I love books. I spent my youth and young adult years reading books on every subject. When I got to Harlem I spent my money on books, clothes and taxis. But books mattered to me the most. Now I devoured the Richardson's Marcus Garvey Books in San Francisco. Furthermore, Julian Richardson and his wife Raye mentored Bay Area Black radicals and printed our publications such as Black Dialogue Magazine, Journal of Black Poetry and our chapbooks of poetry as well as reprinting the works of Marcus Garvey and the classic by George M James Stolen Legacy. But once I hit Harlem NY, I was overwhelmed with Lewis Michaux's African National Memorial Book Store. Of course I also fell in love at the Mosque#7 bookstore operated by Larry X Prescott, aka Akhbar Muhammad.
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Although I was in bad standing with the Nation of Islam, Minister Farrakhan allowed me to visit the store with its collection of Islamic literature. Now Liberation Book Store on Lenox Ave, aka Malcolm X Ave was a nice place to visit and distribute the chapbooks of poetry by us Black Arts Movement artists.
Doug Harris photo
And Eula paid us out front, no consignment. We loved Eula for this Rip.
We appreciate Larry Robin's bookstore in Philly, a white man who promoted black books with his annual Black Writer's Conference.
Back in the Bay, Joe Goncalves operated the New Day Book Store on Divisadero while also publishing the Journal of Black Poetry, Bible of the 60s poetry revolution. Joe, aka Dingane, published more poets than anyone in the world. All the BAM Poets published in the JBP. Of course Black Fire was the Holy Bible of 60s black radical literature.
--cont
Marvin X
10/28/20
