Dad used to talk about Jim Crow South
Black Belt southl cotton curtain
he and moma used to chant n double a cp all night long
all day long n double a cp
n double a cp this n that
as a baby boy i used to think n double a cp was a person
i was three or four
watching my parents publish their black newspaper fresno voice
same office was their real estate business 1948
i thought jim crow was a man too
but he lived down south
not in central valley fresno
not in oakland when we moved there
but moma and daddy still talked about n double a cp in oakland
on sundays we drove to the berkeley hills
see how rich white folks lived
didn't excite me
i wanted to hear dad say we going to the black belt
fillmore fillmore
seemed like it was more exciting than west oakland
seemed like there was more energy on fillmore street
but 7th street was jumping too
but i loved driving down fillmore
bumper to bumper cars
horns blowing neon lights flashing
black people styling n profiling
pimping n simping
my brother ollie wanted to b a pimp
never wanted to b nothin else
never was
except a client in the department of corrections
they never corrected him
cya didnt
san quentin soledad folsome didnt
mcneil island didnt
he said he had to kill jim crow in prison
said if he didnt kill jim crow
jim crow was gonna kill him
no ifs ands r buts.
--marvin x
5/28/20