Tuesday, February 14, 2017
A Poem by Marvin X: What is Love
What is Love by Marvin X
hWhat is Love
What is love
only kisses hugs
what is love
only meetings of minds
what about times
when minds
do not meet
is love
not present
in the air
in the blood
of loving souls
too ignorant
to know the test
of love
the many ways
it strives to be and not be
yet
is always and forever
not always tender
sometimes
rough and sharp
like a razor
cutting to the heart
love is pain
we take to grow
be strong again
tears in the night
alone again
we find ourselves
wondering if love
was even real
yet it was
if we see
if we look
beyond romantic notions
of everything is cool
always with love
but we know
the blues of love
when we miss the words
from lips so tender with truth
but we miss them
in haste to be the authority on love
yet love has been around
since eternity
and will stay
when lovers have gone away
it will stay
in spite of all the tears
fights
verbal bouts
come backs
gimme my keys
why don't you call
don't you still care
why did you go
do you really love her
or really love him
after all the time we shared
how could you do this to me
after all I did for you in the night
what is love
sometimes we must enjoy the hurt pain
to grow
be wise again
do it better next time
correct mistakes
try again this time
with God
in the center of things
but try
for love is precious
time is short
life must be lived
with joy
somehow
through it all
let joy arise
take control of love.
--Marvin X
8/3/04
from Land of My Daughters, poems, Marvin X, Black Bird Press, 2005
Friday, February 10, 2017
Breaking the stalemate over the Black Arts Movement Business District
By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
The last couple of times we were all together, we were
discussing the possibilities of a special district in the downtown area of
Oakland dedicated to promoting and supporting Black arts, business, and
entertainment (“Imagine A Special District In Downtown Oakland Highlighting
Black Arts, Business, And Entertainment”,
as well as the evolution of the efforts to create such a district (“A Tale Of
Two Visions: Oakland’s Downtown Black Business And Arts District”).
Where we left off the story, the Oakland Black Arts Movement
and Business District (BAMBD) had split into two factions, one under the
control of the City of Oakland, and a second one operated by a Black citizens coalition
headed by Oakland poet and playwrite Marvin X and Lower Bottom Playaz theater group founding
director Ayodele Nzinga, with some assistance in the background by Oakland Post publisher Paul Cobb. Adding
to the confusion is that both the city and the Black citizens coalition are
using the same name to describe their respective organizations—Black Arts
Movement and Business District—and, in addition, the Black citizens coalition
BAMBD is now openly feuding with District Three Councilmember Lynette
McElhaney, with whom they had originally worked to set up the city-authorized
version of BAMBD in the first place.
While this seems like one of those difficult Oakland-type knots to undo,
actually it’s not, not if one recognizes what two major mistakes were made that
led to the current split and impasse in and between the BAMBD(s).
Major mistake number one was when Councilmember McElhaney’s Black Culture
Keepers Advisory Group voted to changed their recommendation for the name of
the downtown Black business and arts district, including “Black Arts Movement” in
that recommended name, the Oakland City Council going along with that
recommendation when they set up the official name of the city-sponsored
district.
\
\
Major mistake number two was when the Marvin X/Nzinga/Cobb group adopted
the name of the now officially-created City of Oakland entity—the Black Arts
Movement and Business District—for their own organization, taking actions,
publishing a newsletter, and negotiating with various developer interests in
that name.
As for the first major mistake, let’s not get it twisted. Honoring and
acknowledging the history and impact of the original 1960’s-1970’s Black Arts
Movement ought to be an important part of the city’s newly-formed Black
business and arts district, and any newly-formed organization using the Black
Arts Movement name has every right to be included as part of that district.
However, honor and inclusion, as opposed to incorporation into the name of the
district, are two entirely different things.
Let’s state the obvious. Including the Black Arts Movement
name in the name of the district itself gives the impression that the City of
Oakland believes that the Black Arts Movement was the most important—even the exclusive—arts
component of the long history of African-descendant people in Oakland. This
automatically leaves out in the cold all those African-American and African and
African-Diasporan artists in Oakland who were not a part of the Black Arts Movement or do not agree with that
movement’s goals and ideology.
And from reading the first two clauses of the resolution authorizing the
creation of the Black downtown business and arts district, its clear that the
City Council intended for the district to be inclusive rather than exclusive to
only one group, or even one segment of Oakland’s African-descendent community:
“WHEREAS, the Black
community occupies a central place in Oakland's cultural, economic, social and
political development and as such their historical and continuing achievements
deserve official recognition as vital and meaningful contributions to the evolving
fabric of Oakland's society; and
“WHEREAS, the Black
community is inclusive of multiple distinct communities of color including but
not limited to African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, and Africans.”
The use of the name “Black Arts Movement”—which describes a specific
organization and historial period as well as ideology instead of something which
takes in the great breadth of the entire African, African-American,
Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Brazilian, and other Afro-Diasporan accomplishment in the
arts in and around Oakland—would, therefore, seem to be directly at odds with
the stated purpose of the newly-formed Black business and arts district.
That, then, was the first major mistake that led to the current problems
in the downtown Black district.
The second major mistake, as I said, was the adoption of that official
name by the Black citizens coalition led by Marvin X and Ayodele Nzinga and
Paul Cobb and moving forward to doing business in that name.
Here, some of the resulting problems seem to be both obvious and
inevitable.
An organization adopts a name in order to develop a distinct brand and
identity, so that someone comes across that name, they will immediately
associate it with the goals and accomplishments of the group or business to
which that name is attached.
In that regard, a group adopting a name already set aside by an official
city agency for its own use—such as the Marvin X/Nzinga/Cobb group has
done—automatically confuses the actions and intentions of the group with the
city agency. While the city-sponsored district remains dormant and on the
drawing board, the only confusion that occurs is that many people are led to
believe that the Black citizens’ BAMBD is actually doing its business on behalf
of the official city-sponsored BAMBD. But that confusion would spread back in
the other direction once the city-sponsored BAMBD actually began operations, so
that the Black citizens’ BAMBD would get the blame for any detrimental actions
taken by the official city BAMBD.
It would be like a citizens police watchdog group adopting “Oakland
Police Department” as its name.Why would any organization want to voluntarily
take on that burden of confusion?
Worse than that, any good actions taken by the Black citizens’ BAMBD
might end up not going to their benefit, but to the benefit of the official
city-sponsored BAMBD. One of the most successful activities the Marvin
X/Nzinga/Cobb version of the BAMBD—or, at least, the one they appear to take
the most pride in—has been negotiating community benefits packages with
developers seeking Oakland city permission to build projects in the downtown
area.
All benefits won by the citizens’ group in those negotiations are
accruing in the name of the Black Arts Movement Business District. The Black
citizens’ BAMBD appears to believe that once the development projects are
approved and built and it comes time to deliver on those benefits, the benefits
will go to the Black citizens’ BAMBD. However, there is a great danger that
when it is time for those benefits to be given out, they will be given out not
to the Black citizens’ BAMBD but to the official city-sponsored BAMBD, since
any developer entering such agreements could quite plausibly argue that this
was their understanding of the intent of those agreements.
Finally, the appropriation of the official name of the city’s Black
business and arts district by the Black citizens’ group may be one of the
reasons why city actions on setting up the district has stalled for a full year.
City officials may be reluctant to move forward with a city function whose
activities will be immediately confused with a citizens organization that is
openly feuding with the Councilmember who helped create the district in the
first place.
So can this confusing stalemate between the official city BAMBD and the
citizens’ BAMBD be resolved?
Yes, actually, and without as much difficulty as one might imagine.
Aside from the two BAMBDs figuring out a way to work together—a somewhat
unlikely occurrence at this point—the simplest way to resolve the problem is
for one of the two entities to change their name.
Some might argue that it’s the Black citizens’ BAMBD which should do so,
since the city’s official adoption of that name gives it the legal preference.
I’d argue otherwise, however. Regardless of who has the legal claim to the
BAMBD name, it is the citizens group which has done almost all of the work
under that name, defining it by their actions. They, therefore, have established
the best and most practical claim to the BAMBD name.
As for the City of Oakland, it has no special attachment to the name
Black Arts Movement Business District. The district’s name was changed once already
before formal adoption by the Oakland City Council, from the Black Business and
Arts District to the current BAMBD, and—since no formal city activities have
been undertaken under that name since it’s adoption—the City Council could
easily change the district’s name again to something else by a simple amendment
to the original Council resolution setting up the district.
And it should. The Black citizens’ BAMBD can keep its name and
the important affiliation with the Black Arts Movement, the Black Arts Movement
can be an important part of the newly-formed city district, though not the only part, and the city can move forward
with the district under a new name. (I can suggest one, if anyone is
interested.) And, as Don Barzini said in The
Godfather, “there will be the peace.”
It’s time to break the impasse and move this important
project forward.
______________________________________________________
FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH, GIVE SOMEONE (OR YOURSELF) THE GIFT OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY
SUGAREE RISING
A Book Of Spirit And Sruggle From The South Carolina Swamplands
By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
In the Oakland, California area, available at Marcus Books and the Laurel Bookstore
Available online at abebooks.com and amazon.com
Oakland Black History Walk in the BAMBD
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Thursday, February 9, 2017
Black Pussy Matters by Lorraine Toussaint
Black Pussy Matters
Our
pussies, Black pussies, have been on the front line for a very long time.
02/06/2017
Actress, Lifestyle Expert
Jenny Matthews via Getty Images
My pussy did not wake up last
Saturday morning, put on a pointy pink pussy hat, jump on a train to downtown,
to march in the Women’s March. My pussy was fucking scared. Scared that some
crazy, redneck motherfucka might-could-more easily pick my Afro-power pussy out
of the crowd and clearly know that I was not a Trumper. I was scared that if I
took my daughter along, she would be hurt. So I let my pink pussy sisters vet
that rally before I exposed me and my baby to some shit I couldn’t handle. Am I
proud of that? I’m not sure. But that’s reason #1.
Reason #2, My pussy isn’t pink. All
the recent hype about “pussy power” I see... y’all there is a vast difference
between White girl pussy and Black woman pussy... and n’er the twain shall
meet. I am a little irritated by the new flaunting of White girl pussy power.
This is not about bearing the Brazilian-waxed, vaginally enhanced,
“wouldn’t-you-just-love-to-fuck-me?”, man manipulating, douched and dipped,
Victoria-revealing-all-her-damn-secrets pussy power on parade. My pussy is not
pink! It does not wear a pink hat! And while the power of my pussy does emanate
from between my ears, it is anything but a pink fad.
The other thing my pussy can do is
sniff out pussy that’s passin’. Faking the funk, as it were. Don’t get me
wrong. I love that we women are seemingly joining forces. Focusing our pussy
power for the greater good of this nation, of this planet. But as a Black
woman, I have a hard time identifying with this new trend. What is this new
found “pussy power” based on? Because I gotta tell ya, there is not greater
power in the universe than pussy power. There is no life without pussy. We
slide out at birth and belly crawl back into her at death. Pussy is God. So
yes, pussy power can heal and kill and love and roar. Pussy power can stop
global warming and AIDS and feed the hungry and stop wars.
But pussy power is not new to Black
women! Our pussies have not had the luxury of sitting pretty on a pedestal for
all to worship and admire. Homage has not been paid to our pussies. We have not
spent inordinate amounts of time plucking and plumping and pruning and
polishing up our pussies as the ultimate prize to be rewarded to the victor.
No. Black pussies have been under siege. Our pussies have worked and slaved and
pulled and hauled. Black pussy has birthed and bled and begged and buried our
children. Our pussies have loved and lifted and held and hid our men so deep
they are still groping in the dark, trying to find their way out. No, our pussies
have not been revered. They’ve been too busy humping and grinding to keep our
families, our people alive.
So when I look on at the throngs of
women in pink hats, fighting for their rights and talking about pussy power,
many of whom have only just recently come into their pussy power, I have a hard
time identifying with them. Black women’s pussies have been fighting for our
lives. Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful and proud that my White sisters are
feeling the power of the pussy, ‘cause that shit is goooood! But
this is not a passing fad. To own and hold and harness and direct true pussy
power is not for the faint of heart. It’s gonna take Amazon warrior pussy to
bring about change.
I hope this new movement will not
make blind assumptions that all pussies are alike and therefore united. Because
our pussies, Black pussies, have been on the front line for a very long time.
And we have not been flaunting her or wearing hats on her, or hashtagging her,
or hanging slogans out of her. We have quietly and powerfully been honing and
harnessing our pussy power to do the work. Unlike the Suffragette Movement
which was created to insure the rights of white women, this political
climate requires conscious inclusion. It will not survive the
hubris, entitlement, and ignorance still prevalent in the dominant
culture. It would behoove this new “women’s movement” to consciously expand its
awareness to consult and include black women. The Power of the Pussy is in our
DNA. Black Pussy Matters.
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Mythology of Pussy and Dick
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by
Marvin X
Preface
By Marvin X
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. 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.”
*
* * * *
Foreword
Sexuality is
determined by biology and social psychology. In the
socialization of humans, mythology plays a critical role
in manhood and womanhood training rites. Mythology lies
in the deep structure of the mental process, yet
mythical notions, stories, tales, ideas, values are
clearly present in the surface structure of human
behavior. Ritual behavior is simply the enactment of
mythology, the stories of the tribe, the values, mores,
manners, morals. Myths prescribe the acceptable and the
forbidden, the sacred and the profane.
Of course the
Shaman often transcends tribal mythology to extend the
narrative, take it to a higher level, much like a
Coltrane solo, or a Miles Davis tune, connected to the
past but very much into the present and future, the
unknown, into the space of fear and dread, and yet it is
beautiful, if we go there with Trane, Miles, Dolphy. So
mythology must be fluid, dynamic. There comes a time
when old myths must be discarded, thrown into the
dustbin of history. And so it is with the patriarchy or
myth of male domination.
In the
patriarchal or male dominated society, men are taught
they own women, that women are their personal property
or chattel real, as opposed to real estate, i.e., land,
buildings. Isn't it ironic that a people who are
descendants of chattel slaves would continue in the
tradition upon liberation, that they would perpetuate
relationship slavery, i.e., marriage, girlfriend,
boyfriend?
I don't
want to own nobody and surely don't want anyone to own
me. Imagine, the other day a brother said, "My pussy is
at home!" We tried to tell him, first of all, he doesn't
have a pussy, his woman has a pussy, so his pussy ain't
at home. And imagine when he arrives home and "his
pussy" is gone. When he locates "his pussy" will he be
happy, sad, angry, violent, for why wasn't his pussy at
home, why did it leave, or does it have the right to
leave? Maybe the sister was with her friends, telling
them, "Damn, ya'll, I got to go home to give that nigguh
some pussy." They reply, "Girl, you ain't gotta do that,
that's yo pussy, girl!"
In this
atmosphere, women can be verbally, emotionally, and
physically abused. They can be beaten and killed for
violating the man's so-called ownership of their bodies,
minds, and souls.
Clearly,
there is absolutely no difference in a woman stoned to
death in a Muslim society and shot to death in a
Christian society because of her supposed adultery
and/or infidelity. Of course, these days women are
shooting the men to death for their freedom of
expression or so-called sexual transgressions.
The man
is more often than not afforded hero status in Muslim
and Christian society for executing "honor killings"
because he was disrespected by "his" woman. These days
women are exercising their right to retaliate on the man
for his indiscretions since marriage myths and rites
suggest ownership by both parties, though man has the
ultimate authority in the patriarchal society.
Women
are now attending court mandated anger management
classes and receiving convictions for assault and or
homicide in the killing of their mates, all in the name
of love. Tina asked what does love have to do with it? I
ask, what kind of love is this—and if this is love I
don't want it!
If we
are to move toward healthy psychosocial sexuality, we
must examine the myths we live by. We may discover these
myths are toxic, reactionary, and detrimental to our
psychosocial health. We may need to transform and
radicalize these myths/rituals in the light of modernity
and post modernity or the new millennium.
In the
present era of spiritual consciousness, we cannot behave
as cave men and women. We cannot continue rearing little
cave children whose behavior befits the Stone Age,
bereft of compassion, willing to kill at the drop of a
hat because someone dissed them, especially their
girlfriend who gave up "her pussy" to a friend or
stranger.
We must
jump out of the box of ignorance, jealousy, envy,
religiosity, narrow mindedness, insecurity and the world
of make believe. We do not own other human beings. This
is called slavery by any word. Partners, boyfriends,
girlfriends, husbands, wives, must dispel and discard
mythical notions of ownership and domination.
Our
bodies are the temple of God, not the property of
another. No attachments but to God! We are slaves or
servants of God, Abdullah (we are all Abdullah, the
servant of God). This is the attitude of radical
spiritual consciousness. No one owns us but God. Our
life and death are for God. We are thus free to do as we
will since we exist in God and God exists in us. We are
indivisible from God, thus we are God, we are Divine.
Man is divine, woman is divine. We are equal beings in
the temple of God and the temple of God is the universe,
and all in creation is of God, by God and for God.
If you
desire to surrender yourself to your beloved, this is
your rite/right. In love, it is indeed all for the
beloved, love is the annihilation of self for the
beloved. Yes, we lose our "self" in the beloved. In my
play One Day in the Life, Karima says, "I sacrificed
everything for you, but you blew it buddy, I'm through
with you!"
We pray
you shall do the will of God in your relationships. If
you don't, no one can judge you but God, especially the
God in you or the self accusing spirit! Certainly, no
one has the right to beat or kill you, stone you to
death, shoot you in the head. Nor does anyone have the
right to verbally or emotionally abuse you because of
your behavior that may, from time to time, cross the
line of propriety. And as per sexual transgressions,
pussy and dick ain't nothing but a muscle, so why are
you tripping over flesh, a muscle?
Your
pussy belongs to you, your dick belongs to you and you
alone. It is attached to you, not your boyfriend,
girlfriend, partner, husband, wife, lover, trick! Human
beings are subject to do anything during the course of a
day, and you are free to do so. Vows of fidelity must be
thrown into the dustbin of history, along with Santa
Claus, the Easter bunny, and the return of a dead man
after two thousand years.
If you
persist in your wretchedness, ignorance and world of
make believe that you own someone's pussy and dick, your
mental health shall suffer along with the general
condition of society that is rapidly heading to the
precipice as we write. The mental hospitals, prisons and
jails shall remain full of those partner abusers guilty
of assault and/or homicide.
We urge
you to free yourself from the prison of your mind based
on primitive mythological notions of ownership and
domination. Indeed, love the one ya wit, but you don't
own them. You can't force them to do anything.
Why
can't we just get along, Rodney King asked? Why can we
love and be loved in return? Why must we be ugly to each
other, especially in the name of love? Why can't we love
without the negativity? Why must we hurt the one we
love, and yet, as Dr. Nathan Hare says, there can be no
master without one willing to be the slave. Just as I
cannot love you unless you allow me to love you, I
cannot hurt you unless you allow me to hurt you.
Love
begins with self love. If and when you don't love
yourself, you cannot love someone else. You can fake the
funk for a time. But if you don't know yourself, you
cannot know your partner and mate. You can be with them
twenty, thirty and forty years, but you don't know them.
This is why couples break up after ten, twenty, thirty
years together. They never knew each other, they were
faking the funk, but the funk caught up with them. Yes,
there was abuse because in their ignorance they first
abused themselves, then abused their mate or partner
simply because they never followed their own bliss or
purpose as Joseph Campbell taught us. Nancy Wilson said,
"I Never Been To Me!"
Indeed,
life is about getting to the real you, your mission and
purpose. When you cannot achieve this, in your
frustration, you are bound to oppress and dominate your
mate and those you love. Sadly, you have been programmed
by the American or Western mythology of Christianity and
Capitalism. You are thus the man and woman in the box.
You may deny you are in the box, yet your very existence
, and clearly your behavior with your mate is evidence
you are inside the box of Christianity and Capitalism.
In short, you are a slave, albeit a free slave, but a
slave none the less. In turn, you desire to enslave your
mate and children—Capitalism has programmed you to
desire cheap trinkets, things and more things,
conspicuous consumption, materialism, the world of make
believe.
Yet with
all your materialism, you have not followed your bliss,
you are totally devoid of spiritual consciousness. You
may be religious, yet your practice of religion is a
desire for prosperity that would be alien to Mary's
baby! You do not desire to liberate the captives, help
the poor, the broken hearted, the hungry, the homeless.
You are arrogant and wicked wearing your rocks, animal
skins and plastic clothes. Yet you are not happy, nor is
your mate. Even your children are little assholes,
ungrateful bastards!
You hide
the pain by medicating yourself with drugs, sex, video
and internet games, religiosity and other escapism from
your life of nothingness and dread.
We pray
one day you shall awaken and throw off the chains on
your brain, throw off the oppressive mythology of
Christianity and Capitalism, or any other oppressive
religion, including Islam, or any ideology that promotes
pie in the sky or other worldism, escapism from facing
reality with a radical agenda that is about seizing
power from the blood suckers of the poor, the global
bandits who promote the world of make believe.
How can
you be at peace with yourself and your mate while you
enjoy the benefits of a society that spends a trillion
dollars per year to commit mass murder around the world
to perpetuate a world of make believe, to keep people
deaf, dumb and blind, consuming trinkets that send them
directly to Yacoub's workers: the doctor, nurse and
undertaker.
It is
this mythological psychosocial order that has you drunk
with thinking you must own and oppress somebody,
especially those you supposedly love and cherish. Jump
out of the box—free yourself, your mate and your
children. Strive toward a radical spirituality that
oppresses no one, but frees everyone. Love should not be
slavery. Free your mind, free your mate, free humanity.
9
September 2010
*
* * * *
Introduction
By Delores Nochi Cooper
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 partner relations including, same
gender loving person relationships, and 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. 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 the finest institutions in America : 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. 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 you an epileptic seizure!.
Each story is rich
with commentary which speaks to society’s attitudes
about male and 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
commentary about events in real time is ingenious. If
you are a follower of his blog, 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.
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 for a whore, but 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”?
* * * *
To get your
copy of
Mythology of Pussy and Dick
Marvin X is putting
the finishing touches on the expanded version of his
Mythology of Pussy and Dick: Toward Healthy
Psychosocial Sexuality. In its pamphlet form, this
is the most stolen book in history! We urge you to buy
two copies, one to hide and one for your coffee table so
your friends can easily steal it! Approximately 400
pages, $49.95.
Black
Bird Press
339 Lester Ave., Suite 10
Oakland CA 94606
mxjackmon@gmail.com
credit card orders
510-200-4164
* * *
* *
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