Sunday, June 10, 2012

Celebrate the Poetry and Life of Marilyn Buck

Inside / Out: Selected Poems
by Marilyn Buck with a preface by David Meltzer
This collection of Marilyn's searing and lyrical poetry is a living
tribute to her indomitable spirit and revolutionary intelligence.

Wednesday, June 6th, 7:00pm
The Green Arcade Sin Soracco and friends join up to honor Marilyn and her poetry.
The Green Arcade is located at 1680 Market Street @Gough in San
Francisco. For more information, please call (415) 431-6800.

Sunday, June 17, 3:00 PM
East Side Cultural Center
http://www.eastsideartsalliance.com/

Join poets Maisha Quint, Maria Poblet, Elana Levy, and the Friends of
Marilyn Buck. Emceed by Kiilu Nyasha.
The East Side Cultural Center is located at 2277 International Blvd.
Oakland, CA 94606. 510-533-6629 or eastsideculturalcenter@gmail.com
for more info.

Wednesday, June 27th, 7:00pm
Modern Times Bookstore
http://www.mtbs.com

With readings by Graciela Trevisan, Nellie Wong, and Maria Poblet.
Modern Times is located at 2919 24th Street, San Francisco, CA.
Please contact 415-282-9246 for more info.

About the author:
Marilyn Buck's life was dedicated to battling
oppression. She began her anti-racist activism as a teen in Texas,
organized against the war in Vietnam, and joined the SDS; with other
SDS women she helped to incorporate women's liberation into the
organization's politics. She fought for self-determination for all
people, and she aligned herself with the Black Liberation Movement.
In 1973 she was convicted of purchasing two boxes of handgun
ammunition and was given a ten-year sentence. After serving four
years in Federal prison in Alderson, West Virginia, she was granted a
furlough and did not return. The following eight years she was underground.
In 1985 Marilyn was recaptured and was convicted of
conspiracy for the successful escape of Assata Shakur from her New
Jersey prison. (Assata remains active from her exile in Cuba).
Marilyn and her codefendants Dr. Mutulu Shakur and Sekou Odinga were
also convicted of conspiracy to commit "armed bank robbery" in
support of the New Afrikan Independence struggle. In 1988 she was
given another ten years in the Resistance Conspiracy case, for
"conspiracy to protest and alter government policies (the invasion of
Grenada, intervention in Central America) through use of violence"
against government and military property. She was imprisoned for over
thirty years.


Marilyn continued her activism inside of prison. She was
deeply involved in cultural and educational activities for all
prisoners, and translated for Spanish-speaking women inside. While in
prison she contributed articles on prison issues to various journals
and anthologies, and she lifted her own voice through poetry for the
whole time she was incarcerated. Her poems appeared in anthologies,
chapbooks and CDs, and in 2001 she was awarded a PEN American Center
poetry prize.


Marilyn was released from prison in 2010 and died shortly after from cancer.

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