|
Books by Marcus Bruce
Christian
Song of the Black Valiants: Marching Tempo
/
High Ground: A Collection of Poems /
Negro soldiers in the Battle of New Orleans
I am New
Orleans: A Poem
/
Negro Iron Workers of Louisiana: 1718-1900 /
The Liberty Monument
* * *
* * DN5
Self-Made Men,
Lyle Saxon, & Class Tension
December
10, 1943
I
began to prepare dinner, slowly turning about my task in the
kitchen, thinking as slowly as I went about my task. Maybe it is
that Saxon is as sick as he thinks. After all, he has been
hitting the bottle rather heavily within the last few years. No
man can stand that slow poison for long, I thought to myself.
Just what made him that way? I have long since ceased to blame
anyone for their faults--we are just fashioned that way by early
associations and environments. We cannot change, unless in
the environment of our former existences was dropped the seed of
change.
Every
"self-made man" owed his making not to his own strong
will power but to the fact that somewhere a hundred years ago,
or a thousand years ago, was dropped the seed of a strong
character which acted directly upon his own. He might have
forgotten all about how he came about this strange gift, but the
gods of our making never forget. They know that thousands of us
are damned because any other thousands in our same circumstances
would also be damned--that there are really no self-made men,
that somewhere along the moving mass production line of life an
experience came here, financial assistance there, seeds of
character growth here, human sympathy and understanding from
over yonder, strength and vigor from the food our mothers ate
before we were even conceived, and resolute determination moving
out of the crucible of despair.
But
what happened to Saxon? Where along the line he got the seeds of
a tragic melancholy and frustration which will sooner or later
tear wide the bonds of his own existence? Where came that love
of the under-dog and hatred of the overlord--of which he himself
is one, and even likes it sometime? Were there black blood
connections in the ascending or descending scale of thing. Or
was there love? What? Where? Who? I turned and went about
preparing my breakfast-dinner of dried shrimps, apple jelly,
bread, and Ovaltine.
I
took my medicine, thinking about Saxon dying in the laps of
plenty. Plenty of warm heat--steam heat--plenty of
medicine--plenty of doctors--plenty of flunkies--plenty of
food--plenty of everything, but plenty of existence. When men
die where there is warmth, food, care, and medicine, what will
happen to men who have only cold, hunger, exploitation, and perpetual poverty of a sort? Good Lord!
<<---Previous
Next--6->> * *
* * *
Selected Letters
Selected Diary Notes Memories of Marcus B. Christian
(Cains) Christian's
BioBibliographical Record Introduction to I AM NEW
ORLEANS
A
Theory of a Black Aesthetic Magpies,
Goddesses, & Black Male Identity
Activist Works on Next Level of Change
Intro to I Am New
Orleans
Letter from Dillard University
A
Labor of Genuine Love
Letter of Gift of
Photos
Letters from
LSU and Skip Gates * * *
* *
|
Negro Iron Workers of Louisiana: 1718-1900
By Marcus Bruce Christian
Study of the blacksmith
tradition and New Orleans famous lace balconies and
fences.
Acclaimed
during his life as the unofficial poet laureate of
the New Orleans African-American community, Marcus
Christian recorded a distinguished career as
historian, journalist, and literary scholar. He was
a contributor to Pelican's
Gumbo Ya Ya, and also wrote many articles
that appeared in numerous newspapers, journals, and
general-interest publications. |
 |
* * *
* *
Audio:
My Story, My Song (Featuring blues guitarist Walter Wolfman Washington)
* * *
* *
Bob
Dylan: Only a pawn in their game /
The
Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
* * *
* *
 |
Panel on Literary Criticism
26 March 2010
National Black Writers Conference
Patrick Oliver, Kalamu ya Salaam,
Dorothea Smartt, Frank Wilderson discuss
the use of literature to promote
political causes and instigate change
and transformation. The event is at the
Medgar Evers College at the City
University of New York.
C-Span Archives
Panel on Politics and Satire
26 March 2010
National Black Writers Conference
Herb Boyd, Thomas Bradshaw, Charles
Edison and Major Owens discuss how
current events are reflected in the
writings of African Americans. The
event is at the Medgar Evers College at
the City University of New York.
C-Span Archives |
update 17 April 2010 |
