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Haki R. Madhubuti (born February 23, 1942) is a renowned African-American poet, prose author, and educator.

Haki Madhubuti. Courtesy Black Arts Movement wiki.

Haki Madhubuti. Courtesy Black Arts Movement wiki.

Life[]

Madhubuti was born Don Luther Lee in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1942. He changed his name in 1974. The name Haki means "just" or "justice," and Madhubuti means "precise, accurate and dependable," both names deriving from the Swahili language.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1960 to 1963. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa.

Madhubuti is a major contributor to the Black literary tradition, in particular through his early association with the Black Arts Movement beginning in the mid-60s, which has had a lasting and major influence, even today. A proponent of independent Black institutions, Madhubuti is the founder, publisher, and chairman of the board of Third World Press (established in 1967), which today is the largest independent black-owned press in the United States.[1]

Over the years, he has published 24 books (some under his former name, "Don L. Lee") and is one of the world's best-selling authors of poetry and non-fiction, with books in print in excess of 3 million. His Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous?: The African American Family in Transition (1990) has sold over 1,000,000 copies. His latest books are Claiming Earth: Race, Rage, Rape, Redemption (1994), GroundWork: New and Selected Poems 1966-1996 (1996), and HeartLove: Wedding and Love Poems (1998).

Madhubuti has also co-edited 2 volumes of literary works from "Gallery 37", releasing The Spirit (1998), and Describe the Moment (2000). His poetry and essays were published in over 30 anthologies from 1997 to 2001. He also wrote Tough Notes: A Healing Call For Creating Exceptional Black Men (2002).

Madhubuti is a much sought-after poet and lecturer, and has convened workshops and served as guest/keynote speaker at thousands of colleges, universities, libraries and community centers in the U.S. and abroad.

In December 1967, Madhubuti met with Carolyn Rodgers and Johari Amini in the basement of a South Side apartment to found Third World Press, an outlet for African-American literature. The company was thriving, 40 years later, by then in a multi-million dollar facility. Over the years, this press would publish works for Pulitzer Prize winning author Gwendolyn Brooks, as well as Sonia Sanchez, Sterling Plump and Pearl Cleage.[2]

Besides co-founding a publishing company, Madhubuti is the co-founder of the Institute of Positive Education/New Concept Development Center (established in 1969), and co-founder of "Betty Shabazz International Charter School" (established 1998) in Chicago, Illinois.

He is also a founder and board member of the National Association of Black Book Publishers, a founder and chairman of the board of The International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent, and founder and director of the National Black Writers Retreat.

Madhubuti held the position of distinguished university professor, co-founder and director emeritus of the Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing, and director of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at Chicago State University.

Madhubuti's latest book, Yellow Black, is an autobiographical novel detailing the earliest 21 years of his life.

Recognition[]

Madhubuti has won an American Book Award, the Broadside Press Outstanding Poet’s Award, the Kuumba Workshop Black Liberation Award, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (in 1969 and 1982) and the National Endowment for the Humanities.[3]

Publications[]

Poetry[]

as Don L. Lee
  • Don't Cry, Scream. Detroit, MI: Broadside Press, 1965.
  • Black Pride. Detroit, MI: Broadside Press, 1968.
  • Think Black. Detroit, MI: Broadside Press, 1969.
  • We Walk the Way of the New World. Detroit, MI: Broadside Press, 1970.
  • DirectionScore: Selected and new poems. Detroit, MI: Broadside Press, 1971.
as Haki R. Madhubuti
  • Book of Life. Detroit, MI: Broadside Press, 1973.
  • Killing Memory, Seeking Ancestors. Detroit, MI: Lotus Press, 1987.
  • GroundWork: New and selected poems of Don L. Lee/Haki R. Madhubuti, 1966-1996. Chicago: Third World Press, 1996.
  • Heart Love: Wedding and love poems. Chicago: Third World Press, 1998.
  • Run Toward Fear: New poems, and a poet's handbook. Chicago: Third World Press, 2004.
  • Liberation Narratives: New and collected poems, 1966-2009. Chicago: Third World Press, 2009.

Non-fiction[]

  • Dynamite Voices 1: Black poets of the 1960's. Detroit MI: Broadside Press, 1971.
  • Kwanzaa: An African-American holiday that is progressive and uplifting. Chicago: Third World Press, 1972.
  • From Plan to Planet: Life studies; the need for Afrikan minds and institutions. Detroit, MI: Broadside Press, 1973.
  • Enemies: The clash of races. Chicago: Third World Press, 1978.
  • Black Men: Obsolete, single, dangerous?: Afrikan American families in transition : essays in discovery, solution, and hope. Chicago: Third World Press, 1990.
  • African-Centered Education: Its value, importance, and necessity in the development of Black children. Chicago: Third World Press, 1994.
  • Claiming Earth: Race, rage, rape, redemption: Blacks seeking a culture of enlightened empowerment. Chicago: Third World Press, 1994.
  • Tough Notes: A healing call for creating exceptional Black men: Affirmations, meditations, readings, and strategies. Chicago: Third World Press, 2002.
  • YellowBlack: The first twenty-one years of a poet's life: A memoir. Chicago: Third World Press, 2005.
  • Freedom to Self-Destruct : much easier to believe than think: New and collected essays. Chicago: Third World Press, 2011.

Collected editions[]

  • Earthquakes and Sunrise Missions: Poetry and essays of black renewal, 1973-1983. Chicago: Third World Press, 1984.

Edited[]

  • To Gwen with Love: An anthology dedicated to Gwendolyn Brooks (edited with Patricia L Brown & Francis Ward). Chicago: Johnson, 1971.
  • Say that the River Turns: The impact of Gwendolyn Brooks. Chicago: Third World Press, 1987.
  • Confusion by any other name: Essays exploring the negative impact of The Blackman's guide to understanding the Blackwoman (edited with Cynthia Blair). Chicago: Third World Press, 1990.
  • Why L.A. Sappened: Implications of the '92 Los Angeles rebellion. Chicago: Third World Press, 1993.
  • Million Man March / Day of Absence: A commemorative anthology: Speeches, commentary, photography, poetry, illustrations, documents (edited with Karenga Maulana). Chicago: Third World Press / Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press, 1996.
  • Releasing the Spirit: A collection of literary works from Gallery 37. Chicago: Third World Press, 1998.
  • Describe the Moment: A collection of literary works from Gallery 37. Chicago: Third World Press, 2000.
Haki_R._Madhubuti_Don't_Cry...SCREAM!

Haki R. Madhubuti Don't Cry...SCREAM!


Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[4]

See also[]

References[]

Notes[]

  1. Amy Alexander, "Tavis Smiley's Covenant", The Nation, September 18, 2006.
  2. Little Known Black History Fact: Carolyn Rodgers
  3. Haki Madhubuti b. 1942, Poetry Foundation, Web, Nov. 2, 2012.
  4. Search results = au:Haki Madhubuti, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Nov. 29, 2014.

External links[]

Poems
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Books
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