Exhibit Marvin X presents Dr. J. Vern Cromartie

Poet June Jordan, UCB (RIP)

Dr. Barbara Christian, UCB (RIP)












Dr. VeVe Clark, UCB (RIP)

























Dr. J. Vern Cromartie, Chair of the Sociology program at Richmond's Contra Costa College, first read Marvin X at the age of 14, while growing up in Waycross, Georgia. The poet's writings have inspired him ever since.

When Marvin X taught drama at Oakland's Laney College, 1981, Dr. Cromartie took his class that produced In the Name of Love, a musical drama by the poet. His 2011 drama Mythology of Love is an updated version of the Laney production.

As part of his research, Dr. Cromartie presented a paper on Marvin X's brief tenure as a lecturer in the Black Studies Department at University of California, Berkeley, 1972. The department was purged of radicals like Marvin X and delivered to "tenured negroes" or "careerists" who teach a white supremacy version of black studies, a traditional academic approach that eliminates the community connection.

And yet when several black professors made their transitions due to the hostile work environment, their friends bemoaned the fact that these professors, June Jordan, VeVe Clark and Barbara Christian, were disconnected from community as well as working in a hostile, white supremacy environment. Dr. Nathan Hare, founder of Ethnic Studies, would say they suffered from the Addiction to White Spremacy Type II. See Marvin X's How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy, foreword by Dr. Nathan Hare, afterword by Ptah Mitchell El, Black Bird Press, Berkeley.


Dr. Cromartie documents Marvin's trials and tribulations as a lecturer in the UCB hostile environment. Marvin lectured with only an A.A. degree but was supposedly banned from teaching at Fresno State University in 1969 because he wasn't qualified, though no degree is required to teach in the college and/or university system. The real reason Gov. Ronald Reagan told the State College Board of Trustees to get Marvin off campus was because he had refused to fight in the Vietnam war. After two exiles, Marvin X was deported from Belize, Central America and returned to America. He spent five months at Terminal Island Federal Prison.

A poet himself, Dr. Vern will also read his poems dedicated to the Master Poet, called the USA's Rumi (Bob Holman) and Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland (Ishmael Reed). Rudolph Lewis says, "He's one of America's great storytellers, maybe second to Mark Twain. Of course, I'd place Marvin X ahead of him even."

Dr. Cromartie's lecture/discussion/reading is Saturday, February 11, 7pm, Black Bird Press Publishing House, 1222 Dwight Way, Berkeley. Seating is limited, call 510-575-2225 for reservations.
Dr. Oba T'Shaka, professor emeritus, Black Studies, San Francisco State University

Norman Brown, Community Organizer

On February 18, Dr. Oba T'Shaka and community organizer Norman Brown will discuss the John Douimbia papers (part of Exhibit Marvin X). John Douimbia was a mentor to Marvin X, Oba T'Shaka and Norman Brown. He was a voice in the Bay Area civil rights and black power movement. In 1980, Marvin X planned and organized the Black Men's Conference at the direction of John Douimbia, who had long seen the need for a secular organization of black men, had even presented the idea to his Harlem hustling buddy, Malcolm X after he joined the Nation of Islam. As we know, Malcolm followed John's concept after breaking from the NOI. He formed the Organization of Afro-American unity. If possible, this discussion may be joined by Will Ussery and Charlie Walker, two additional associates of John Douimbia. Will Ussery was the leader of CORE and a director of the poverty program. Charlie Walker is a businessman and social activist.
Charlie Walker, businessman,
social activist, "mayor of hunters point," and close friend of former
SF Mayor Willie Brown.