This text examines the significance of Malcolm X as a literary muse for Haki Madhubuti, one of America’s premiere poets and essayists. By illustrating the power of oratory during the 1960s, this book documents how a single individual can cause significant change in society, long after his death. Malcolm X influenced all of his listeners to destroy the racial appellation
Negro
and to accept new definitions for synonyms that relate to those of African origin. His persistence in oratory during the 1960s persuaded an art movement that shifted the psychology and behavior of American blacks. By taking a historical and literary analysis of black poetry, this text charts how selected writers have exhibited great tensions around issues of race until the 1960s movements of resistance. This book contributes to scholarship in refiguring Malcolm X as expressive muse; charting how a disciple built long-lasting African-centered institutions; and revealing how Haki Madhubuti has transformed himself from black radical of the 1960s to distinguished university professor at Chicago State.