Marvin X's Five Hunid Dollar Book

Marvin X's Five Hunid Dollar Book!!!


Marvin X, Oakland's Plato Negro, according to fellow Oakland writer Ishmael Reed, shocked the literary world last year, 2010, when he released The Wisdom of Plato Negro, Parables/fables of Marvin X at the retail price of one hunid dollars.

People thought he'd lost his mind, but he laughed all the way to the bank. The limited edition sold out. Even now, Marvin doesn't have a personal copy. One brother bought seven copies to give away to friends. Many persons purchased the book on layaway.

Marvin X disdains book stores so his books are not available in stores, mainly at his Academy of da Corner, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland. The site outside of Rite Aid is his classroom/clinic where he does peer counseling based on his book How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy, A Pan African/13 Step Model. At the Academy he mentors and advises youth and adults. He calls the site a sacred space and no stress zone where people can gather to discuss the myriad problems affecting their lives, especially trauma, unresolved grief and male/female relations.

The author's Black Bird Press is too poor to mass produce his books, so he prints limited editions, sometimes less than a hundred before he goes to another title. According to the Last Poets, Marvin writes a book a month. While on a national book tour in 2009, he wrote a memoir of his friend Eldridge Cleaver in three weeks, posting each chapter daily on his and other blogs.

Last year, 2010, Marvin X became one of the most prolific authors in the world, completing eight titles, including guest editing the poetry issue of the Journal of Pan African Studies, an online journal of the Pan African Diaspora. People can download the journal for free (www.jpanfricanstudies.com).

Since he received no payment for editing the magazine, the Journal editors gave Black Bird Press permission to print a hard copy version. The print version is 475 pages, $49.95.

Yesterday, the print version hit the streets. When people saw the print edition, they exclaimed,
"Ok, Marvin, how much is it, $500.00?" Two people in a row asked the same five hunid dollar question. Now $500.00 sounds better than $50.00, so let me think about, the poet said to himself.

Before he changes his mind and ups the price, we advise loyal readers of his books to rush down to the Academy of da Corner at 14th and Broadway and get your autographed copy. Poetry lovers and persons seeking African consciousness will not be disappointed at the JPAS collection of poetry from around the world.

Bay Area Poets Read from
the Journal of Pan African Studies, Poetry Issue

Bay Area poets are represented in the journal: Ishmael Reed, Al Young, Opal Palmer Adisa, devorah major, Ayodele Nzingha, Phavia Kujichagulia, Kwan Booth, Ptah Allah El,Ghasem Batamuntu, Tureeda Mikell, Kilola Maisha, Nykimbe Broussard, Fritz Pointer, J. Vern Cromartie, Renaldo Ricketts, Niya X, Avotcja, Ramal Lamar and Marvin X.













Celebrating Release of the Poetry Issue, Journal of Pan African Studies





Celebrating Release of the Poetry Issue, Journal of Pan African Studies






A reading from the journal is being planned. For more information check Marvin X's blog: www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com or email him: jmarvinx@yahoo.com.