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Books by Marvin X
Love and War: Poems /
In the Crazy House Called America /
Woman: Man's Best Friend /
Beyond Religion Toward Spirituality
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Salaam, Huey Newton, Salaam
Marvin X Play in New York
Marvin X’s one-act play (with
co-author Ed Bullins) Salaam, Huey Newton, Salaam,
has been running at Woody King’s New Federal Theatre
since October 23. It ends Sunday, November 16. Salaam,
Huey Newton, Salaam is a scene from X’s full length
docudrama of his Crack addiction One Day In The Life,
performed coast to coast during the late 90s.Ishmael
Reed says One Day In the Life is the most
powerful drama he’s seen.
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After viewing the current production of
Salaam, Huey Newton,
Marvin X says it
is powerful beyond my expectations. The
dramatic structure provided by
Ed Bullins,
the direction of Mansoor Najee-ullah, and
most of all the acting of Harrison Lee as
Huey P. Newton, Michael Alcide as Young
Brother and Gano Grills as
Marvin X was high
quality which took my writing to another
level. Even the mixed media prologue with a
historical video and sound track was
excellent. It was great to see
Elijah Muhammad in proper perspective within the
black liberation movement. We see clips of
him speaking, pictured with
Malcolm X and
Martin Luther King, Jr.. And there were clips
of Kwame Toure, Angela Davis, Eldridge and
Kathleen Cleaver, Bobby Seale and
Huey P.
Newton.
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But have no doubt, this play says
more about Marvin X than
Huey Newton. Yes, we see Huey
in his last days as a drug addict in conversation with
Marvin X at a West Oakland Crack house, scene of their
last meeting before Huey was murdered by a youth. It is
indeed ironic that Young Brother repeatedly told Huey
how much he respected him, yet it was a young brother
who murdered Huey for allegedly taking his Crack. Huey
was known to shake down Oakland Crack dealers. His last
days were the tragic end of a revolutionary who
nevertheless made a profound contribution to black
liberation.
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But the
prophetic words of
Marvin X dominate the
play, challenging the audience to recover
from our myriad addictions and afflictions
as a result of white supremacy. Thank you,
Woody King for making this production
possible.
Two
other one-acts fill the evening: Amarie
by Hugh L. Fletcher, about adult sexual
abuse and Amiri
Baraka’s classic
The
Toilet, which deals with the theme of
racial homophobia. |
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Both are excellent productions
which add to an evening of black power theatre, letting
us know the Black Arts Movement is still relevant.
Wednesday night’s performance was attended by Mr. and
Mrs. Baraka, along with actors Glenn Thurman and John
Amos. These veterans of theatre applauded the cast and
praised them as the next generation of theatre
“magicians,” the term used by veteran director/actor
Hampton V. Clanton who directed The Toilet.
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Marvin
X’s remarks ended the evening when he said,
“These young actors, in
order to really be successful and avoid some
of the pitfalls of BAM (the Black Arts
Movement) must not only be skilled actors
but must detoxify and decolonize their minds
of white supremacy notions, such as egotism
which is the tragic flaw of artists
everywhere.” |
There will be a reading/book signing with Marvin X in
Brooklyn , Wednesday, November 19, 7pm, at Frank White’s
Coffee House, 936 Atlantic Ave.. Invited poets include
Amiri and Amina Baraka and the Last Poets. Marvin X will
be accompanied by young vocalist Raushanah Bashir who
got a standing ovation recently at San Francisco State
University when she accompanied him reading poetry at a
conference on the 40th anniversary of the BSU/Third
World Strike. For more information, call 718-496-2305.
Marvin X is available for bookings: 510-355-6339 or
917-627-6103. Email:
jmarvinx@yahoo.com. Blog:
www.marvinxwrites.blogspot.com. His latest books,
including How to Recover from the Addiction to White
Supremacy is available from Black Bird Press, 1222
Dwight Way , Berkeley CA 94702 .
Photos by Rechel
S. Williams in order of appearance: Gano Grills
(as Marvin X), Marvin X, and Amiri Baraka; Glen Thurman,
Gano Grills (as Marvin X), and Amiri Baraka; Hampton V.
Clanton, Sherise Pruitt (as Amarie), John Amos, and Carsey
Walker, Jr (as Armand Rock); pictured with John Amos are Raushanah Bashir and Rechel Williams
NYTheatre
posted 14 November 2008
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Hip Hop on Happy Birthday
Huey Newton
By Devismama
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Marvin X was my teacher. Many of our
comrades came through his Black Theatre:
Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, Emory
Douglas, Sam Napier.—Dr. Huey P. Newton
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Happy Birthday
Huey P. Newton! Co-founder of The Black Panther
Party an African-American left-wing organization
working for the right of self-defense for
African-Americans in the United States. The Party
achieved national and international impact and
renown through their deep involvement in the Black
Power movement and in politics of the 1960s and
1970s, as the intense anti-racism of the time is
today considered one of the most significant social,
political and cultural currents in United States
history. The group’s “provocative rhetoric, militant
posture, and cultural and political flourishes
permanently altered the contours of American
Identity.”
unfortunately,
the young black people who have a media platform
today are mainly rappers/artists. and as much as i
love hip hop, although the majority of rap artists
‘portray’ the confidence, fearlessness, badass
attitude of the panthers, the content,
intellectualism, or politicism is non-existent. huey
& the panther crew were college educated young
men/women (aging in range from 16 - 25). they were
well read. according to writer marvin x who studied
with huey & co at merritt college in oakland, their
independent reading list comprised of:
Black
Bourgeoisie, E. Franklin Frazier
Facing Mount Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta
Wretched of the Earth, Franz Fanon
History Will Absolve Me, Fidel Castro
Neocolonialism, the last stage of Imperialism, Kwame
Nkrumah
Negro Slave Revolts, Herbert Apteker
Myth of the Negro Past, Melville J. Herskivits
i contend that
being a rapper/artist/in the public eye does not
make one conscious politically or active socially
but you’d hope that after gaining a certain level of
celebrity, you’d take it upon yourself to read some
books, do some learning at least if for nothing else
you sound smart if you’re given a platform such as
oprah/charlie rose/bill maher etc. perhaps if a
certain artist had read a few of the books on the
list, he might have been better able to articulate
sentiments such as ‘george bush doesn’t like black
people’! and even though wiz khalifa’s new song
‘huey newton’ has absolutely NOTHING to do with the
newton’s life/legacy perhaps it will inspire a few
kids to google him just to find out who the hell wiz
is talking about.
Source:
BlackBirdPressNews
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Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22,
1989) was an American political and urban activist who,
along with
Bobby Seale, co-founded the
Black Panther Party for Self Defense. . . .
There are many
references to Huey Newton in popular music, including in
the songs "Changes"
by
Tupac Shakur, "Welcome To The Terrordome" by
Public Enemy, "Queens Get The Money" by
Nas, "Sunny Kim" by
Andre Nickatina, "Just A Celebrity" by
The Jacka, "Same Thing" by
Flobots, "Dreams" and "911 Is A Joke(Cop Killa)" by
The Game, "You Can't Murder Me" by
Papoose, "Police State" by
Dead Prez, "Propaganda" by
Dead Prez "We Want Freedom" by
Dead Prez, "Malcolm, Garvey, Huey" by
Dead Prez, "SLR" by
Lupe Fiasco, "Bill Gates Freestyle" by
Fabolous feat. Paul Cain, "Huey Newton" by
Wiz Khalifa &
Currensy,"Hiiipower" by
Kendrick Lamar, "My Favorite Mutiny" by
The Coup, and "Dream Team" by
Spearhead. In the comic strip and cartoon show
The Boondocks, the main character Huey Freeman, a
ten year-old African-American revolutionary, is named
after Newton; another reference comes when Freeman
starts an independent newspaper, dubbing it the Free
Huey World Report. In 1996,
A Huey P. Newton Story was performed on stage by
veteran actor
Roger Guenveur Smith. The one-man play later was
made into an award-winning 2001 film directed by
Spike Lee.—Wikipedia
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Revolutionary Suicide
By
Huey P. Newton, Ho Che Anderson
(Illustrator), Fredrika Newton (Introduction)
Eloquently tracing the birth of a
revolutionary, Huey P. Newton's famous and
oft-quoted autobiography is as much a
manifesto as a portrait of the inner circle
of America's Black Panther Party. From
Newton's impoverished childhood on the
streets of Oakland to his adolescence and
struggles with the system, from his role in
the Black Panthers to his solitary
confinement in the Alameda County Jail,
Revolutionary Suicide is smart, unrepentant,
and thought-provoking in its portrayal of
inspired radicalism.
Huey P. Newton (1942-1989) was an
activist and inspirational leader of the
Black Panther Party. Fredrika Newton
joined the Black Panther Party as a youth
member in 1969 and married Huey P. Newton in
1984. She established the Huey P. Newton
Foundation, a non-profit educational
organization, in 1993. Ho Che Anderson
was born in London in 1969 and named after
the Vietnamese and Cuban revolutionaries Ho
Chi Minh and Che Guevara. He is primarily
known for his comic books King, I
Want to Be Your Dog, Wise Son,
and Scream Queen. |
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Malcolm X
A Life of Reinvention
By
Manning Marable
Years
in the making-the definitive biography of
the legendary black activist.
Of the great figure in twentieth-century
American history perhaps none is more
complex and controversial than Malcolm X.
Constantly rewriting his own story, he
became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and
an icon, all before being felled by
assassins' bullets at age thirty-nine.
Through his tireless work and countless
speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands
of black Americans to create better lives
and stronger communities while establishing
the template for the self-actualized,
independent African American man. In death
he became a broad symbol of both resistance
and reconciliation for millions around the
world. |
Manning Marable's
new biography of Malcolm is a stunning achievement.
Filled with new information and shocking revelations
that go beyond the Autobiography, Malcolm X unfolds a
sweeping story of race and class in America, from the
rise of Marcus Garvey and the Ku Klux Klan to the
struggles of the civil rights movement in the fifties
and sixties.
Reaching into
Malcolm's troubled youth, it traces a path from his
parents' activism through his own engagement with the
Nation of Islam, charting his astronomical rise in the
world of Black Nationalism and culminating in the
never-before-told true story of his assassination.
Malcolm X will stand as the definitive work on one of
the most singular forces for social change, capturing
with revelatory clarity a man who constantly strove, in
the great American tradition, to remake himself anew.
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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If you like this page consider making a donation
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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
1950
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
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2000
____ 2005
Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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update 12 September 2010 |
