X, Marvin, 1944-

Educator, poet, playwright, essaytist, and activist Marvin X (born Marvin Jackmon, also known as Imam El Muhajir) was born on May 29, 1944 and grew up in Oakland and Fresno, California. After attending Merrit College in Oakland, he received his B.A. and M.A. in English from San Francisco State University. He has taught English, creative writing, journalism, Arabic, and drama at Fresno State University, U.C. Berkeley, U.C. San Diego, San Francisco State University, Mills College, the University of Nevada, Reno, Laney College, and Merritt College. During the 1980's he organized the Melvin Black Forum on Human Rights and the 1st Annual All Black Men's Conference. It was during this time that he also attempted to create the Marvin X Center for the Study of World Religions.

From the description of Marvin X collection, 1977-1984. (University of California, Davis). WorldCat record id: 56893009

Marvin X, also known as Marvin Jackmon and El Muhajir, was born May 29, 1944 in Fowler, California. He is best known for his work as a poet, playwright and essayist of the Black Arts Movement and with Ed Bullins in the founding of Black House and The Black Arts/West Theatre in San Francisco, California.

From the description of Marvin X papers, 1965-2010 (bulk 1993-2010). (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 85760900

Biographical Information

Poet, playwright and essayist Marvin X was born Marvin E. Jackmon on May 29, 1944 in Fowler, California. He grew up in Fresno and Oakland, in an activist household. X attended Oakland City College (Merritt College), where he was introduced to Black Nationalism and became friends with future Black Panther founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. X earned a B.A. and M.A. in English from San Francisco State University and emerged as an important voice in the Black Arts Movement (BAM), the artistic arm of the Black Power movement, in the mid-to-late Sixties. X wrote for many of the BAM's key journals. He also co-founded, with playwright Ed Bullins and others, two of BAM's premier West Coast headquarters and venues - Oakland's Black House and San Francisco's Black Arts/West Theatre. In 1967, X joined the Nation of Islam and became known as El Muhajir. In the eighties, he organized the Melvin Black Forum on Human Rights and the first Annual All Black Men's Conference. He also served as an aide to former Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver and attempted to create the Marvin X Center for the Study of World Religions. In 1999, X founded San Francisco's Recovery Theatre. His production of "One Day in the Life," the play he wrote about his drug addiction and recovery, became the longest-running African-American drama in Northern California. In 2004, in celebration of Black History Month, X produced the San Francisco Tenderloin Book Fair (also known as the San Francisco Black Radical Book Fair) and University of Poetry. X has taught Black Studies, drama, creative writing, journalism, English and Arabic at a variety of California universities and colleges. He continues to work as an activist, educator, writer, and producer.

From the guide to the Marvin X papers, 1965-2006, bulk 1993-2006, (The Bancroft Library)