YellowBlack: The First Twenty-One Years of a Poet's Life

by Haki R. Madhubuti

Powerful prose, poetry, and jazz riffs chronicle the first 21 years of the life of Haki R. Madhubuti, formerly Don L. Lee: poet, publisher, editor, and activist. He was raised by his mother Maxine, whose life is also recounted--including gritty details of how she used her body to feed, house, and shelter her children without help from their absentee father. Despite the obstacles in his childhood, music and literature molded the young Don Lee, effectively saving his life.

Genres: Memoir

253 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Ali Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed YellowBlack; Madhubuti is an outstanding writer. Given the fact that I love auto/biographical books, perhaps explains why I was able to breeze through it so quickly. Everyone has a common story, and even in those commonalities, there are so many unique twists and turns that clearly show how a person is developed. YellowBlack added so much context to Madhubuti's lifelong journey.

[Joe Brunory · Rating 3 out of 5]

an interesting man and a helluva story. this autobio has a unique layout, but not really a poetic layout. It seemed to change voice a bit toward the end and not consistant I thought. Still, a worthwhile story and a bit of research for me as I know Madhubuti is a well respected author/publisher.

[Loocuh Frayshure · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Dr. Madhubuti was confirmed to be coming to my school to talk to the kids, Third World Press sent a handful of his books to me, including YellowBlack. I started reading it as soon as it arrived and finished it today, three full days after his fantastic visit. It’s a fantaatic read, but I much preferred the poetic/prose mash narrative of his youth to the ending 50ish pages where it more becomes essays about Richard Wright, W.E.B. DuBois and Paul Robeson. I GET why he put them in, but for someone reaaaal familiar with all three, there wasn’t much new there for me. Also the number of times in that last part where he namedrops the same list of Sterling A. Brown, Claude McKay, Gwendolyn Brooks, etc. is almost comedic, but I guess the importance of them to him bears repeating? Almost felt like an editorial oversight, but with how gripping and fascinating the first 180 or so pages are, this is still a fantastic memoir.