Is Burn, Baby, Burn, Marvin X's Greatest poem, written shortly after the Watts Rebellion, 1965?
Burn, Baby, Burn
Tired.
Sick an' tired
Tired of being
sick an' tired.
Lost.
Lost in the wilderness
of white america
are the masses asses?
cool said the master to the slave,
"No problem, don't rob an' steal,
I'll be your drivin wheel."
Cool.
And he wheeled us into 350 years
of black madness
to hog guts, conked hair, covadis
bleaching cream and uncle thomas
to Watts.
To the streets.
To the kill.
Boommm...2 honkeys gone.
Motherfuck the police
Parker's sista too.
Black people.
Tired.
sick an' tired.
tired of being
sick an' tired.
Burn, baby burn...
Don't leave dem boss rags
C'mon, child, don't mind da tags.
Git all dat motherfuckin pluck,
Git dem guns too, we 'on't give a fuck!
Burn baby burn
Cook outta sight
Fineburgs
whitefront
wineburgs
blackfront
burn, baby, burn
in time
he
will learn.
--Marvin X (Jackmon)
1965
from Soulbook Magazine, Fall, 1965
Burn Baby Burn appears in the anthologies Black Fire and S.O.S., the Black Arts Movement Reader.
One of the key publications of the black arts era was Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing (1968). Edited by LeRoi Jones and Larry Neal, the book included poems, essays, drama, and fiction. by some of the movement's leading figures. In fact, writers' presence in Black Fire helped solidify their status as black arts contributors.
This volume brings together a broad range of key writings from the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, among the most significant cultural movements in American history. The aesthetic counterpart of the Black Power movement, it burst onto the scene in the form of artists' circles, writers' workshops, drama groups, dance troupes, new publishing ventures, bookstores, and cultural centers and had a presence in practically every community and college campus with an appreciable African American population. Black Arts activists extended its reach even further through magazines such as Ebony and Jet, on television shows such as Soul and Like It Is, and on radio programs. Many of the movement's leading artists, including Ed Bullins, Nikki Giovanni, Woodie King, Haki Madhubuti, Sonia Sanchez, Askia Tour?, Marvin X and Val Gray Ward remain artistically productive today. Its influence can also be seen in the work of later artists, from the writers Toni Morrison, John Edgar Wideman, and August Wilson to actors Avery Brooks, Danny Glover, and Samuel L. Jackson, to hip hop artists Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Chuck D. SOS -- Calling All Black People includes works of fiction, poetry, and drama in addition to critical writings on issues of politics, aesthetics, and gender. It covers topics ranging from the legacy of Malcolm X and the impact of John Coltrane's jazz to the tenets of the Black Panther Party and the music of Motown. The editors have provided a substantial introduction outlining the nature, history, and legacy of the Black Arts Movement as well as the principles by which the anthology was assembled.
References[edit]
- ^ Negro Youth Culture and Identity: The Case of Hunters Point. University of California. 1967.
- ^ John F. Szwed (25 July 2012). Space Is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp. 566–. ISBN 978-0-307-82244-4.
- ^ Margaret Ann Reid (2001). Black Protest Poetry: Polemics from the Harlem Renaissance and the Sixties. Peter Lang, New York. ISBN 978-0-8204-2482-8.
- ^ Eldridge Cleaver (28 July 2015). Target Zero: A Life in Writing. St. Martin's Press. pp. 102–. ISBN 978-1-250-09153-6.
- ^ Waldo E. Martin (30 June 2009). No Coward Soldiers: Black Cultural Politics in Postwar America. Harvard University Press. pp. 18–. ISBN 978-0-674-04068-7.
- ^ Bobby Seale (1991). Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton. Black Classic Press. pp. 37–. ISBN 978-0-933121-30-0.
From Burn Baby Burn to Black Lives Matter
Jim Crow North
Powerful my brother! Your truth-telling keeps us going!
--Dr. Cornel West, Harvard University
Marvin X
Dad used to talk about Jim Crow South
Black Belt south cotton curtain
he and mama 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 mama 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 folsom 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
When Life Gets Back to Normal
when life gets back to normal
will the hip hop negro pants still sag off his ass
will a black bitch still be a bitch or will she transcend to goddess
queen of universe
mother of civilization
when life gets back to normal
will you hug kiss yr mama daddy real tight
will you make love to yr woman man late into night
will you raise high yr children and teach them right
will you stop trusting the devil and hold God up high
will you walk the lake
dont b lazy like marvin x
when life gets back to normal
will you do 4 self first
self and kind
will you drink wine with buddies who survived covid one nine
will u fight 4 freedom
liberation
reparations
end of patriarchal domination
no wife beating
child sex abuse
clean water to drink
no gmo food
no bill gates global vaccine eugenics
kill nigga african plan
planned parenthood
margaret sanger hillary clinton obama hitler
implant white supremacy dna who china plan
when life gets back to normal
will you kiss yo mama
hug yo daddy real tight
keep home schooling yr children
spare them white edumakation.
--marvin x
5/14/20
Can We Breathe
There was a man who traveled to Stupidville on his way to Ignutville. In Stupidville he observed people doing the most stupid shit imaginable. They talked stupid shit, did stupid shit, lived stupid lives, went to the malls to buy stupid shit, came home and made stupid love in the dark without saying a stupid word to each other. Why say shit to a stupid motherfucker?
When Life Gets Back to Normal
when life gets back to normal
will the hip hop negro pants still sag off his ass
will a black bitch still be a bitch or will she transcend to goddess
queen of universe
mother of civilization
when life gets back to normal
will you hug kiss yr mama daddy real tight
will you make love to yr woman man late into night
will you raise high yr children and teach them right
will you stop trusting the devil and hold God up high
will you walk the lake
dont b lazy like marvin x
when life gets back to normal
will you do 4 self first
self and kind
will you drink wine with buddies who survived covid one nine
will u fight 4 freedom
liberation
reparations
end of patriarchal domination
no wife beating
child sex abuse
clean water to drink
no gmo food
no bill gates global vaccine eugenics
kill nigga african plan
planned parenthood
margaret sanger hillary clinton obama hitler
implant white supremacy dna who china plan
when life gets back to normal
will you kiss yo mama
hug yo daddy real tight
keep home schooling yr children
spare them white edumakation.
--marvin x
5/14/20
Can We Breathe
Can we breatheain't no air up in heregrab air squeeze it real tightdon't let it get awayfightno surrender like cowardsdon't let air choke uslungs with bloodwar been herecenturieswelcome sleepy time teamask can't save youhome invasions nextthey comin' to inject airwill you open doorHR6666Black Panther Bobby Rush airhe don't careCongressman nowflipped his bicklong time agogo outside for airstand tall breathelet sunshine fill lungsdogs can't stop sunwill trybut can'tlet sun move you beyond feardon't breathe fear airstandthis is The End!End is yr beginningyou never livedenjoyed clean airtoxic fumes consumed yr lifewalk the forest woodstalk to treesjust be.--Marvin X5/27/20
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Parable of the man who went to Ignutville
There was a man who traveled to Stupidville on his way to Ignutville. In Stupidville he observed people doing the most stupid shit imaginable. They talked stupid shit, did stupid shit, lived stupid lives, went to the malls to buy stupid shit, came home and made stupid love in the dark without saying a stupid word to each other. Why say shit to a stupid motherfucker?
The man departed Stupidville and traveled on to Ignutville. After observing the people in Ignutville, he went into shock and was taken to the hospital. After a few days he was released and continued his observation of the citizens of ignutville.
They didn't know the time of day, the year. Didn't know they were slaves and/or descendents of slaves. After all they drove bigger cars than the slave master. While the slave master drove Fords and Toyotas, the slaves drove Escalades and Masaraties, yes, even while they lived in the projects.
If the master knew nothing else, he knew he was white, but the slave wasn't sure if he was black African or white European in black face. He loved the white Jesus, worshipped the white woman standard of beauty. His ignut woman loved wearing a blond wig and in the deep structure of her mind, she wanted her man to be a white man. She would be satisfied if he would become a white man dipped in chocolate. She was so ignut she called 911 so the white man, her real man, would rescue her from any abuse her black man inflicted on her, whether verbal, emotional, spiritual and/or physical.
The white man was her true husband, boyfriend, lover, protector. Such was the level of ignorance in Ignutville.
Parents were so ignut in Ignutville, they sent their children to public schools where the enemy could teach their children the proper white supremacy mis-education. They sent their children to white colleges and universities, then were shocked when their children came home hating them and everything they were about even though the ignut children didn't even know what their parents were about.
The parents didn't understand the children had been taught they were nothing ass black nigga students who were so ignut they couldn't think logically or write coherently. Some of the students suffered mental breakdowns. When the students came home, parents knew their children were not the same. They suspected their children were on drugs.
The ignut parents never imagined their children were in full blown addiction to white supremacy.
The man fled Ignutville trying to figure out how to get to Saneville. He called upon his GPS device to guide him to Saneville.
--Marvin X
7-28-29
On Yesterday
On yesterday
they called law and order
no justice no peace
law and order
no justice no peace
no one wants more than justice
no one wants less
how can yesterday be today
but today is yesterday
we dance backwards
moonwalking with Michael
Michael said they don't care about us
Michael said the man in the mirror
Michael said remember the time
remember the time
law and order time
didn't work then
ain't workin' now
not on today.
--Marvin X
6/1/20
