Palestine

PALESTINE

by Marvin X

(El Muhajir)

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

There is no peace for those who murder

For myths and ancient rituals

Wail at the wall

Settle in "Judea" and "Samaria"

But fate awaits you

You will never sleep with 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.

This poem first appeared in Black Scholar Magazine, circa 1975.

© 2000 by Marvin X (El Muhajir)

The author, Marvin X, is an Oakland (CA) based African-American poet/playwright/activist, one of the founders of the Black Arts Movemen and the father of Muslim American literature, according to scholar Dr. Mohja Kahf. Bob Holman calls him the USA’s Rumi. Marvin X works as a lecturer, teacher and producer. He has taught at San Francisco State University, University of California -Berkeley and San Diego, and Mills College in Oakland. He has received writing fellowships from Columbia University and the National Endowment forthe Arts and planning grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. His website link is www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com

We have received permission to send you the following poem by Marvin X. We wondered if you could post this powerful poem to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the Deir Yassin massacre. We think every person interested in justice for the Palestinians should read this.

Obama edges to the dark side - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Obama edges to the dark side - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

---

Pull Yo Pants Down fada Black Prez!

Marvin X is considering a sequel to his Pull Yo Pants up fada Black Prez. Tentative title: Pull Yo Pants Down fa da black prez! Subtitle: Kiss my black unruly ass!
The Prez has revealed himself to be an imperialist in the best tradition of American devotees to white supremacy. The mood in the hood is fuck Obama, even though brothers submitted 99% when they saw the title Pull Yo Pants Up fada Black Prez and Yoself. "Without me saying a word, when the brothers saw the title of my book, they immediately pulled up their pants on the spot, without me saying a word." But of late they have expressed their disgust with da Prez, sharing my feelings as well. Da Prez is a hypocritical running dog of Wall Street robber barons and the corporate military complex. In his UN speech he suggested entrepreneurial opportunities for the oppressed abroad, but nothing similar for the boys and girls in the hood. He has also offered jobs, housing and education for terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere if they lay down their guns, but no similar program for the gun ravaged hoods of America who are a direct threat to the national security of the United States. The boyz and girls in the hood are sharp enough to see through his hypocritical policies and have no desire to support the man they thought was about real change. So Marvin X says to them, "Brother and Sisters, pull yo pants down and show the Prez yo black unruly ass!"

Even veterans who return with PTSD are gaining skills as entrepreneurs since they will not be able to maintain a job, very similar to the boyz and girls in the hood with prison and jail records, low skills, illiteracy and anger management difficulties, thus they suffer P
TSD from war in the hood, thus should be entitled to similar programs as veterans of US imperialist wars--after all, they are victims of
America's domestic war against the poor.
--Marvin X
jmarvinx@yahoo.com

Comments on Wisdom of Plato Negro

> A man said The Wisdom of Plato Negro is for the forty something up. No persons who haven't lived a few years can appreciate the things Marvin X says in The Wisdom of Plato Negro. You need to be at least forty to understand, and even then, this is not a book to read in one setting, even if it is easy reading. It is a book to read in a relaxed situation, and then only read one or two of the parables at a time. They must be carefully digested, each one.
> Think about them, what was the real meaning? Again, if you haven't lived a few years, there's no way you can appreciate some of the things he says. For example, the Parable of the Real Woman. A young man who hasn't had many experiences with women cannot possible understand this parable. If a woman comes to his house and cleans it out of love, a young man cannot appreciate this. He will tell her thanks, then go get a flashy woman who is never going to clean his house, mainly because she doesn't know how. But the dude will go for her because she is cute, but the real woman he rejects, the one with common sense and dignity, who may not be a beauty queen.
> --Anon
>

Mythology of Pussy and Dick, toward Healthy Psychosocial Sexuality

Mythology

of Pussy and Dick, toward

Healthy Psychosocial

Sexuality

Marvin X

Contents

Comments

Preface

Foreword

Introduction

Acknowledgement

Mythology Defined

Don’t Say Pussy

What is Love

Part One: Mythology of Pussy and Dick

Tiger Woods

Gender Studies at Academy of Da Corner

Insanity of Sex

HIV/AIDS

Part Two: For the Women

Women

Parable of a Real Woman

Parable of Woman in the Box

The Comforter

Parable of Value

Women without Men

The Lonely Hearts Club

Political & Sexual Anorexia and Mama at Twilight:

Dr. Julia Hare and Ayodele Nzingha

Nisa Ra

Parable of the Bitter Bitch

Fahizah on Bitter Bitch

The White Woman

In Search of my Soul Sister

Babylon Brooklyn

Black Woman’s Breast KO’s America

How to Love a Thinking Woman

Poem for Young Mothers

Womanhood Rite of Passage:

Bathroom Graffiti Queen by Opal Palmer Adisa, a review by Marvin X

Parable of Woman at the Well

Wounded in the House of a Friend—Sonia Sanchez, review by Marvin X

Part Three: For the Men

Men

Baby Boy: A Manhood Training Rite

Calling all Black Men

Abstract for the Elders Council

Youth

Abstract for a Youth Council

Memorial Day

Sex

Bitch Led Nigguhs

Toxic Love

How to Find a BMW (Black Man Working) Dr. Julia Hare

Part Four: Family

Parable of Family

Fahizah

Family II

Courtship: You Don’t Know Me

Parable of the Pit Bull

Getting Out

Marriage

Reconciliation

Malcolm and Betty, A Love Song

Malcolm’s Letter to Elijah

I Will Go into the City

Polygamy

The Other Woman

Confession of a Polygamist

Confession of a Wife Beater

I Shot Him

Testimony

Moment in Paradise

Polyandry

When I Think About the Women in my Life

Children

Parable of Children and the Catholic Church

Part Five: Rape and Violence

Partner Violence and Spirituality

Parable of Insecurity

The Dick and Gun

Parable of Rape

Rape and Mythology

VIP Nigguhs and Rape

Confession of a Rapist

Eldridge Cleaver, Confession of a Rapist

Woman Stoned to Death

Parable of a Gangsta

Beyond Gang Violence, toward Political Power

A Pan African Love Story

Parable of Pain

Anger Management During the Holidays

Part Six: Prostitution

Same sex marriage, straight men, prostitution

Dialogue on Prostitution

Pimpin

Fillmore Slim on Pimpin

The Maid, the Ho, the Cook

Negro Psychosocial Sexuality in the Post Crack Era

Pay the Ho to Go

Part Seven: Gay/Lesbian

Poetic Sexuality

The Prince of Peace and James Baldwin

Same Sex Marriage and Black Liberation

Love Letter to Gay and Lesbian Youth

Parable of Women without Men

Fable of Rooster and Hen

Part Eight: Creativity and Sexuality

Never Love a Poet

Poetic Sexuality

Poetics of Love

Parable of the Old Lovers

Part Nine: National Tour

Sacramento CA

Mississippi

Howard University, Washington, DC

Final Notes at Howard University

Comment from Philadelphia Locks Conference

Conclusion

Toward the Language of Love

Parable of the Moment

Letting Go

Joy and Happiness

Addendum

Is Mythology Porno? OPD Swoop Down on Marvin X

For Whites Only

Oakland Man Jacked in Sac by Youth for copy of MOP

Comment on a White Woman, Tim Wise

Fly to Allah, review by Johari Amini

Letter from Shawn Fabio

Black Bird Press

Approximately 400 pages

$49.95

Black Bird Press

1222 Dwight Way

Berkeley CA 94702

Negro Digest-Black World

Negro Digest/Black World: Exploring the Archive 1961-1975

Publisher John H. Johnson introduced Negro Digest in Chicago in 1942 as a new Reader's Digest type magazine for the African American community. In its early days, the publication was mainly a collection of reprinted articles concerning African American interests. While early sales reached up to 150,000 issues per month, the magazine's success was soon extinguished by Johnson Publication's new magazine, Ebony. Becoming an unprofitable venture, Negro Digest folded in 1951.

However, Negro Digest's early failure would not reflect its later success. As critic and poet Kaluma ya Salaam wrote, "for the publication of Black Arts creative literature, no magazine was more important than the Chicago based Johnson publication Negro Digest/Black World." The early 1960s marked a growing interest in black consciousness, writing, and art. In 1961, Johnson revived Negro Digest under editor and notable black intellectual Hoyt Fuller. The second incarnation of the magazine would be much different, transforming it from a catalogue of stories that regarded black interests into a vanguard publication that acted as a leading forum and voice in the Black Arts movement. Under Hoyt Fuller's guidance, the magazine underwent many changes, reporting on controversial issues such as Black Power and giving voice to local Chicago poets such as Haki Madhubuti (don l. lee) and Carolyn Rodgers, who probably would have otherwise been left unknown. The publication's eventual transformation into the more politicized and globally focused Black World marked its desire to act as not only a literary space for African Americans but Black people through out the world. Fuller wrote in a rare editorial note dated May 1970, that the magazine would aim to "routinely publish articles which will probe and report the conditions of peoples and their struggles throughout the Black World," with newfound mission of "guarding against the opportunists and charlatans who would exploit Black Art and Literature for their own gain and the spiritual and artistic colonization of Black people."

Negro Digest/Black World is a massive archive. While the first issues of Negro Digest from the 1940s and early 1950s shouldn't be forgotten, the rebirth of the magazine in the early 1960s is of great use to those studying histories of activism, Black Aesthetics (both literary and artistic, local and national), and historical reflections of the period. While there is a wealth of phenomenal material, navigating this archive can be an extremely difficult task because of its breadth and the variety of material. Luckily this resource is still very available at many libraries since it was so widely circulated and read during its lifetime. A renewed scholarly interest in these publications could have a profound effect on the way we conceptualize the Black Arts movement and black activism during this period because many scholars rely on the valuable yet overly authoritative texts like Black Fire. Excavating key works from Negro Digest/Black World illustrates its utility for scholars and enthusiasts of the period across all fields. Further exploration of this untapped resource could have a profound effect on the scholarly direction of this field and a renewed interest of literature during the period.

Engaging Negro Digest/Black World is much easier if one is familiar with the format throughout its years of publication. Often, the issues are built around a common theme; but regardless, they always concern themselves with some aspect of the black experience. There are annual poetry and theater issues, which highlight works by well-known artists and critics such as Amiri Baraka and Addison Gayle, as well as lesser-known participants in the movement. The general format of the issue is an editor's note, several stories, poems, or political essays pertaining to the general theme of the issue, and then the "regular features," which include "Perspectives (notes on books, writers, artists, and the arts)," Humor in Hue," (witty political comics about race by various black artists), and selected poetry.

Negro Digest/Black World is such a fascinating artifact because the content of each issue seems to evade rigid binaries of conservative/liberal, reactionary/radical, and instead functions as a forum for different issues and ideas that were unavoidable realities of the black public sphere. For example, the June 1967 issue of Negro Digest (which cost 35 cents) contains an excerpt from Black Skin White Masks by the extremely influential psychoanalyst Frantz Fanon entitled "Black Man, White Woman," while at the same time a piece by Martin Luther King Jr. called "Stand on War and Peace: Martin Luther King Jr. Explains." Issues of Negro Digest/Black World, such as the June 1967 issue, leave the magazine's political stance rather opaque, making it all the more interesting in reconstructing a historical and ideological sketch of the period.

In addition to the exposition of various viewpoints, the magazine was also a very real space for the performance of public debate. For instance, the debate from the November 1966 issue entitled "Black Power Symposium" is an invaluable piece for those who are interested in the feelings people had about Black Power before it became a widespread and arguably diluted concept. This particular debate features 12 different opinions ranging from Conrad Kent Rivers, founder of OBAC, to Anita Cornwell, a writer and former state employee, to Dudely Randall, founder of Broadside Press but also a librarian and poet. The sheer range of voices about this particular concept automatically points to how important this resource in constructing a historiography from an African American perspective. Another way debates manifest themselves were in articles often preceded (but not always) with the label "Perspective." A fascinating example is June Jordan's "White English: The Politics of Language," part of the August 1973 issue's "Focus on Language" feature, in which Jordan makes an extremely cogent appeal to readers about the importance of "black" English. At the end of the article, the political implications are amplified by the postscript that reads "Both her (June Jordan) award-winning teen novel His Own Where and Dry Victories, a history book, were written entirely in "Black Language." "One consequence," she writes, "is that the novel has been banned from the public schools of Baltimore Md." As this example illustrates, the magazine can be a host of literal debates or more conceptual and long running problems such as the one addressed by Jordan.

The political debates recordied in Negro Digest/Black World are of great importance, but this periodical also houses reproductions of rare artistic works and original aesthetic theory. For example, the June 1970 issue features an essay by Chicago poet and theorist Carolyn Rodgers entitled "The Literature of the Black: Feelings are Sense." While the essay is powerful on its own, it becomes even more valuable after Rodger's links to other black artists (she was a member of OBAC) becomes apparent. The dialogue about literary aesthetics is not simply being stated in the text, it flows as part of a longer-term dialogue throughout the magazine. In that sense, the periodical aspect of Negro Digest/Black World allows for the tracking of developing ideas and dialogue through the years. Another instance of a rare but extraordinary "find" in Black World is in the October 1971 issue article, "AfriCobra (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists): '10 in Search of a Nation." by Africobra artist Jeff Donaldson. Not only does this article contain the group's credo in the words of one of its most prominent member, but it also features a variety of rare images, such as Africobra member Jae Jarrell modeling her "revolutionary suit." This fascinating image has fallen almost completely into obscurity, only existing in this periodical's yellowing pages.

Negro Digest/Black World was published out of Chicago and therefore, whether intentionally or not, showcased local up-and-coming talent and political concerns of readers in the city. Since much of the activity of the late 1960s, particularly the Black Arts Movement, was occurring in the city of publication, the magazine is an excellent resource for those interested in the happenings in Chicago. This is particularly the case for studying OBAC. Often essays will be followed with a biographical sketch about the author, thus figuring out their location is a relatively simple task. It also, as illustrated by "Symposium on Black Power," can offer perspectives by local people, or otherwise unpublished works by authors such as Sam Greenly ("Sonny's Season" October 1971) or "Unpublished Poems by Conrad Kent Rivers," (September 1975). These are just a few artistic works that pertain to the local Chicago arts. There is also special attention paid to local issues that would resonate with the national African American community as well such as the statement "Fred Hampton: Martyr" by William E. Hampton in the May 1970 issue.

The best way to navigate Negro Digest/Black World is to either track down a particular article of interest (they are often cited but rarely republished) and explore the surrounding articles and issues or find a copy of Roots of Afrocentric Thought: A Reference Guide to Negro Digest/Black World 1961-1976 compiled by Clovis E. Semmes. While Semmes book is a slightly clumsy compilation, it seems to be the only way to sift through the material and get a short annotation about each article without actually having to approach the issues individually. Though this book seems obscure in subject matter, it is readily available in many large Chicago area libraries.

Despite the many treasures contained within the pages of Negro Digest/Black World, there is surprisingly very little secondary literature available on the magazine. Listed below are a few sources, however, this archive still remains under analyzed and underappreciated. Even the periodicals existence on microfilm is an uncertain reality, since it seems most libraries only recorded issues sporadically. Due to age and neglect, archival work with this resource seems to be a fleeting opportunity.

Selected Bibliography

Homage to Hoyt Fuller. Ed. Dudley Randall. Detroit: Broadside, 1984.

"From Negro Digest to Ebony, Jet and EM,Special Issue: 50 Years of JPC- Redefining the Black Image." Ebony March 1992.
A short history of Johnson Publications Inc's publications.

Negro Digest/Black World. Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company.

Salaam, Kaluma ya "Historical Overviews of the Black Arts Movement." http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/blackarts/historical.htm
An excellent resource for the study of Black Arts Poetry, this particular article highlights the importance of Negro Digest/Black World as a resource.

Semmes, Clovis E. Roots of Afrocentric Thought: A reference Guide to Negro Digest/Black World, 1961-1976. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1998.
ISBN: 0-313-29992-7
A reference guide that is extremely useful for navigating this periodical.

Semmes, Clovis E. "Foundations in Africana Studies: Revisiting Negro Digest/Black World, 1961." The Western Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 25, No. 4 (2001): 195-201.
One of the few pieces of scholarship about the history of the magazine

Son of Man, Proverbs by Marvin X, Harlem, 1968, Doug Harris photo

Fly to Allah, 1968, established Marvin X as one of the key poets of the Black Arts Movement and the father of Muslim American literature. See Dr. Mohja Kahf on Muslim American literature.

In the September, 1969, Negro Digest/Black World magazine, Chicago poet Johari Amimi reviewed Fly to Allah: Fly to Allah by Marvin X, is more than poetry--it is singing/song, it is meditation, it is spirit/flowing/flying, it is blackness celebrated, it is prophecy, it is life, is all of these things and more, beyond articulation. Brother Marvin X is flying us/our/selves to Allah....

During 1968-69, Marvin X lived underground in Harlem, resisting the Vietnam war. He worked at the New Lafayette Theatre in Harlem, serving as associate editor of Black Theatre magazine. His Harlem associates included Amiri Baraka, Larry Neal, Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, Don L. Lee, Sun Ra, Askia Toure, Milford Graves, Mae Jackson, Barbara Ann Teer. Ed Bullins was his host, along with the NLT family. He was also associated with Minister Farakhan and Akbar Muhammad at Mosque #7.

Godfather of Oakland Soul: Marvin X

"The Godfather of Oakland Soul: Marvin X" (Community Voices)

Paradise Love Mon, 13 Sep at 9:01pm

Marvin X

Marvin X! The X Man! The Godfather of Oakland Soul!

King Catalyst for the post Civil Rights, Black Arts Movement of the West Coast, simultaneously with his bi coastal literary arts buddy, Amiri Baraka of the east coast. The Senior Citizen General on the front lines against White Supremacy. Former crack addict who helped save himself and scores of others with his institution of The San Francisco Recovery Theater.

Former university professor and lecturer turned poet, patriarch, philosopher, prophet, psychologists, pastor and parablist at the Academy of da Corner in the heart of "The Town," on 14th and Broadway, where he holds office; not preaching to the choir, but to the common folk who come by seeking knowledge, solace and Father's Milk! Plato Negro, deemed by fellow Oakland play-wright, poet and icon, Ishmael Reed, the modern day Plato of Urban America, because of his school's similarity to the philosopher Plato's "Walkabout" schools in Athens of ancient Greece. Death row prophet Mumia Abu Jamal says, "Marvin X is a griot if there ever was one!"

More than just a Pan African and black nationalist, he's a World Sentinel of Human Decency who I would wager knows more about politics and has a keener, clearer and more humane perspective than most U.N. representatives. And if they had a chair in those hallowed halls for poets, and they should, my choice would be Marvin X!

Marvin's poetry and approach can be rather raw for some. And it may yet be a little early to fit him for a halo and sainthood. However, his current hottest selling of his dozens of books, which he churns out annually, rather monthly (according to the Last Poets, he writes a book a month!), not to mention his newly released $100 book, "The Parables of Plato Negro,"--his hottest is a chapbook called "The Mythology of the Pussy and the Dick." Wanda Sabir says his language knocks the socks off old ladies! Indeed, the title often times ruffles the feathers and suit collars of the bourgeois and academia (who Marvin sometimes accuses of not being able to get past linguistics and vernacular to save people's lives), but it is an honest account of how modern folk who try to claim ownership of people's sexual organs is causing many of the problems in the world and in relationships today, and have done so throughout history.

The message in this book is resonating on a grassroots level, like Eldridge Cleaver''s "Soul on Ice" did when it first came out, and has become a hit amongst urban youth who claim it helps them "step up their game" or realize that they have something - and are something - of value that deserves appreciation and respect. And the youth who otherwise don't read, do read this book and even squabble over ownership, as if it were black gold!

On a similar note, in one of his books of poetry he makes a hilarious and yet poignant point about how people get mixed up with each other intimately without ever getting to know one another. If I may paraphrase from memory: Last night we had sex ... but you don't know me. We're about to get married ... but you don't know me! We're going to have children .. .but you don't know me! We just had a fight ... but you don't know me! You're going to jail ... but you don't know me! We're getting a divorced ... but you don't know me!

Marvin's multitude of disciples include Ptah Allah El, who said, "Black studies went to college and never came home!" Wordslanger aka Ayodele Nzinga, director of the Thea Bowman Theater and founder of the Lower Bottom Playazz, and myself, Paradise, who was introduced to Marvin through one of his seminal classic poems, "Black history is World History."

Marvin can be reached and read on his websites, which has readers from all over the world. His newest project is touring with a local band of world class performing artists in a Readers Theater of parables from his new book, who were recently featured at the San Francisco Theater Festival.

Check out his books and book him and his reading group at these sites:

Black Bird Press News & Review
The Best of Dr. Marvin
YouTube
Parables, Fables, Musings Of Plato Negro By Marvin X

About Paradise Love

Paradise is an Oakland poet, party host, and creator of Midnight Fantasies on Blog Talk Radio (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/midnightfantasies). Visit him on Facebook! http://bit.ly/9KtqCM

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Expanded Version: Mythology of Pussy and Dick: Toward Healthy Psychosocial Sexuality

Monday, September 6, 2010

Mythology of Pussy and Dick Expanded

Coming Soon from

Black Bird Press

the expanded version

250 pages

A Marvin X Classic

Mythology of

Pussy and Dick

Toward Healthy Psychosocial Sexuality

Marvin X

Reader Comment

Brother and comrade Marvin,
Thank you for keeping me on the receivers list for your written works! I count myself among the privileged. As an artist i.e. truth teller-trail blazer you have always been cutting edge both in what you lived, experienced and the naked truth you bare in "emptying of Spirit out of itself" (as Hegel would put it) as did Trane's Offering. Very rare, and whether we all recognize it now or not we are fortunate to witness such openness and honesty, though it makes the smug uncomfortable in their fake comforts; show is the unessential masquerading as essential and therefore art as truth ripping off masks is often seen as dangerous expose.

I was reading Delores Nochi's Introduction to your new contribution, Mythology of Pussy and Dick: Toward Healthy Psychosocial Sexuality, and thinking of what she observed:

"Mythology of Pussy and Dick is a compilation of everything Marvin X has written on sexuality in America and the world. There are those who will miss this opportunity to receive wisdom from our brother because of the language he uses to describe the male and female anatomy, and his perceived objectification of women and men, and this is a tragedy because this information is crucial for men and women who are suffering from a psycho-linguistic crisis and inflicting actual violence upon lovers in their male/female and same gender loving relationships. These dysfunctional interactions are witnessed by children who are the next generation of couples... ..

I agreed with her and at the same time recalled the fate of those who preceded you in this undertaking - for instance the social scientist and psychologist Wilhelm Reich e.g. The Function of the Orgasm, Sexual Revolution and Sex-Pol [he was thrown into an American federal prison and his books burned in 1956, he died in an American prison in 1957 http://en.wikipedia/wiki/Book_burning#Wilhelm_Reich.27s_publications_.28by_U.S._Food_and_Drug_Administration.29

Also I thought of Lenny Bruce: Bruce served in the navy during World War II (1942-45) and began performing stand-up comedy in 1946. As he gained popularity in New York night clubs, his brand of comedy shifted from impersonations to free-wheeling monologues satirizing religion and politics. He released several comedy albums and appeared occasionally on TV, especially as a guest of Steve Allen and Hugh Hefner. In 1961 he was arrested after a performance in San Francisco and charged with obscenity. Bruce was acquitted, but for the next few years he was frequently in trouble with the law for using raw language on stage -- a no-no back then. In 1964 he was convicted of obscenity in New York and jailed for a few months (in 2003 Governor George Pataki posthumously pardoned him). http://www.answers.com/topic/lenny-bruce .

Delores' take on the depth and honest language of your work also made me remember the radical 60s and the writings of early contemporary feminists, such as the analysis of sexual biology by Anne Koedt The Myth of Vaginal Orgasm http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/CWLUArchive/vaginalmyth.html

But more directly your artistic style and the Avante-Garde revolutionary love and rebellion poetry and music of Archie Shepp - in particular his Blase http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpE9SN81H6E

So! Your latest contribution here is evidence that the struggle continues! Thanks and stay strong!

Lil Joe

Preface

After a life of failed relationships, I am now an authority on how to fuck shit up. But I also learned how to keep peace in the house by speaking the language of love and receiving it from my beloved. Call it the tone test, if you will, but the language of love will go a long way toward healthy male/female relations or any human relations.

My mother told me I didn’t need a wife but a maid, secretary and mistress. In the fourth quarter of my life, I must admit and confess I think Mom was right. After someone read my essay Creativity and Sexuality, they said we must keep a balance.

And this is true except for those like myself who manifest the addictive personality that consistently borders on the extreme, somehow missing that balance that provides the stability we need to survive and thrive in this turbulent world, now racing toward The End!

I am much like James Baldwin who said, “I had to live recklessly in order to live at all.” And it seems I am also like the Barakas who live with high drama. It is doubtful I would be able to live a life without drama, being the dramatist I am, although these days I try to stay in the no stress zone, yet drama finds me at every turn. I am fascinated with lesbians because interacting with them is so dramatic.

There is a natural dramatic tension when one desires what he can’t have! It’s a challenge, even greater than seeking a heterosexual woman, although she is fine with me, especially if she has mastered the language of love and doesn’t talk in a provocative language, i.e., don’t tell me to do shit. I don’t have to do a motherfucking thang!

As the Maid, the Ho, the Cook (see story inside) taught me, if you ask me right, in the right tone, I will do anything and everything, but if you come at me in a dictatorial manner that expresses domination, you can’t get nothing here! Matter of fact, I’ll do the opposite, as in kiss my ass.

Today, relationships are fragile at best because people are under great stress generally: will we have a job tomorrow, a house, a mate, sanity? So we can only take things one day at a time. Again, there is great insecurity among the people, thus relationships are enduring major stress.

Yet, we cannot get out of these human relationships because love is all there is, even living in the imagination will not suffice, ultimately, we must leave our dream state to encounter reality, and the reality is that we often connect with people with whom we know and don’t know, whom we love and don’t love, yet must love. It takes the same energy to love as to hate, same energy. My favorite song says, “The greatest thing you will ever learn is to love and be loved in return.”

--Marvin X

Introduction

by

Delores Nochi

Mythology of Pussy and Dick is a compilation of everything Marvin X has written on psychosocial sexuality in America and the world: domestic and partner violence, rape, honor killings, stoning of women, female genital circumcision, sexual anorexia, verbal and emotional abuse, manhood and womanhood rites of passage. There are those who will miss this opportunity to receive wisdom from our brother because of the language he uses to describe the male and female anatomy, his perceived objectification of women and men, and this is a tragedy because this information is crucial for men and women who are suffering a psycho-linguistic crisis and inflicting actual violence upon lovers in their male/female and same gender loving relationships. These dysfunctional interactions are witnessed by children who are the next generation of couples. They will emulate what they see elders enact.

The same people who dare judge his choice of words, his linguistic dexterity, are guilty of lingering in the comfort of their bedrooms watching shows on big screen TVs that depict graphic details of violence perpetrated against others, especially women, yet they call it entertainment. If children learn more from what they see than what we tell them, how will they process and act upon the continued sexual chaos that is manifested in our families and society?

The author has proven himself to be a leader and a teacher who has the best interest of the community at heart.Not only does he teach almost daily at his Academy of Da Corner, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland, but often on national book tours, speaking at such colleges and universities as Morehouse, Spelman, Howard, University of Arkansas, University of Virginia, Penn State, Temple University, Medgar Evers College, San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley, Laney and Merritt in Oakland. He speaks truth with language that can be understood by the least of us and the best of us. His credentials includes brief tenure at Fresno State University , 1969, University of California , Berkeley , 1972, Mills College , 1972, San Francisco State University , 1974, University of California , San Diego , 1975, University of Nevada , Reno , 1979.

He embraced the system and defied the system! Oriented in the Muslim tradition of polygamy or plural marriage (see his play In the Name of Love, Laney College Theater production 1981); he has conquered his own demons and held his own with associated intellectuals and psychopaths.See his memoir of Eldridge Cleaver: My friend the Devil, Black Bird Press, Berkeley, 1979--one of the funniest books in history! In the words of James Sweeney “…Courageous and outrageous, he walked through the muck and mire of hell and came out clean as white fish and black as coal.”

We all have war stories about relationships gone bad. The difference between Marvin X and the rest of us is that Marvin X has lived what he is writing about, survived it and is willing to talk about it, and holds nothing back, narrated in language that will grab your attention and cause an epileptic seizure!.Each story is rich with commentary which speaks to society’s attitudes about male/ female relationships: rape, athletes, toxic love, crack house sex, women without men, language of love, religious persecution of women (a woman stoned); gay and lesbian youth, same sex marriage, and much more…

His parables are ingenious commentary about events in real time. If you are a follower of his blogs, then you know with each daily entry he not only provides us with happenings locally and nationally, but walks us through events from a historical and global perspective.See www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com and www.parablesandfablesofmarvinx.blogspot.com.

Marvin X has chosen to sensitize our society by using words like pussy and dick. Language is fluid and if its primary use is communication, and if through words one fails to hit the target, then what is the point? It may be that the author is before his time, and in future generations, pussy and dick will become words of endearment, not relegated to the present negative connotations. Perhaps it will become a mantra chanted over and over as a pre-sex ritual. Why not? Lord knows we could use some more effective ways to get beyond reckless abandonment.

In his essay, The Maid, the Ho, the Cook, Marvin X demonstrates his tender side. Lil Joe describes this story as “One of the most beautiful pieces about real love I’ve ever read. The image of ‘crack-heads’ as scandalous and without human dignity is destroyed by Marvin’s recollection of this sister with whom he fell in love”. Because the object of MX’s affection is a whore, there are those, and you know who you are, who will lose the essence of this story which addresses real feelings and real interactions between a man and a woman. Perhaps, you have only loved when it was safe to do so. But all of us who have loved surely know that passion and feelings can at times be both spontaneous and unsolicited.

Is Marvin X the only courageous one among us who dares to “tell the truth and shame the devil”?

--Delores Nochi Cooper

NOI Archives Found

Early Nation of Islam documents found in Detroit

By JEFF KAROUB
Associated Press

A lawyer says more than 1,000 documents dating to the beginning of the Nation of Islam have been found in the attic of a home in Detroit, the city where the movement started.

Gregory Reed unveiled some artifacts Thursday at a Detroit mosque, including a rare 1933 signature of Nation of Islam founder W.D. Fard.

Reed says the documents reveal internal workings of the group founded on the ideals of black nationalism.

He says the boxes were discovered by an unidentified man whose family members were Nation of Islam "pioneers."

Reed says officials with the Chicago-based organization are aware of the documents and Reed's plans to display them at a proposed center.

A message was left today for Ashahed Muhammad, assistant editor for the Nation of Islam's newspaper.

Read more: Early Nation of Islam documents found in Detroit | freep.com | Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/article/20100827/NEWS01/100827047/1003/NEWS01/Early-Nation-of-Islam-papers-found-in-Detroit#ixzz0yxaINbQk

To Whom It May Concern:


Ayodele as actress, director and producer was consummate in her rendition of Opal Palmer Adisa's Bathroom Graffiti Queen. Since an actor can only excel when given a proper script, we must acknowledge the fine writing of Opal Palmer Adisa. But the actor takes the script to the next level of excellence and Ayo surpassed the script with her acting ability. A writer once described my writing as orgasmic. I must say the same about Ayo's acting in Queen.

Additionallly, I was totally pleased with the young men who delivered my first play Flowers for the Trashman.The Lower Bottom Playaz gave my drama the classical production it deserved after a half century in the Black Arts Movement.

We support Ayo's request for grant funds to continue her excellent work.

Sincerely,

Marvin X,
Chancellor,
Academy of Da Corner, Reader's Theatre
jmarvinx@yahoo.com
1222 Dwight Way, Berkeley CA 94702