Black Arts Timeline, revised by Marvin X

We revised this timeline, especially for West Coast inclusion. How can we discuss the BAM timeline without mentioning SoulBook, Black Dialogue, Journal of Black Poetry and Black Scholar magazines? Further, BAM included West Coast personalities as well as east coast, south and midwest persons. Some persons were bicoastal. Some entries in this timeline are indeed a part of Black literature but not in the spirit of BAM or the Black Arts Movement, thus this timeline can be very misleading and revisionist.--Marvin X

A Black Arts Timeline, 1962 - 1976

1962: Marvin X, Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Ernie Allen meet as students

at Oakland's Merritt College. Soulbook Magazine appears. Donald Warden's Afro-American Association is vital in the Black consciousness movement in

the Bay. Ron Karenga was a member of the AAA and the Los Angeles rep.

1964

Marvin X attends San Francisco State College. Negro Student Association becomes Black Student Union. Marvin X's first play Flowers for the Trashman produced by the drama department. Black Dialogue magazine produced by SFSU students; Journal of Black Poetry published by Joe Goncalves.
1965: 
Malcolm X is assassinated in Harlem on Feb. 21. Poet, essayist Larry Neal witnesses the murder.
The Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School opens in Harlem in April.
Broadside Press is created by Dudley Randall in Detroit, Michigan.
"A Poem For Black Hearts" (tribute poem for Malcolm X) by Amiri Baraka published in Negro Digest.
"Black Art" (audio) by Amiri Baraka is released on Sonny Murray's album Sonny's Time Now.

1966:

Marvin X and Ed Bullins establish Black Arts West Theatre in the Fillmore District of SF.A fourth published version of Robert Hayden’s “Middle Passage” appears in his Selected Poems.
"Black Art" by Amiri Baraka is published in the January issue of Liberator.
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense is founded.
John Oliver Killens organizes a black writers conference at Fisk University in Nashville in April.
Jubilee by Margaret Walker published.
Black Writers Conference takes place at Fisk University.
Black Arts Convention takes place in Detroit.

Founding of the Black Panther Party in Oakland CA.

Staff of Black Dialogue Magazine visits Black Culture Club at Soledad Prison. This club is the beginning of

the American prison movement. Club was chaired by Eldridge Cleaver and Alprentis Bunchy Carter.

1967: 

Marvin X and Eldridge Cleaver establish The Black House, a political/cultural center in San Francisco.John Coltrane dies July 17, and quickly becomes a frequent subject of tribute for black poets.
Third World Press is created by Haki Madhubuti in Chicago, Illinois.
For Malcolm: Poems on the Life and Death of Malcolm X edited by Dudley Randall & Margaret Burroughs pub.
Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC) paints Wall of Respect mural in Chicago
Second Black Writers Conference takes place at Fisk University.
Second Black Arts Convention takes place in Detroit.
Negro Digest runs special issue on poetry (dedicated to the memory of Langston Hughes) in September.

1968: 
Martin Luther King assassinated, April 4.
Poet Henry Dumas is killed May 23, New York City Transit Authority police officer.
“The Black Arts Movement” (essay) by Larry Neal is published in special issue of The Drama Review.
Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing edited by Baraka and Neal published.
Dark Symphony edited by James A. Emanuel and Theodore Gross published.
Black Writers Conference takes place at Fisk University
Negro Digest publishes survey results focusing on black writers and the topic “a black aesthetic.”
Negro Digest runs special issue on poetry in September.

Marvin X leaves exile in Toronto, Canada, goes underground to Chicago, connects with Chicago Black Arts Movement. After assassination of Dr. MLK, arrives in Harlem, works at the New Lafayette Theatre as associate editor of Black Theatre Magazine; also, connects with Ed Bullins, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Sun Ra, Larry Neal, Askia Toure, Last Poets, Nikki Giovanni. Publishes Fly to Allah, seminal work of Muslim American literature.
Dr. Nathan Hare publishes Black Scholar Magazine.
1969:
Nikki Giovanni has a book party promoting Black Judgement; receives coverage in the Times.
Carolyn Rodgers's essay “Black Poetry--Where It's At” appears in Negro Digest in September.
Pissstained Stairs and the Monkey Man's Wares by Jayne Cortez
Ebony mag., special “The Black Revolution” issue, includes profile on Baraka and poetry essay by L. Neal.
Negro Digest runs special issue on poetry in September.
Marvin X banned from teaching at Fresno State College; Angela Davis banned from teaching at UCLA; Eldridge

Cleaver banned from UC Berkeley; Dr. Nathan Hare banned from San Francisco State college as first Chair of a Black Studies program in the US. BSU organizes longest student strike in US history at SFSU.
1970:
Prophets for a New Day by Margaret Walker published.
We a Baddddd People by Sonia Sanchez published.
Cables to Rage by Audre Lorde published.
I am a Black Woman by Mari Evans published.
3000 Years of Black Poetry edited by Alan Lomax and Raoul Abdul published.
Soulscript edited by June Jordan published.
Black Out Loud: An Anthology of Modern Poems by Americans edited by Arnold Adoff published.
The Black Woman edited by Toni Cade Bambara published.
The Third Life of Grange Copeland by Alice Walker published.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou published.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison published.
Negro Digest becomes Black World magazine in May.
Black World runs special issue on poetry in September.

1971:
Festivals and Funerals by Jayne Cortez published.
Nikki Giovanni records Truth Is On Its Way with the New York Community Choir.
Jump Bad: A New Chicago Anthology edited by Gwendolyn Brooks published.
To Gwen With Love: An Anthology Dedicated to Gwendolyn Brooks edited by Patricia Brown published.
The Black Poets: A New Anthology edited by Dudley Randall published.
Black Literature in America edited by Houston Baker published.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest Gaines published.
Black World runs special issue on poetry in September.

1972:

Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed published.
Black Spirits: A Festival of New Black Poets in America edited by Woodie King published.
Early Black American Poets edited by William H. Robinson published.
Black Writers of America: A Comprehensive Anthology edited by Richard Barksdale and Keneth Kinnamon pub.
New Black Voices: An Anthology of Afro-American Literature edited by Abraham Chapman published.
Black World runs special issue on poetry in September.
Marvin X and Sun Ra produce Marvin X's musical Take Care of Business at San Francisco's Harding Theatre, a five hour production without intermission, with a cast of fifty dancers, actors and musicians. 

1973:
Understanding the New Black Poetry edited by Stephen Henderson, published.
Sula by Toni Morrison published.
The Poetry of Black America: An Anthology of the 20th Century edited by Arnold Adoff published.
Black World runs special issue on poetry in September.
Margaret Walker organizes the Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival at Jackson State University.

1974:
Celebrations & Solitudes (recording) by Jayne Cortez (with bassist Richard Davis)
The Black Book edited by Middleton Harris published.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is broadcast on CBS.
Keeping the Faith: Writings by Contemporary Black American Women edited by Pat Crutchfield Exum pub.
My Black Me: A Beginning Book of Poetry edited by Arnold Adoff published.
Black World runs special issue on poetry in September.
Poetic Equation: Conversations Between Nikki Giovanni and Margaret Walker is published.

1975: 
Corregidora by Gayl Jones is published.
Giant Talk: An Anthology of Third World Writing edited by Quincy Troupe published.
The Forerunners: Black Poets in America edited by Woodie King published.
Black World runs special issue on poetry in September.

1976:
Black World magazine, a major venue for the publication of black poetry, ceases publication.
Eugene B. Redmond publishes Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry, A Critical Study.
Robert Hayden appointed Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.
Roots by Alex Haley published.
Flight to Canada by Ishmael Reed published.
Eva’s Man by Gayl Jones published.
Patternmaster by Octavia Butler published.

Mumia Movie on a Move

Oct 16 at 4:56 PM

Showtimes Announced Monday, Oct 21st QUAD CINEMA     "Vittoria triumphantly heralds Abu-Jamal's return to the political scene  as a rallying cry for an alternate political discourse." — Variety “MUMIA: Long Distance Revolutionary” is a powerful indictment  of the hypocrisy inherent in the American dream and is a must-see  for any and all who are concerned with upholding the constitutional rights of all Americans.”  — The Huffington Post     SHARE us on Facebook and write a post about the film and Mumia TWEET about us on Twitter LINK to the Trailer on YouTube     A Street Legal Cinema Production Written, Directed, and Edited by Stephen Vittoria Produced by Stephen Vittoria, Noelle Hanrahan, and Katyana Farzanrad FEATURING Cornel West, Alice Walker, Angela Davis, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Dick Gregory, Amy Goodman, Peter Coyote, Ruby Dee, Giancarlo Esposito, and many others VISIT www.mumia-themovie.com     Like Us On   Follow Us On   Watch Us On     © 2013 Street Legal Cinema

Alexander Pushkin--African father of Russian literature

"Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters"

ALEXANDER PUSHKIN – Russia’s greatest Black poet

“Pushkin was the Russian spring.  Pushkin was the Russian morning. Pushkin was the Russian Adam.”
A.V. Lunacharsky

From the most remote times there has existed in Russia people of African descent.  By far the most famous of all the Blacks in Russian history, however, was Alexander Sergeievich Pushkin–patriarch of Russian literature.  Born in Moscow on May 26, 1799, Pushkin was descended on his mother’s side from Major-General Ibrahim Petrovich Hannibal–an Ethiopian prince who became a favorite of Tsar Peter I (1682-1725).  Hannibal impressed Czar Peter “so well that he became a confidant and favorite, was revered at the court, and began the aristocratic Pushkin lineage.  In an unfinished work, The Negro of Peter the Great, Alexander Pushkin pays homage to his illustrious ancestor.”

Pushkin has been positively identified as the father of Russian literature, and composed in the Russian language at a time when most Russian intellectuals were writing in French.  Of Pushkin, Feodor Dostoevsky wrote that, “No Russian writer was ever so intimately at one with the Russian people as Pushkin.”  Maxim Gorky wrote that, “Pushkin is the greatest master in the world.  Pushkin, in our country, is the beginning of all beginnings.  He most beautifully expressed the spirit of our people.” According to N.A. Dobrolyubuv, “Pushkin is of immense importance not only in the history of Russian literature, but also in the history of Russian enlightenment.  He was the first to teach the Russian public to read.”  I. Turgeniev wrote that “Pushkin alone had to perform two tasks which took whole centuries and more to accomplish in other countries, namely to establish a language and to create a literature.”  Czar Nicholas I, who hated and feared Pushkin, referred to him as “the most intelligent man in Russia.”

Pushkin died prematurely, defending his honor in a duel, in January 1837.  At the time of his death, Pushkin was working on a novel on the life of his beloved ancestor, Ibrahim Hannibal–The Negro of Peter the Great. Among Pushkin’s most significant works translated into English are: Eugene Onegin, The Ode to Liberty, The Captain’s Daughter and Boris Godunof.

A bronze statue of Pushkin was erected in Moscow’s Red Square.  Today, his name is loftily born by twenty museums.  African-American scholar Allison Blakely has written that, “Pushkin was truly the Russian counterpoint to Shakespeare."

Sun Ra Arkestra aka Sun Ra All Stars West Berlin 1983

Marvin X and Sun Ra outside Marvin's Black Educational Theatre on O'farell between Fillmore and Webster, 1972.

This is one of the best videos that presents Sun Ra's music and thoughts as a Master of the Arts, music, dance, scenery, costumes, lights, sound, poetry, philosophy and mythology that transcends all Western concepts. Sun Ra is the essence of the Black Arts Movement for he combines all aspects into a Sun Ra experience like no other.

No one can understand the Black Arts Movement without a deep appreciation and respect for Sun Ra and his Arkestra, his influence on Amiri Baraka and Marvin X, as per mythology, spirituality and philosophy; his fusion of all aspects of theatre, music, dance, spoken word, lights, sound, costume and, most of all, discipline as opposed to freedom. "Stop teaching dat freedom, Marvin, teach discipline. Your actors were born free, see how wild they act? Teach discipline!"

Marvin X was mentored by Sun Ra, read with the Arkestra coast to coast and collaborated with Sun Ra who did the musical version of  Marvin's play flowers for the Trashman, musical version entitled Take Care of Business, The Drama Review, 1968. Sun Ra and Marvin X produced a five hour concert without intermission with a cast of fifty, including the Sun Ra dancers, choreographer Raymond Sawyer dancers and the Ellendar Barnes dancers, actors were from Marvin's Black Educational Theatre, located on O'farrel between Webster and Fillmore, San Francisco.Sun Ra taught Marvin and everyone the supreme necessity for discipline when serving the Creator God. He demanded Marvin stop teaching freedom, teach discipline. Our people were born free, see how wilde they act? Sometimes Maavin, you so right you wrong. The righteous man is a laughing stock! People don't want the truth, they want the low down dirty truth. When you took that scene out of your play, you took out the low down dirty truth. --Marvin X

See the DVD Marvin X LIve in Philly at Warm Daddies: Marvin X, poetry, Elliot Bey on keyboards,
Ancestor Goldsky of djembe, Alexander El on drums, Danny Thompson on flute, Marshal Allen on alto sax, Rufus Harley on bagpipes.

How religion works (Zeitgeist)

Review: Beyond Religion, toward Spirituality

Beyond Religion, Toward SpiritualityEssays on Consciousness
By Marvin X

Review by Rudolph Lewis, Editor: Chickenbones.com

"Marvin X is a griot if there ever was one. This book is an encyclopedia of knowledge."--Mumia Abu Jamal, Live from Death Row


Marvin X has done extraordinary mind and soul work in bringing our attention to the importance of spirituality, as opposed to religion, in our daily living. Someone—maybe Kierkegaard or maybe it was George Fox who—said that there was no such thing as "Christianity." There can only be Christians. It is not institutions but rather individuals who make the meaningful differences in our world. It is not Islam but Muslims. Not Buddhism but Buddhists. Marvin X has made a courageous difference. In this book he shares the wondrous vision of his spiritual explorations. His eloquent language and rhetoric are varied—sophisticated but also earthy, sometimes both at once. His moods are both reverent and irreverent: at times he consoles, other times cajoles with biting mockery. At times amusing but always deadly serious.

Highly informed he speaks to many societal levels and to both genders—to the intellectual as well as to the man/woman on the street or the unfortunate in prison—to the mind as well as the heart. His topics range from global politics and economics to those between men and women in their household. Common sense dominates his thought. He shuns political correctness for the truth of life. He is a Master Teacher in many fields of thought—religion and psychology, sociology and anthropology, history and politics, literature and the humanities. He is a needed Counselor, for he knows himself, on the deepest of personal levels and he reveals that self to us, that we might be his beneficiaries.

All of which are represented in his Radical Spirituality—a balm for those who anguish in these troubling times of disinformation. As a shaman himself, he calls too for a Radical Mythology to override the traditional mythologies of racial supremacy that foster war and injustice. It's a dangerous book, for it reveals the inner workings of capitalist and imperialist governments around the world. It's a book that stands with and on behalf of the poor, the dispossessed, the despised, and downtrodden.

Marvin X has found a way out of our spiritual morass, our material quagmire. We are blessed to still have him among us. If you want to reshape (clean up, raise) your consciousness, this is a book to savor, to read again, and again—to pass onto a friend or lover.

—Rudolph Lewis, Editor, ChickenBones: A Journal

Contents

Preface, Joy and Happiness, Work

Reconciliation, Health, Elders

Women, Men, Youth

Children, Sex, Solitude

Blessings, Music, Writing

Africa, Love, Partner Violence

Prison, Street Violence, Pimpin

Rap, Jerusalem, Teacher, Myth

Militant, Language, Nature,

Global Violence, Sectarianism

Technology, Ancestors, Death

History, Future, Polygamy

Polyandry, Prostitution, Nukes

Religion, Sufi, Prayer, Radical God

Ritual, Drugs, Family, Marriage

Education, Gay/Lesbian, HIV/AIDS

Art, Traumatic Stress, Poverty

Black Bourgeoisie, Media, Panther

Peace, Politics, Immigration, Land

Holy Joes, Sovereignty, Democracy

Fascism, Amnesty, Capitalism, Americas

Berkeley, Condi, Chinaman's Chance

Paris Burning, Sudan, London Bridges

Welcome to Mexi-Cali, Pan Africa

Evil, Tookie Williams, Fathers and Daughters

Why I Talk With Cows, Jesus, Pharaoh's Egypt

Death Angel, When Jazz Ain't Jazz, BAM at Howard U.

Lucy Is Coming, One Mind, Afterword

Order your copy from Black Bird Press, 1222 Dwight Way, Berkeley CA 94702, $19.95.

The parents of Marvin X, Marian M. and Owendell Jackmon, I

The parents of Marvin X were known as a Race woman and Race man, meaning they were for Black people first and foremost. They published the Fresno Voice during the 40s, one of the first Black newspapers in California's Central Valley. During the 50s, his parents moved to Oakland. His father became a florist on 7th Street. When his parents separated and divorced, his mother returned to Fresno and became a Real Estate broker, one of the first black female real estate brokers in Fresno. Many, if not most Black people in Fresno bought their first house from Marian M. Jackmon. She became a Christian Scientist, a follower of Mary Baker Eddy's religion of truth.

Marvin X, one of the founders of the Black Arts Movement, is now available for speaking and reading engagements coast to coast. Marvin X began his career in Black or African consciousness almost from birth as a result of having social activist parents. His father and mother published a Black newspaper in the central valley of California, the Fresno Voice. His parents were called a Race Man and Race woman, meaning they were dedicated to the advancement of Black people first and foremost, i.e. Black nationalism.

When Marvin attended Oakland's Merritt College, 1962-64, his Black consciousness was expanded after peer group study with fellow students Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Ernie Allen, Ken and Carol Freeman, Richard Thorne, Maurice Dawson, Isaac Moore and Ann Williams.

In 1964 he transferred to San Francisco State College/now University and became a member of the Negro Students Association. The name was soon changed to the Black Student Union. While an undergraduate in the English department, his first play, Flowers for the Trashman, was produced by the Drama department.  Marvin X dropped out, 1966, to establish the Black Arts West Theatre on Fillmore Street in San Francisco, along with playwright Ed Bullins, Duncan Barber, Ethna Wyatt, Hillary Broadous and Carl Bossiere. Danny Glover was a frequent actor at BAW.

Upon his release from prison, Soul on Ice essayist Eldridge Cleaver and Marvin hooked up to establish the Black House, a political/cultural center on Broderick Street. Marvin soon introduced Eldridge to his friends, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, who were establishing the Black Panther Party in Oakland. Eldridge joined and became Minister of Information. For more on Marvin X, see his autobiography Somethin' Proper, Black Bird Press, 1998, introduction by Dr. Nathan Hare.

For Booking, call 510-200-4164 or send a letter of invitation to jmarvinx@yahoo.com.

Marvin X and his comrades from the Black Arts/Black Liberation Movement will gather at the University of California, Merced, March 1-2, 2014. Be There!

Marvin X Now available for speaking and reading nationwide

Black Bird Press News & Review: Marvin X Now available for speaking and reading nationwide