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Monday, December 14, 2015

Marvin X's East Coast style biblotherapueutic revolution rocks Oaktown

 Marvin X and his associate and Master Teacher Sun Ra, outside Marvin's Black Educational Theatre,
San Francisco, 1972, on Ofarrel between Fillmore and Webster at the Greek Orthodox Church, renamed the Black Educational Theatre. Sun Ra arranged the music for the musical version of Marvin's play Flowers for the Trashman, renamed Take Care of Business of TCB. Sun Ra and Marvin X produced a five hour performance (without intermission) with a cast of fifty, including the Sun Ra Arkestra and dancers, the Raymond Sawyer dancers and the Ellender Barnes dancers, and the cast of TCP by Marvin X.

 Syrian poet/scholar/novelist Dr. Mohja Kahf. She invited Marvin X to read at the University of Arkenssas. She proclaims the Black Arts Movement artists are the foundation of Muslim American literature and art.

 On February 7, 2015, the City of Oakland issued a proclamation in honor of the Black Arts Movement. Mayor Libby Schaaf issued the proclamation in the presence of Marvin X, his daughter Nefertit and grandchildren Naeema and Jahmael, along with the President of Laney College, Dr. Elnora Tina Webb. The Mayor honored Dr. Nathan Hare as the Father of Black Studies in America.
The Marvin X biblotherapueutic (healing through reading books) has finally come to the attention of the West Coast. At his Academy of da Corner, Lakeshore station, the Buppy/Yuppy section of Oakland, he was acknowledged for doing an East Coast thang, i.e., from Harlem to Wash. DC, conscious literature is vended on the streets, especially in Harlem, Brooklyn, Newark, and Philly. Marvin X is often seen vending his books up and down the East Coast. A little brother from Oakland saw him in Philly outside the Gallaria, the downtown mall frequented by Philly's North American Africans. The brother couldn't believe Marvin X was in Philly doing what he does in downtown Oakland, usually at 14th and Broadway, although Marvin also works Lakeshore Ave. and the cross roads of the Black/African Bay Area, the Berkeley Flea Market at the ASHBY BART Station.

Today the Blacks on Lakeshore let him know they know how conscious literature is vended on the streets of Harlem, Brooklyn elsewhere up and down the East Coast. These bi-coastal North American Africans were elated to see Marvin X has that East Coast style of spreading conscious knowledge.

Marvin X didn't hesitate to let them know he does his thang coast to coast, including the Midwest and Dirty South. After working the Fulton Street Mall in Brooklyn, Marvin X stopped at a conscious book stand that sold conscious tapes as well. Since the brothers weren't familiar with him, he shared some of his works freely, books and DVDs. As he departed Fulton Street Mall, a young brother ran up to him saying, "OG, my padnas selling books and tapes said you just left their stand and you got a different point of view. That's what I'm looking for, a different point of view." The young brother spent $30.00 buying Marvin X's different point of view. Ironically, before arriving in Brooklyn, Marvin X had visited the Yoruba African Village in Sheldon, South Carolina. While there a another young man saw him and said, "Marvin X, I know who you are! My friend is your friend on Facebook, and even though I am not your friend, he sends me your writings, and I must admit, you have a different point of view. We appreciate you, Marvin X."

At Marvin X's Academy of da Corner, Lakeshore, he deals with a variety of people, including Christians, Muslims, Native Americans, Whites, Gypsies, Gay/Lesbian, and those who claim to be nothing or none of the above. He tries to treat them all with unconditional love, as he is a follower of His Holliness Guru Bawa, along with Elijah Muhammad, Prophet Muhammad, Rumi, Saadi and Hafiz, and don't leave out Sufi Master of Senegal, Bamba, who has the Holy City Touba, more sacred than Mecca to West African Muslims.

While Marvin X is placed into the Muslim literary tradition, Ishmael Reed says Marvin X must be considered in the Yoruba tradition since he is in that tradition of the artist as teacher, better known as didactic literature, or literature with a purpose, usually moral, probably why Ishmael Reed called him, "Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland." Reed said of Marvin X, "If you want to learn about motivation and inspiration, don't spend all that money going to workshops and seminars, just go stand at 14th and Broadway and watch Marvin X at work. He's Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland."

We suggest you catch Marvin X at work, whether at 14th and Broadway (currently being renamed the Black Arts Movement Cultural and Economic District) or on Lakeshore or at the Berkeley Flea Market, catch him and see if you can escape his aura. Although Marvin X has been literally giving away his books for free, alas, he said God told him to give away a thousand copies of his collection of essays Wish I Could Tell You The Truth. He felt vindicated when two young brothers passed him on Lakeshore but turned around to introduce themselves to him saying, "Brother Marvin X, we just want to shake your hand because we found half of your book Wish I Could Tell You The Truth and it changed our lives. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

More recently, a young brother said to him at the Berkeley Flea Market, "Marvin X, thank you for taking so much pressure off me. After reading your Mythology of Pussy and Dick, I can now get my life together. I don't have to worry about owning my woman's vagina. I can own myself. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And even old men have told Marvin, "Marvin X, I hate to admit this, but I learned something from your Mythology of Pussy and Dick." And the young girls says, "Marvin X, you taught me I had pussy power. I didn't know this before reading your essay. Thank you."