… about his motorcycle buddy (Che Guevara): “I realize he’s more alive each day, and I need his advice more and more.” So we can say of Marilyn, she is more alive every day as we delve further into her writings and reflect on the long arc of her life. And indeed her advice is more timely than ever.
[Granado’s comment is in the bonus material of the Motorcycle Diaries DVD]
Marilyn is one of four U.S.-held women political prisoners in the article by Linda Ford on Truthout.org, October 10, 2010.
For a report on the memorial, see Marilyn Buck Remembered
A memorial for Marilyn will be held in Oakland on Sunday November 7
The October 2010 issue of Monthly Review has two poems from Marilyn, “Tattoos” and “Undocumented” which have not been previously published, with an introduction by Susie Day. They are now available online at www.monthlyreview.org/101001buck.php..
Collage with Marilyn Buck and Frida Kahlo by Bob Lee, Austin artist
Marilyn Buck: ¡Presente!
Published Aug 29, 2010 10:30 PM
For nearly 30 long, tortuous years, Marilyn Buck was a political prisoner of the state; a captive in the federal prison system for her role in the liberation of former Black Panther Assata Shakur. She wrote gripping lines of radical poetry, often about the lives and plights of her fellow imprisoned women, as well as of prisoners who were active in the Black freedom and nationalist movements.
For example, back in 2000 she wrote “Black August,” an excerpt of which follows:
Would you hang on a cliff’s edge
sword-sharp, slashing fingers
while jackboot screws stomp heels
on peeled-flesh bones
and laugh
“let go! die, damn you, die!”
could you hang on 20 years, 30 years?
20 years, 30 years and more
brave Black brothers buried
in US koncentration kamps
they hang on
Black light shining in torture chambers
Ruchell, Yogi, Sundiata, Sekou,
Warren, Chip, Seth, Herman, Jalil,
and more and more they resist: Black August
Marilyn wrote that poem in 2000. She was released in July 2010, and recently passed away from the ravages of cancer.
Marilyn Buck was imprisoned so long because of her support of the Black liberation movement, which made her a traitor, of sorts, to the white nation. Like John Brown, she fought to free the unfree. Her spirit of resistance never left her. Marilyn was 62.
From the Angola 3 Newsletter, “The Color of Innocence”:
Summer has disappeared in the gloom left by the passing of our friend and comrade, Marilyn Buck. There’s not a person involved in the struggle who has not been affected. We hope that all Angola 3 supporters will connect to this link for Marilyn’s memorial services. Also be sure to read or listen to her poem “Thirteen Springs” here. We know that Herman, Albert and King have, like so many other political prisoners, been particularly affected by her passing.
Aside from a legacy of integrity, spirit and courage along with enormous talent and creativity, Marilyn, true to her commitment, made sure that those of us left behind would not and could not forget those locked behind bars. This year, funds raised in her name will go to help support six political prisoners in New York. Angola 3 will be part of this effort.
by Russell Maroon Shoats/z
The oppressors say you were the only white in the Black Liberation Army
They seek to sow confusion and division
But you were more than that!
In Ireland you would have been in the Irish Republican Army
In Africa the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique,
or the Southwest People’s Organization
In Vietnam, the National Liberation Front
You were the Vietcong!
That’s why the oppressor hated and feared you:
You were the “Enemy of the State”
An oppressive state
But you were always on the side of the oppressed, a dependable ally and friend
Our Sister,
The “New Woman” that Che hoped for,
An Anti-Imperialist Freedom Fighter:
That’s why we ALL LOVED YOU!
Rest in peace my Sister
A job well done!
Send our brother some love and light. Write to Russell Shoats, AB3855, 175 Progress Dr., Waynesburg PA 15370. This poem appeared in the San Francisco Bay View’s tribute to Marilyn, referenced earlier in this blog. It deserves its own place here among the other poetic tributes to her.
Compañera, para ti
una décima criolla,
la más genuina, que apoya
lo más genuino de aquí.
Del terruño el frenesí
en humilde convivencia,
del campo la luz, la esencia,
los olores mañaneros
y los nocturnos luceros
testigos de tu conciencia.
Es que te siento tan nuestra,
tan nacional, tan cercana,
tan genuina, tan hermana,
del isleño amor la muestra.
El sentir patrio demuestra
lo que tú me has demostrado,
tú eres surco que el arado
ha abierto de libertad,
tú estás en mi vecindad,
tú eres boricua a mi lado.
Yo no quisiera llorar
pero tengo atragantado
tu sentimiento que ha dado
tanto, tanto por amar.
Yo no quisiera mirar
con mis ojos lagrimosos
esos tuyos tan hermosos
más no puedo contener
la rabia ni el llanto al ver
lo que te causó el acoso.
Con los brazos de esta tierra,
Marilyn, quiero abrazarte,
compañera, y quiero darte
todo el amor que ella encierra.
Tú eres patria, nuestra, guerra
por nuestra liberación
ajena a nuestra nación
ante los ojos del mundo,
presente en cada segundo
de nuestra revolución.
Tú eres la décima mía,
la de Llorens y Virgilio,
eres extranjero idilio,
tú eres cercana alegría.
La octosilábica via
para cantar nuestra historia,
tú eres lucha, eres memoria,
eres canto libertario,
eres fusil necesario
para llenarnos de gloria.
Marilyn Buck, compañera,
reconozco tu presencia,
tu lucha y tu consistencia
y tu entrega siempre fiera.
Esa voluntad sincera
que se acercó a mi nación
fue un acto de devoción
y de solidaridad
y apoyo a la libertad
desde lejana prisión.
Maravillosa mujer,
que mi patria te conozca
y que en tu ser reconozca
lo valioso del poder.
El poder de poder ser
en valor y sacrificio
chispa y fulgor, el indicio
que siempre estará presente
en las manos de la gente
para ser del fuego inicio.
Una décima sencilla,
una décima de amor,
una décima cual flor
que representa a mi antilla.
Para tí, la maravilla
de mujer universal,
para tí ese cideral
espacio de gloria eterna
en la décima más tierna
de nuestro espacio vital.
Carlos Quiles
24/julio/2010
11:00 p.m., en Guavate, Puerto Rico
marilynbuckpresente.org 