Art is the life blood of culture, the images, rhythms, sounds, words, colors, dances, songs, myths and rituals are reflections for the Man/woman in the Mirror, Michael told us. Remember the Time? Art and Culture is the collective memory bank. Continue your work, Kim. I love your students!
--Marvin X
Dear Marvin,
My
students love you. I have eighteen students who have never acted
before. They are performing excerpts from your work, Amiri Baraka,
Robert Alexander, Ben Caldwell, Carolyn Rodgers, George C. Wolfe, and
closing the show with Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On." We open the show
with Amiri Baraka's "SOS - Calling All Black People." A reporter from
the Merced Sun-Star showed up today. I think he was a bit surprised by
my students. The class consists of two bi-racial students, 13
Chicano/Latinos, and three Asians. One of the young men is reciting
Dudley Randall's "Ballad of Birmingham." He told the reporter that when
he first choose the piece the killing of innocent churchgoers in
Charleston had not happened. He felt saddened that a poem written so
long ago would sadly be so relevant. The students said their work
stands as a testament that "Black Lives Matter" and all lives matter.
One student broke down why Amiri Baraka's Dutchman was so important
now. I was so proud of them. They told me how much they had learned
from you. Thank you for coming to Merced and speaking to my students.
It meant a great deal to them.
Peace,
Kim
Marvin X during a recent lecture/discussion at the University of California, Merced. Students in Kim McMillan's Theatre and Social Responsibility class read to him Flowers for the Trashman, his first play written while an undergrad at San Francisco State University, 1964. The Drama Department produced Flowers for the Trashman. It appears in the anthology Black Fire and the BAM reader SOS.
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