Marcel Diallo opened a poetry venue, The Black Dot Cafe in 1998.
14 Facts About Marcel Diallo
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Marcel Diallo founded the Black Dot Artists' Collective in 1996 with poet Robert Jamal Jackson and percussionist Kele Nitoto.
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In 1997, Marcel Diallo released his first album, The Shaman and The Nigga God, on Akashic Records, a Bay Area independent hip-hop label.
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In 1998, Marcel Diallo opened the Ritual Space and Black Dot Cafe in East Oakland.
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In 2000, Marcel Diallo was selected to exhibit a visual arts installation titled, Scrapyard Ghosts, at ProArts Gallery in Old Oakland.
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Marcel Diallo has since opened various galleries in Oakland's Prescott neighborhood.
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Marcel Diallo exhibited and taught at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco in 2006.
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Marcel Diallo has curated at places like Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and created art for exhibits at Bay Area galleries.
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Marcel Diallo has worked with artists Amiri Baraka, The Last Poets, David Murray, Kahil El Zabar, Sonia Sanchez, Kamau Da'oud, Marvin X, Piri Thomas, Micheal McClure, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Guillermo Gomez-Pena, and Don Cheadle.
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In 2000, Marcel Diallo was featured in Source Magazine's Dreaming Americans series.
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Marcel Diallo is co-founder of Eastside Arts Alliance, a multicultural organization in the Lower San Antonio District and currently works with Ecocity Builders.
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In 2009, Marcel Diallo was featured prominently on CNN's "Reclaiming The Dream" because of his legendary efforts in helping to revitalize West Oakland's historic predominantly African-American "Lower Bottoms" neighborhood.
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Marcel Diallo answered the cause, by giving frequent tours of the District to people of all backgrounds on a weekly basis.
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Marcel Diallo's forthcoming book Black New World Manifesto, featuring prose and poems with a foreword by Amiri Baraka was due for release by Black Dot Cafe Press in 2009.