evil
what madness is this
there is no test just be
and it is
you the man/woman and beyond
wave your majic wand
earth becomes dust
in black gods we trust.
--Marvin X
2/6/19
A page from the Journal of Black Poetry, Guest Editor Marvin X, 1968
Marvin X edited this issue while underground in Harlem,
wanted by the FBI for refusing to fight in Vietnam