Poems in the Key of Life

By Susan Larson, Book Editor The Times-Picayune

A Review of 

I Am New Orleans and Other Poems by Marcus B. Christian

Edited by Rudolph Lewis and Amin Sharif

introduced by Rudolph Lewis

and prefaced by Florence M. Jumonville

Marcus Christian (1900-1976) is surely one of the unsung heroes of New Orleans literature. A prolific poet and researcher, he was the director of the Negro Unit of the Federal Writers Project at Dillard University.

The University of New Orleans Earl K. Long Library now houses his archives—a formidable collection (150 linear feet) of business records, poems, correspondence, diaries and other documents. As archivist Florence Jumonville writes in her preface to I Am New Orleans and Other Poems, “Taken together they constitute an extraordinary chronicle of Christian’s remarkable life and his multifaceted effort to place his own existence in the broader context of the black condition (both historical and literary) in New Orleans and the South.”

Born in Mechanicsville (now part of Houma) Christian, who was orphaned at an early age moved to New Orleans when he was a teenager, hoping to make money and find a better life, taking various hobs—he was a chauffeur, he opened a small dry cleaning business and attended night school. And he was always writing. Early work was published in Opportunity and Crisis, leading magazines of the Harlem Renaissance.

A formidable researcher, Christian collected material on folklore, history, and mythical figures, lending his expertise to the group of writers that formed the Negro Unit of the Federal Writers Project—a veritable who’s who of intellectuals—at Dillard during the 30s and 40s. Regrettably, his “History of Black Louisiana” remains unpublished, though researchers are still able to view material at UNO.

But now we have these poems, perhaps a starting point for a critical revival. In his introduction, Rudolph Lewis, a reference librarian at Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Md., writes of Christian’s life and times and his relationships with such writers as Lyle Saxon, Tom Dent, and many others.

Of the thousands of poems in the UNO archive, Lewis and Sharif have selected 50, arranging them thematically. The first deals with the role of the artist in society, with such poems as “Canal Street At Noon” illustrating racial inequities in shared public spaces. The second group deals with the difficulties of love, poems with such evocative titles as “Man Done Left Me Blues” and “Creole Mammah Turn Your Damper Dow”; the third, with the effects of Jim Crow upon interracial affections, drawing upon such metaphors as “Forbidden Fruit.” Lewis carefully illuminates how Christian’s personal relationships with the women in his life played out in his poems.

The fourth group deals with the repression of blacks with such inspirational works as “Degraded Freeman” (You are degraded freemen / when you can look upon wrongs / Hatred and persecution, / And hold your tongues). The fifth section is composed of Afro-centric writings; “Somebody's Mammy / with outstretched palms / She is sitting – poor Africa – begging for bread").

The sixth group, written later in Christian’s life, attempts to come to terms with his personal history. This section includes two epitaphs; the final one, written in 1968, reads, “Take it or leave it – / It matters not; / The man is dead, / So let him rot.” The collection concludes with the magnificent, Whitmanesque “I Am New Orleans,” a catalog and celebration of the complex nature of the city and the role of African-Americans in its long history.

The history of African-American writers in New Orleans is till being written, every day, by poets and playwrights and essayists and fiction writers all over the city. I Am New Orleans and Other Poems by Marcus B. Christian is a vital part of our literary heritage, restored to us in this important and very welcome book.

Source: The Times-Picayune, July 4, 1999 / posted 20 August 2005

Editorial note: The review below is a curious one. Take note that the reviewer Susan Larson (book editor, Times-Picayune) below quotes Florence Jumonville (who I found later to be rather obnoxious and a bore) who had nothing to do with the work of pulling together the poems for the book (a regular johnny-come-lately). Her preface is the work of Tom Bonner, the publisher, who I found to be a liar and a cheat and who tried along with his assistance to seize possession of the book and my copyright of the organization of the poems.  (I would not be surprised if he is still printing off copies of the book without consulting me. 500 copies were the initial run and they sold out within six months. For our work we received 50 copies.) I the editor who did most of the work and wrote the seminal essay (the Introduction) on the poetry of Marcus Bruce Christian am barely mentioned until the middle of the review. And then not quoted at all. I'm sure Ms. Larson meant well. 

The review took up half a page in The Times-Picayune (July 4, 1999). But racism in all its subtleties is what it is in America. But I was thankful that Christian received some public attention. But dealing with Bonner left a sour taste in my mouth. He wanted  to publish further the additional 50 poems in my possession but I decided to leave these very white people be.

Instead of dealing with such neo-overseers I have made I Am New Orleans and Other Poems by Marcus B. Christian (Introduction and Poems) available online. Enjoy. -- Rudolph Lewis