Duke University, Durham NC, has invited Marvin X to read in the fall.The theme is Prisons from the USA to Palestine. One of Marvin's classic poems is Palestine:
"Yes! Powerful my brother! We must never sell our precious Palestinian brothers and sisters for a mess of pottage!! I salute you!!"
--Cornel West
I am not an Arab I am not a Jew
Abraham is not my father, Palestine is not my home
But I would fight any man
who kicked me out of my house to dwell in a tent
I would fight to the ends of the earth
someone who said to me
I want your house because my father lived here two thousand years ago
I want your land because my father lived here two thousand years ago
Jets would not stop me from returning to my home
Uncle toms would not stop me
Cluster bombs would not stop me
bullets I would defy.
No man can take the house of another
and expect to live in peace
There is no peace for thieves
for those who murder for myths ancient rituals
wail at the wall
settle in Judea and Samaria
fate awaits you
you will never sleep in peace
you will never walk without listening.
I shall cross the River Jordan
with justice in my hand
I shall return to Jerusalem
and establish my house of peace
thus said the Lord.
But I would fight any man
who kicked me out of my house to dwell in a tent
I would fight to the ends of the earth
someone who said to me
I want your house because my father lived here two thousand years ago
I want your land because my father lived here two thousand years ago
Jets would not stop me from returning to my home
Uncle toms would not stop me
Cluster bombs would not stop me
bullets I would defy.
No man can take the house of another
and expect to live in peace
There is no peace for thieves
for those who murder for myths ancient rituals
wail at the wall
settle in Judea and Samaria
fate awaits you
you will never sleep in peace
you will never walk without listening.
I shall cross the River Jordan
with justice in my hand
I shall return to Jerusalem
and establish my house of peace
thus said the Lord.
Marvin X
Black Scholar Magazine, 1970
Marvin X at Gaza Protest, Seattle WA
BPP co-founder Huey P. Newton embracing Yasir Arafat, leader of Palestine. Marvin X said, "We
support Yasir Arafat and the Palestinian call for nationhood. We North American Africans desire
the same!"
support Yasir Arafat and the Palestinian call for nationhood. We North American Africans desire
the same!"
If We Must Die by Claude McKay--from Attica to Gaza
Attica
If We Must Die
BY CLAUDE MCKAY
If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
Poem: Gaza Concentration CAMP by Marvin X
GAZA Concentration CAMP
There are those who say we must restore peace to GAZA
concentration camp peace
Peace of genocide
no protest allowed
Submit to starvation
humiliation
stunted life hell on earth peace
No protest
peace before anything
justice
life even
peace
GAZA sing silent night
Holy night
All is peace
All is right
Under shadow of death
peace
No justice
Peace
boots on necks
Mass murder peace
At all costs
Hamas Rockets no avail
Iron Dome gift from USA
Iron Dome is saves
From land, air, sea you attack
Mighty Mouse
Iron Dome Mouse
Look at you
Wild wild west beast
No thought of justice
Just peace
Peace be still.
--Marvin X
7/17/14