MARVIN X READS IN NEW YORK CITY
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2020
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2020
MARVIN X AT UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
PHOTO BURELL SUNRISE
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 9
BROOKLYN COLLEGE, 2-5PM, with Q and A
2900 BEDFORD AVE, BROOKLYN NY
11210
2900 BEDFORD AVE, BROOKLYN NY
11210
Brooklyn Commons Cafe
7-9PM
388 ATLANTIC AVE.
BROOKLYN NY 11217
388 ATLANTIC AVE.
BROOKLYN NY 11217
But let's finish the drama of the dramatist at the Brooklyn Detention Center. While at his hotel, the poet thought about why not read at the jail, surely they allow people in on short notice. So after deciding to go shopping at the nearby Fulton Mall, Marvin told himself it would be proper to first stop by the jail to see if he could do a free black history reading for the inmates. He walked to the jail and entered. The officers asked for his ID which he gave them along with a copy of his newspaper The Movement. When he told the officers he wanted to give the inmates a black history reading, they thought it was a great idea except for the fact that the jail is closed, there are no inmates!
He was disappointed but happy the jail was empty, after all, America should close all its jails and prisons that house the 2.4 million Constitutional slaves under the 13th Amendment that allows involuntary servitude while incarcerated.
Black History is World History by Marvin X
Black History Is World History
By Marvin X
Before the Earth was
I was
Before time was
I was
you found me not long ago
and called me Lucy
I was four million years old
I had my tools beside me
I am the first man
call me Adam
I walked the Nile from Congo to Delta
a 4,000 mile jog
BLACK HISTORY IS WORLD HISTORY
I lived in the land of Canaan
before Abraham, before Hebrew was born
I am Canaan, son of Ham
I laugh at Arabs and Jews
fighting over my land
I lived in Saba, Southern Arabia
I played in the Red Sea
dwelled on the Persian Gulf
I left my mark from Babylon to Timbuktu
When Babylon acted a fool, that was me
I was the fool
When Babylon fell, that was me
I fell
BLACK HISTORY IS WORLD HISTORY
I was the first European
call me Negrito and Grimaldi
I walked along the Mediterranean from Spain to Greece
Oh, Greece!Why did you kill Socrates?
Why did you give him the poison hemlock?
Who were the gods he introduced
corrupting the youth of Athens?
They were my gods, black gods from Africa
Oh, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
Whose philosophy did you teach
that was Greek to the Greeks?
Pythagoras, where did you learn geometry?
Democritus, where did you study astronomy?
Solon and Lycurgus, where did you study law?
In Egypt, and Egypt is Africa
and Africa is me
I am the burnt face, the blameless Ethiopian
Homer told you about in the Iliad
Homer told you about Ulysses, too,
a story he got from me.
BLACK HISTORY IS WORLD HISTORY
I am the first Chinese
China has my eyes
I am the Aboriginal Asian
Look for me in Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand
I am there, even today, black and beautiful
BLACK HISTORY IS WORLD HISTORY
I used to travel to America
long before Columbus
came to me asking for directions
Americo Vespucci
on his voyage to America
saw me in the Atlantic
returning to Africa
America was my home
Before Aztec, Maya, Toltec, Inca & Olmec
I was hereI came to Peru 20,000 years ago
I founded Mexico City
See my pyramids, see my cabeza colosal
in Vera Cruz and Yucatan
that's me
I am the Mexican
for I am mixed with all men
and all men are mixed with me
I am the most just of men
I am the most peaceful
who loves peace day and night
Sometimes I let tyrants devour me
sometimes people falsely accuse me
sometimes people crucify me
but I am ever returning I am eternal, I am universal
Africa is my home
Asia is my home
Americas is my home
BLACK HISTORY IS WORLD HISTORY
This poem was written circa 1982 while Marvin X taught English at Kings River College, his last teaching gig.
Suggested reading list for Black History 101
The complete works of J.A. Rogers
The World and Africa, W.E.B. DuBois
Stolen Legacy, George M. James
The African Origin of the Major Religions, Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan
Message to the Black Man, Elijah Muhammad
They Came before Columbus, Ivan Van Sertima
"African Explorers in the New World, " Harold Lawrence,
Crisis, June-July, 1962. Heritage Program Reprint, p. 10
The Destruction of African Civilization, Chancellor Williams.
The Cultural Unity of Africa, Cheikh Anta Diop.
Man, God and Civilization, John G. Jackson
Marvin X is now available for speaking engagements readings/performance
Call 510 575-7
send letter of invitation to
mxjackmon@gmail.com
"When you listen to Tupac Shakur, E-40, Too Short, Master P or any other rappers out of the Bay Area of Cali think of Marvin X. He laid the foundation and gave us the language to express Black Male urban experience in a lyrical way."
--James G. Spady
Philadelphia New Observer
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Oakland
December 7, 2019
Dr. Cornel West and Marvin X in Conversation,
Geoffery's Inner Circle, BAMBD Oakland CA
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Dirty South
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NEW YORK CITY
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 9
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Marvin X, Sonia Sanchez and Duke University Professor Ellen McLarney
photo James Rhodes
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Marvin X Book Tour
Oakland
December 7, 2019
Dr. Cornel West and Marvin X in Conversation,
Geoffery's Inner Circle, BAMBD Oakland CA
January 25, Saturday, 12 Noon
Marvin X Welcomes NCobra Reparations gathering in the BAMBD
Joyce Gordon Gallery
14th and Franklin Streets
Downtown Oakland
Host Jahahara
Dirty South
Durham, North Carolina
January 30-31
Reading at Duke University
Black Muslim Atlantic Symposium
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Tonight, Oakland poet Marvin X broke down into tears as he tried to read his poem on his recently departed friend Nisa Bey during the Black Muslim Atlantic Conference at Duke University, Durham NC.
photo James Rhodes
East Coast, Up South
Marvin X at Philly's Moonstone Poetry Reading, Shakespeare Bookstore
Marvin X and Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon
Kimmika is a dynamic/dramatic poet who studied with the
Mistress of Poetry, Sonia Sanchez
Newark NJ
Friday February 7
4-6PM
Source of knowledge
Book store
876 Broad Street
Marvin X reading/book signing
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SUNDAY FEBRUARY 9
BROOKLYN COLLEGE, 2-5PM, with Q and A
Brooklyn Commons Cafe
7-9PM
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 29
OAKTOWN FADA GIT DOWN
BLUE DREAM WEST OAKLAND
PRESENTS
THE WILD CRAZY RIDE OF THE MARVIN X EXPERIENCE
SAVE THIS DATE: August 2020
Black Arts Movement Festival, BAMFEST, Black August 2020
Sonia Sanchez and Marvin X have agreed to perform a concert reading with Maestro Michael Morgan and the Oakland Symphony, followed by a possible conversation with Sonia, Marvin X, Angela Davis and Kumasi, Founder of Black August and Griot of the Black Prison Movement. BAMFEST is a production of the Black Arts Movement Business District CDC, under the direction of Dr. Ayodele Nzinga.
Sonia Sanchez and Marvin X, Philly 2\3\20
photo James Rhodes
Marvin X, Sonia Sanchez and Duke University Professor Ellen McLarney
photo James Rhodes
Professor McLarney is writing a book on Black Muslim inspired writers,
including Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Askia Toure, Yusef Rahman,
Yusef Iman, et al. Dr. McLarney produced the recent Duke University on
Black Muslim Atlantic that brought together Black Muslim scholars from
around the USA.
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James Rhodes, recent Dartmouth graduate and grandson of Marvin X, assisted his grandfather's book tour and was blessed to meet Dr. Sonia Sanchez at her home in Philly.
