Haki Madhubuti
(b. Donald Luther Lee, 1942, Little Rock, AK)

As poet, publisher, editor and educator, Haki R. Madhubuti serves as a pivotal figure in the development of a strong Black literary tradition, emerging from the era of the sixties and continuing to the present. 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). Mr. Madhubuti also co-edited two volumes of literary works from Gallery 37, Releasing the Spirit (1998), and Describe the Moment (2000). His poetry and essays were published in over thirty anthologies from 1997-2001. His latest book is Tough Notes: A Healing Call For Creating Exceptional Black Men (2002).

He 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. A proponent of independent Black institutions, Mr. Madhubuti is the founder, publisher, and chairman of the board of Third World Press (1967), co-founder of the Institute of Positive Education/New Concept School (1969), and co-founder of Betty Shabazz International Charter School (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, founder and director of the National Black Writers Retreat. Currently, Haki R. Madhubuti is the Distinguished University Professor, 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.

Photo credit Troy Johnson, AALBC.com (2001)

 

Any Means Necessary - Malcolm X: Real, Not Reinvented
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Edited by Herb Boyd, Ron Daniels, Maulana Karenga and Haki R. Madhubuti, critical conversations on Manning Marable's biography of Malcolm X

Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Third World Press (January 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0883783363
ISBN-13: 978-0883783368
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches

Compiled as a response to Manning Marable’s controversial new biography of Malcolm X, more than 30 noted scholars from the African American community offer their opinions on Marable’s portrayal of the man whose short life still inspires speculation of what might have been.

Contributors include: Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Abdul Alkalimat, Molefi Kete Asante, Rick Ayers, Bryonn Bain, Amiri Baraka, Aslaku Ber­hanu, Amir Bey, Todd Steven Burroughs, Ta-Nehisi Coates, William Jelani Cobb, Karl Evanzz, Iyaluua and Herman Ferguson, Bill Flectcher, Jr., Glen Ford, Rhone Fraser, Wil Haygood, Kelly Harris, Errol A. Henderson, Fred Hord, Peter James Hudson, Ezra Hyland, Regina Jennings, Peniel E. Joseph, Clyde Ledbetter Jr., Fred Logan, Kevin McGruder, Starla Muhammad, Nell Irvin Painter, Imani Perry, Gregory J. Reed, Sonia Sanchez, Diane D. Turner, Ilyasah Shabazz

 

Liberation Narratives: New and Collected Poems: 1966-2009
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Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Third World Press (September 30, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0883782898
ISBN-13: 978-0883782897

Spanning a long career, these poems helped define and sustain a movement that added music and brash street language to traditional poetics. Like Amiri Barka (aka LeRoi Jones), this poet and social activist has long combined the personal and the political by adding anger, activism, and outsider art to well-crafted poems. Spoken-word poetry (which recently garnered the author a Grammy nomination) and "message" poetry aimed at community healing are innovations in the later works, and as a whole the poems provide an overview of emerging black culture as they borrow language from black consciousness, hip-hop, political speeches, and motivational talks.

 

Yellow Black: The First Twenty-One Years of a Poets's Life
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ISBN: 0883782618
Format: Hardcover, 253pp
Pub. Date: June 2005
Publisher: Third World Press

Haki Madhubuti weaves this painful and uplifting story in the only way he knows how: through the music of words. Madhubuti uses prose, poetry and the beautiful free jazz flow of words to include the memorable events, people and places that were a part of his early life.

He has stated, "The role of the Black intellectual is not only to understand the text, but also to write his/her version of the story, to teach the young positive objectives of life, to be involved at a community level -where theory is often never tested- in making a real and substantive, long term change in the lives of those who are truly suffering." Run Toward Fear: New Poems and a Poet's Handbook
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by Haki R. Madhubuti

ISBN: 0883782650
Format: Paperback, 80pp
Pub. Date: June 2004

Read an AALBC.com Review

Haki R. Madhubuti minces no words in Run Toward Fear, a powerful new collection of poetry. Run Toward Fear offers readers a mixture of poems that challenge and cause both reflection and question on many of the headline issues that have launched this century. Madhubuti includes poignant moving tributes to Jacob Carruthers, Gwendolyn Brooks and Amiri Baraka, as well as, heartfelt words that provide comfort and guidance to the families of the twenty-one who lost their lives in Chicago's E-2 night club tragedy.

Madhubuti, motivated by constant requests from younger poets and teachers of poetry to share his insights on writing and the art of producing poetry, offers an added extra in Run Toward Fear. The final section of the book, 'A Poet's Handbook, provides personal and sometimes anecdotal insights on the craft of writing poetry. The 'Handbook' serves as a practical answer to the book's final poem 'For the Consideration of Poets.'

'Again and again, Haki R. Madhubuti gives us necessary words that shine bright light in challenging times'
'Elizabeth Alexander

 

Tough Notes: Letters to Young Black Men
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Format: Hardcover, 150pp.
ISBN: 0883782367
Publisher: Third World Press
Pub. Date: May 2002 

From the Preface
...The most pressing reason for Tough Notes is my personal response to the hundreds of letters, notes and telephone calls I have received over the years from prisoners and students -- mainly young black men (many without caring or existing fathers), seeking guidance and a kind word.  This work is for them and other young men and women systematically locked out of this nation's wealth, benefits and opportunities.

A Call to Men...
...At all times, Black men need to think and reevaluate where they are as men, co-workers, lovers, husbands, fathers and brothers in a healthy and developmental manner.  This requires work, serious study and a profound commitment to quality relationships at all levels of human interaction.

 

Groundwork: Selected Poems of Haki R. Madhubuti Don L. Lee (1966-1996)
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by Haki R. Madhubuti

ISBN: 0883781727
Format: Hardcover, 356pp
Pub. Date: June 2000
Publisher: Third World Press

Haki Madhubuti is one of the foremost Black poets and has been in the vanguard of Black letters for more than 25 years. He has perfected the ability to combine politics and poetry in a powerful and unique style that is both accessible and profound. GroundWork: Selected Poems from 1966-1996 is a landmark collection of Madhubuti's poetic vision for and critique of African-Americans and American society as a whole. From "But He Was Cool" and "One Sided Shoot-out" to "White People are People Too" and "Too Many of Our Young are Dying", GroundWork is a compendium of verse that is both thoughtful, memorable, and represents some of the best work in a generation of American poets of any color. -- Midwest Book Review
 

Haki is also included in

Jazz Poetry Kafe: The BlackWords Compilation CD
http://aalbc.com/jazz.htm






Don't Cry Scream
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Publisher: Third World Press
Pub. Date: 
September 1996

IS TRUTH LIBERATING?
by Haki R. Madhubuti

if it is truth that binds
why are there
so many lies between
lovers?

if it is truth that is liberating
why
are people told:
they look good when they don't
they are loved when they aren't
everything is fine when it ain't
glad you're back when you're not.

Black people in america
may not be made for the truth
we wrap our lives in disco
and sunday sermons
while
selling false dreams to our children.

lies
are refundable,
can be bought on our revolving
charge cards as
we all catch truth
on the next go round
if
it doesn't hurt.