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Marvin
X—born Marvin Ellis Jackmon on May 29, 1944 in Fowler,
California—attended Fresno at Edison High, Oakland City
College (now Merritt College) receiving an associate degree in
1964. Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, the founders of the
Black Panther Party, were fellow students at Oakland City
College. Marvin also received a BA and MA in English at San
Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University).
As part of Black Arts Movement (BAM),
Marvin X is most well
known for his work with Ed Bullins in the founding
in 1967
of Black
House and The Black Arts/West Theatre in San Francisco
Fillmore district. Black
House served briefly as the headquarters for the Black Panther
Party and as a center for performance, theatre, poetry and music.
Marvin X is a
playwright in the true spirit of the BAM. His most well-known
BAM play, entitled Flowers for the Trashman, deals with
generational difficulties and the crisis of the Black
intellectual as he deals with education in a white-controlled
culture. Marvin X's other works include, The Black Bird,
The
Trial, Resurrection of the Dead and In the Name of Love.
Marvin X's first play Flowers for the Trashman was also produced with an alternate title, Taking Care of
Business. The play's protagonist, Joe Simmons, an African
American college student, finds himself in jail with Wes, whom
the playwright describes as "his hoodlum friend."
He currently has the
longest running African American drama in the San Francisco Bay
area and Northern California, ONE DAY IN THE LIFE, a tragi-comedy
of addiction and recovery. He is the founder and director of
RECOVERY THEATRE.
Marvin X has continued
to work as a lecturer, teacher and producer. He has taught at
Fresno State University; San Francisco State University;
University of California - Berkeley and San Diego; University of
Nevada, Reno; Mills College, Laney and Merritt Colleges in
Oakland. He has received writing fellowships from Columbia
University and the National Endowment for the Arts and planning
grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Marvin
X has taught at such colleges and universities as Fresno State
University, San Francisco State University, University of
California -- Berkeley and San Diego, University of Nevada,
Reno, Mills College, Laney and Merritt Colleges in Oakland.
Marvin
X spoke from a Muslim perspective on race relations in America
in his play The Black Bird (Al Tair Aswad).
Marvin X's most recent production, One Day in the Life,
performed by his Recovery Theatre, provides a comprehensive view
into his own life as a black man using crack cocaine as well as
the devastating sphere of hurt, death, and destruction that came
to many loved ones in his life.
Chronology of Marvin X (El
Muhajir ) Bibliography of Marvin X
marvinxspeaks.blogspot.com
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For readings and/or performance, contact Marvin X, call 510-798-9155 Or email xblackxmanx@aol.com
or go to
www.marvinx.com
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