- Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Title:
- Revolutionary choices: the life and art of Haki Madhubuti, 1999
- Creator:
- Hooper-Simanga, Napolita S.
- Date of Original:
- 1999-05-01
- Subject:
- Degrees, Academic
Dissertations, Academic - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- theses
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- This study examined the life and art of Black Arts Movement poet and activist Haki Madhubuti (aka Don L. Lee). His life and art are evidence that the objectives many black nationalist activists of the Black Arts Movement espoused were attainable. These objectives included, but were not limited to, the following: political and social empowerment through black unity; replacement of Western aesthetic with a black aesthetic to judge black art; strengthening of the black community through family and institutions; and acceptance of African value systems. This study was based on the premise that the Black Arts Movement was a successful artistic, political, and social movement which produced activists/artists who challenged Western aesthetics and values while promoting African- centered ones. Madhubuti is a central and commanding exemplar of the Black Arts Movement as evidenced in his body of work, entrepreneurial and educational enterprises, and work as a political activist. An interview with Madhubuti was conducted at his office at Third World Press in Chicago, Illinois in an attempt to capture his motivation and drive to continue working toward black nationalist objectives. The researcher found that Madhubuti has made deliberate choices regarding personal, professional, political, and artistic segments of his life which are in line with many of the goals and objectives espoused during the Black Arts Movement by black nationalists. In doing so, he continues the tradition of empowering and uniting black people through political activism and art, a tradition started by black activists/artists who predate the Black Arts Movement by forty years. The conclusions drawn from the research suggest that Madhubuti's work as a black nationalist, artist, entrepreneur, and committed family and community leader, is in line with the Black Arts Movement's original objectives. The research also suggests that Madhubuti's poetry and essays follow a clear pattern of evolution, as detailed in Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth.
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:1999_hooper_simanga_napolita_s.pdf
- Rights Holder:
- Clark Atlanta University
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
- Rights:
-
