Hostess Rashida Ishmaili told the gathering of poets, professors, writers, singers, dancers and filmmakers that it was only fitting they each read a poem by Harlem's greatest poet Langston Hughes on his birthday, February 1. For his selection, Marvin X read Dream Variations:
Dream Variations
To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me-
That is my dream!
To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening...
A tall, slim tree...
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me-
That is my dream!
To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening...
A tall, slim tree...
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.
--Langston Hughes
Marvin X will perform at the NYU tribute to Jayne Cortez and Amiri Baraka on Tuesday, February 4. He will be joined by living jazz legend Henry Grimes on bass
Henry Grimes
Amiri Baraka with Henry Grimes
Henry Grimes on Amiri Baraka
"I cannot begin to describe the power of Amiri Baraka's influence on my life, or the many ways he enlightened me and uplifted my spirit, making it possible for me (and millions of others) to be proud of who we are and the people we came from, and to live courageously in the spirit of revolution, as he did. In the '60s, Amiri Baraka and I played benefit concerts for the civil-rights and black-power movements in New York City and the Village of Harlem, and we also participated in strategy meetings at Babatunde Olatunji's center and other secret locations in Harlem, coordinated and run by a number of organizations of that time -- SNCC, CORE, the NAACP, a few of the Panthers, Malcolm X and his people, members of the Organization of African Unity and the Black Arts Movement, and many more. I seem to remember Ralph Abernathy, Harry Belafonte, John Coltrane, James Farmer, Clifford Jarvis, Yusef Lateef coming through these meetings... Meanwhile, on the artistic side, in 1965 Amiri and I recorded an album called 'Sonny's Time Now' under the leadership of Sunny Murray, and also on that recording were Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, and Lewis Worrell. This was originally released on Amiri's Jihad label, and it is available now on the Japanese DIW label.
"A long time passed after that while I was in downtown Los Angeles, and then in September, 2005, Amiri and Amina and I worked together in a group playing to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans; that group also included Edward 'Kidd' Jordan, Clyde Kerr, Kali Fasteau, and Hamid Drake, and it was sponsored by the Vision Festival people. My next time with Amiri was a duo with just the two of us at Issue Project Room in Brooklyn in March, 2009, and you can hear a small portion of that here:
After that, I played in a couple of Amiri's birthday parties in Newark and at the Schomburg Center. And our last date together (it hurts me to write that) was in the brilliant ARIKA symposium called 'Freedom Is a Constant Struggle' in Glasgow, Scotland last spring (2013), where we performed as a duo once again.
I love you, Amiri, a true hero for the ages."
*
There's much more information about Henry on his site, http://henrygrimes.com, and I'm working on updating his schedule for February shown there. We'll see you on Tuesday around 4 p.m. at NYU, with Chumma's assistance. Please contact us at any time if you need anything at all. Again, thank you so much!
Our hearts to yours,
Henry and Margaret Grimes
Marvin X tour schedule, 2014
February 4
New York University tribute to Jayne Cortez and Amiri Baraka
February 8
Schomburg Library, Harlem tribute to Amiri Baraka
February 17
Tribute to Watts Poets and Amiri Baraka
Eastside Arts Center, Oakland
February 22
Marvin X speaks at Hinton Center, Fresno CA
February 24
Marvin X speaks at Fresno City College
February 28 thru March 2
Marvin X at Black Arts Movement Conference
University of California Merced
Merced, California
April 24,25,26
Marvin X in Philadelphia for Mumia Abu Jamal's 60th Birthday
May
Marvin X in Newark, NJ for Ras Baraka, next Mayor of Newark
May 29
Marvin X 70th birthday celebration and exhibit
Contra Costa College, Richmond CA
