A Boy From a Simple City
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. was born on April 2, 1939, in Washington, D.C. His father, Marvin Gay Sr. was a church minister and his mother, Alberta, was a domestic worker. Marvin had a brother, Frankie, and two sisters, Jeanne and Zeola. He also had two half-brothers, Michael, from his mother’s previous relationship, and Antwaun Carey, from one of his father’s extramarital affairs.
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Marvin lived his early years in Southwest, a neighborhood he called ”Simple City.” Most people there lived in small houses that were overcrowded, many lacking running water and electricity. Like others who were growing up in poverty at that time, Marvin and his friends simply didn’t know any different and they just made do with the cards they were dealt.