Jim Crow North

Dad used to talk about Jim Crow South

Black Belt southl cotton curtain

he and moma used to chant n double a cp all night long

all day long n double a cp

n double a cp this n that

as a baby boy i used to think n double a cp was a person

i was three or four

watching my parents publish their black newspaper fresno voice

same office was their real estate business 1948

i thought jim crow was a man too

but he lived down south

not in central valley fresno

not in oakland when we moved there

but moma and daddy still talked about n double a cp in oakland

on sundays we drove to the berkeley hills

see how rich white folks lived

didn't excite me

i wanted to hear dad say we going to the black belt

fillmore fillmore

seemed like it was more exciting than west oakland

seemed like there was more energy on fillmore street

but 7th street was jumping too

but i loved driving down fillmore

bumper to bumper cars

horns blowing neon lights flashing

black people styling n profiling

pimping n simping

my brother ollie wanted to b a pimp

never wanted to b nothin else

never was

except a client in the department of corrections

they never corrected him

cya didnt

san quentin soledad folsome didnt

mcneil island didnt

he said he had to kill jim crow in prison

said if he didnt kill jim crow

jim crow was gonna kill him

no ifs ands r buts.

--marvin x

5/28/20