Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Poem for Empress Diamond on her earth day


 
You are the one did not grow up
you had parents
they raised you up
womanhood rites of passage
implanting dignity pride
dad was a Zulu King
New Orleans style
president three terms
no mean feat
in the Zulu Nation
he said read and travel
so you did
in search of self
divine royal self
found it
loved it
lost love regained
healer woman supreme
knowledge of herbs
plants leaves flowers roots
healer of all things
there is no problem without solution
and so it is
becoming wiser by the day and the night
you have allowed me into your world
as you come into mine
may there be peace and love between us
medicine man to medicine woman.
--Marvin X
1/13/15

The Black Arts Movement Kindly asks you to make a generous donation to the BAM Fest at Laney College, Feb 7

President of Laney College, Dr. Elnora T. Webb donated $100.00 for the BAM Fest.

Paul Cobb has donated $100.00 for the BAM Fest. He suggested 100 people donate between $100.00 and $500.00 for BAM so we can do for self. He will put the pic of all who donate in the Oakland Post. We are looking for 99 people of good will who believe in BAM. FYI, Paul Cobb is a Garveyite, his father and grandfather were Garveyites. I am a Garveyite! As they say in Houston, TX, "You better ax somebody!"
Marvin X


If you are willing to donate any amount, please call Marvin X, 510-200-4164. BAM must be a community supported project. The original Black Arts Repertory Theatre failed in Harlem when grant funds were cut off. BAM must be independent although we will accept funds but will not compromise our revolutionary values and goals, the freedom of our people.







Marvin X at his Academy of da Corner, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland.
photo Adam Turner


Here’s an update for you from the ‘Black Arts Movement 27 City National Tour’ team:

If you are willing to donate any amount, please call Marvin X, 510-200-4164. BAM must be a community supported project. The original Black Arts Repertory Theatre failed in Harlem when grant funds were cut off. We need funds for food at the Laney College gala; we need money for artists, sound equipment, transportation,book give away,  costumes, speaker fees. Thanking you in advance for your support.
Sincerely,
Marvin X, Project Director
BAM 27 City Tour
Comment on or view this announcement here.
Respond directly to the campaign owner here.
Help spread the word about the campaign!
Note: To stop receiving updates from Black Arts Movement 27 City National Tour, click here.
You can also unsubscribe from all recurring Indiegogo emails in your account settings.
Sincerely,
The Indiegogo Team

 Black Arts Movement chief architect LeRoi Jones, aka Amiri Baraka, on the set of his play The Toilet
Amiri and Maya, RIP
The Black Arts Movement Arkestra and Poet's Choir will perform at Laney College, Feb. 7, 2015
photo Adam Turner

Monday, January 12, 2015

Part 3: From South Africa to the United States: The Continuity of Black ...

Public Service Announcement: Laney College presents 50th Anniversary of the Black Arts Movement, Feb 7

Public Service Announcement

Contact:
Marvin X,
Project Director
BAM 27 City Tour


In celebration of the Black Arts Movement 50th Anniversary, Laney College will present a day long event on February 7, from 10am through 8pm. The celebration includes a wellness boot camp, a mental health peer group to recover from the addiction to white supremacy, book fair, open mike, panel on Black women writers; an inter-generational discussion with participants in the Black Arts/Black Power movement and their children, There will be an exhibit of art by San Quentin Prison inmates. The program concludes with a performance by the Black Arts Movement Arkestra and the Poet's Choir with special guests. For more information, call 510-200-4164. The event is free.

Art by Elizabeth Catlette Mora
 Co-founders of the Black Arts Movement, Amiri Baraka (RIP) and Marvin X, friends and BAM workers for 47 years. Baraka called for a 27 city tour of the BAM. Marvin X has taken up the call.
The Black Arts Movement Arkestra and Poet's Choir performed at the University of California, Merced, Feb-Mar, 2014 at the BAM Conference, produced by Kim McMillan and Marvin X


The BAM Arkestra and Poet's Choir at the Malcolm X Jazz/Art Festival, Oakland, May 17, 2014
photo collage by Adam Turner

Sponsors of the Laney College Black Arts Movement Celebration include Laney College President's Office, The Black Caucus of California Community Colleges, The Post News Group, Black Think Tank, Black Bird Press News.com, It's about Time, William James Prison Art Project, lajones associates, BWOPA, TILE, KPOO, Davey D and Greg Bridges of KPFA.














Saturday, January 10, 2015

Black Bird Press News & Review: Parable of a Real Woman by Marvin X

Black Bird Press News & Review: Parable of a Real Woman by Marvin X

Comment on the Wisdom of Plato
Negro

The Wisdom of Plato Negro is for the forty something up. No
persons who haven't lived a few years can appreciate the things Marvin X says
in The Wisdom of Plato Negro. You need to be at least forty to understand, and
even then, this is not a book to read in one setting, even if it is easy
reading. It is a book to read in a relaxed situation, and then only read one or
two of the
parables at a time. They must be carefully
digested, each one.
Think about them, what was the real meaning? Again, if you
haven't lived a few years, there's no way you can appreciate some of the things
he says. For example, the Parable of the Real Woman. A young man who hasn't had
many experiences with women cannot possibly understand this parable. If a woman
comes to his house and cleans it out of love, a young man cannot appreciate
this. He will tell her thanks, then go get a flashy woman who is never going to
clean his house, mainly because she doesn't know how. But the dude will go for her
because she is cute, but the real woman he rejects, the one with common sense
and dignity, who may not be a beauty queen.
--Anon



Friday, January 9, 2015

BAM Press Release on Celebration at Laney College, February 7, 2015


Press Release: For Immediate Release
photo Kamau Amen Ra
1/9/2015

Contact Person:
Marvin X
510-200-4164
jmarvinx@yahoo.com
Now available for interviews 

The Black Arts Movement will celebrate its 50th Anniversary at Laney College on February 7th 2015. 

On February 7th 2015, Laney College will host the 50th Anniversary of the Black Arts Movement. This event will begin at 10am until 10pm. Its focus will be the Bay Area’s contribution to the Black Arts Movement. BAM is often referred to as the sister of the Black Power Movement. BAM is also known as the most radical artistic and literary movement in American History. According to  Ishmael Reed, "If not for the Black Arts Movement, African American culture would be extinct."

As a result of the Black Arts Movement, other ethnicities found their voices such as Asians, Native Americans and Latinos.  It forced the inclusion of Afro American literature and other ethnic literature in American Academia.

BAM literature was often considered too radical for Academia and many of the BAM founders, poets, playwrights, essayists and others were purged from academia, especially from Black Studies programs. The radicals were replaced by more pliant Negroes or Continental and/or Caribbean Africans.

The Bay Area’s contribution included some of the primary BAM journals such as Soul Book, Black Dialogue, Journal of Black Poetry and the Black Scholar Magazine. The icons includ Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, The Last Poets, Haki Madhubuti, Askia Toure, Marvin X, Sarah Webster Fabio, Ed Bullins, Adam David Miller, Judy Juanita, Avotcja, Jose Goncalves, Elizabeth Catlette Mora and Emory Douglas.
 The Black Arts Movement Arkestra and Poet's Choir at the University of California, Merced, Feb-Mar, 2014
 Marvin X reads DOPE by Amiri Baraka, accompanied by David Murray and Earl Davis. Earl Davis performed in Marvin X's Black Arts West Theatre on Fillmore Street, San Francisco, 1966

 Marvin X and actor Danny Glover. Danny performed in Black Arts West Theatre, 1966. Both men attended San Francisco State College/now University.

 Former Black Panther Chairwoman Elaine Brown, Marvin X and Mama Ayanna of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement

Dr. Elnora T. Webb, PhD, President of Laney College, a special partner with Marvin X's BAM.

Empress Diamond, BAM Wellness Director, Mayor Libby Schaaf and Marvin X

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and City Councilwomen Lynette McElhaney and Desley Brooks support the BAM Celebration. City Council President McElhaney will introduce legislation to declare 14th Street The Black Arts Movement District. The first Last Saturday in the BAM District will be February 28, 2015, and event similar to Oakland's First Fridays.


Working Program
10:00 AM--Black Arts Movement Physical Wellness Boot Camp, facilitated by Michael Bennett's Wellness Team from the YMCA, HP/Bayview
11:00AM-- Peer Group on Mental Wellness: How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy Group, facilitated by Dr. Nathan Hare and Suzzette Celeste, B.A., MPA, MSW
12 Noon--Book Fair--authors speak, music, Augusta Collins

2pm--Open Mike Poetry/Speak Out
2pm--BAM and Black Women Writers Panel; moderated by Elaine Brown; invited panelists: Judy Juanita, Avojtcha, Aries Jordan, Phavia Kujichagulia, Portia Anderson
4pm Black Arts Movement/Black Power Babies panel, moderated by Davey D; invited panelists: Phavia Kujichagulia and Taiwo; Dr. Ayodele Nzinga and  Stanley; Terry Collins and Renya; Walter Riley and Boots Riley; Marvin X and Amira; Jerri Lange and Michael

6pm - RECEPTION IN THE ART GALLERY: EXHIBIT OF SAN QUENTIN PRISON ART and Bay Area Visual Artists; curated by Professor Leslee Stradford; invocation,Suzzette Celeste, Practitioner & Social Justice Activist; Welcome, Laney College President, Dr. Elnora T. Webb; proclamation of Black Arts Movement District, Libby Schaaf, Mayor of Oakland; Councilwoman Lynette McElhaney on the Black Arts Movement District; host, Paul Cobb, Publisher, Post News Group; music by Earl Davis, Fantastic Negrito

7pm Laney College Theatre: Marvin X's BAM classic play Flowers for the Trashman, introductory remarks by Dr. Nathan Hare, father of Black Studies, founding publisher of the Black Scholar Magazine
8pm Black Arts Movement Poet's Choir & Arkestra with special guests John Santos, Muziki Roberson and Phavia Kujichagulia

Sponsors: Laney College, Post News Group, Black Caucus of California Community Colleges, YMCA, HP/Bayview; Black Think Tank, Black Bird Press, KPOO Radio, Davey D and Greg Bridges of KPFA Radio, lajones associates, BWOPA/TILE, William James Association Prison Art Project, San Francisco State University Ethnic Studies Department, It's About Time




BAM co-founders Marvin X and Sun Ra, both purged from teaching in Black Studies at University of California, Berkeley. 

While students at San Francisco State College/now University, these men edited and/or contributed to Black Dialogue Magazine, Journal of Black Poetry, Soulbook and The Black Scholar Magazine: LtoR: Aubrey LaBrie, Marvin X, Abdul Sabrey, Al Young, Arthur Sheridan and Duke Williams.

 Bay Area Black authors/activists celebrate the life of slain Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey. The pose in front of the Joyce Gordon Gallery at 14th and Franklin, part of the upcoming Black Arts Movement District.
photo Adam Turner/Gene Hazzard

The Black Arts Movement Arkestra and Poet's Choir performing at the Malcolm X Jazz/Art Festival, 
May 17, 2014, Oakland CA
photo collage Adam Turner 

Dr. Elnora T. Webb donated $100.00 for the BAM Fest.

 Post News Group Publisher Paul Cobb and Black Arts Movement co-founder Marvin X
photo Walter Riley, Esq.

Oakland Post News Group Publisher, Paul Cobb, has donated $100.00 for the BAM Fest. He suggested 100 people donate between $100.00 and $500.00 for BAM so we can do for self. He will put the pic of all who donate in the Oakland Post. We are looking for 99 people of good will who believe in BAM. FYI, Paul Cobb is a Garveyite, his father and grandfather were Garveyites. I am a Garveyite! As they say in Houston, TX, "You better ax somebody!"
Marvin X


If you are willing to donate any amount, please call Marvin X, 510-200-4164. BAM must be a community supported project. The original Black Arts Repertory Theatre failed in Harlem when grant funds were cut off. BAM must be independent although we will accept funds but will not compromise our revolutionary values and goals, the freedom of our people.










Here’s an update for you from the ‘Black Arts Movement 27 City National Tour’ team:

If you are willing to donate any amount, please call Marvin X, 510-200-4164. BAM must be a community supported project. The original Black Arts Repertory Theatre failed in Harlem when grant funds were cut off. We need funds for food at the Laney College gala; we need money for artists, sound equipment, transportation,book give away,  costumes, speaker fees. Thanking you in advance for your support.
Sincerely,
Marvin X, Project Director
BAM 27 City Tour
Comment on or view this announcement here.
Respond directly to the campaign owner here.
Help spread the word about the campaign!
Note: To stop receiving updates from Black Arts Movement 27 City National Tour, click here.
You can also unsubscribe from all recurring Indiegogo emails in your account settings.
Sincerely,
The Indiegogo Team

 Black Arts Movement chief architect LeRoi Jones, aka Amiri Baraka, on the set of his play The Toilet
Amiri and Maya, RIP
The Black Arts Movement Arkestra and Poet's Choir will perform at Laney College, Feb. 7, 2015
photo Adam Turner