Broadside Press

11/30/2018

The most basic need of art is for it to be experienced. Without the experience, it is not art, and Black Art is no exception. To be experienced art must be shared, presented, transported, or published and distributed. Broadside Press was key to creating art made by, about and for Black America. Randall’s broadside publication method revolutionized not only the Black Art industry but also the Black Art aesthetic. Making the art accessible instantly made it relatable--a poem posted on the wall was not there for a specific class of people, it was for all who walked by to read. With no targeted reader, communities were brought closer together by individual interpretations of art made for the people. The same effect could not be profitable, a fiscal fact Dudley Randall knew all to well. Instead, he embraced the reach of a wildfire Black Aesthetic.

11/30/2018

Publishing companies are important stakeholders in defining literary history and shaping literary movements. Broadside Press is a prime example of a publication that used its platform to give Black writers a voice, and allowed them to help shape the aesthetics and ethics of the Black Arts Movement. Without a real publisher, writers don’t have the same ability to reach an audience -- metaphorically speaking, Broadside gave these writers the microphone to speak to a larger audience. Whether it was providing an avenue for new writers such as a Sonia Sanchez or allowing a new platform to speak for already accomplished writers like Gwendolyn Brooks, Broadside was publishing material written by Black people for Black people and thus heavily contributed to the Black Arts Movement. In 1978, Black Enterprise magazine called Randall, "The father of the black poetry movement" (Clarke Historical Library). By creating Broadside, Randall is not only the founder of the oldest Black-owned press in the U.S. but also the first major publication owner to give Black artists a voice during this time period. By re-publishing already written works, he also gave writers a second chance at getting their material read. When Randall died in 2000, his obituary in the Detroit News read: "...the city’s other Berry Gordy, the one who never left the west side of Detroit, never made millions and never became a glitter-sprinkled celebrity. Yet he, too, beamed black voices around the world" (Double Consciousness). Without Broadside Press, Randall never would have been able to beam those Black voices around the world.

11/30/2018

Prior to Broadside press, literary critiques were centered around the white western aesthetic that had been developed through centuries of mostly European dominance. One of the crucial parts of the Black Arts Movement was to move away from this and create a new aesthetic and ways of evaluating black art. Broadside aided this creation of a black literary critique as it provided a forum for black writers and poets to collaborate and provide constructive criticism of each other’s work. This opened up the dialogue and called attention to the project of defining (or not defining) literary standards as well as critics. Additionally the press created an atmosphere for both local and visiting writers which contributed to the Black Arts agenda by emphasizing the local community but also diffusing ideas out across multiple communities.

11/30/2018

A large goal of the Black Arts Movement was creating art that was accessible to the black communities, and Broadside Press worked directly to that goal. By creating poems, written by black poets, for the black community, and then publishing them on broadsides, art was simply posted around black communities and sold cheaply through newsstands and bookstores. This made the art reachable to many black communities and offered it as the “new norm” for art forms during a time plagued with traditionally held white beliefs of what art should look like. Randall even explained, "I think my biggest reason for publishing is not to make money, which I haven't done, but to find new and good poets and have them published. There's a feeling of discovery and pride in publishing those poets whom you think are good." (Leasher) Because Randall did not concentrate on the money, his publishing company was based on making black arts accessible to black communities, therefore promoting a new black aesthetic within the Black Arts Movement.

11/30/2018

A brief list of Awards and Accolades that Broadside Press writers, including our authors, have received:

Gwendolyn Brooks:

1946, Guggenheim Fellow in Poetry
1950, Pulitzer Prize in Poetry Gwendolyn Brooks in 1950 became the first African-American to be given a Pulitzer Prize. It was awarded for the volume, Annie Allen, which chronicled in verse the life of an ordinary black girl growing up in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago's South Side
1968, appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois, a position she held until her death in 2000
1969, Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
1976, inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters
1976, the Shelley Memorial Award of the Poetry Society of America
1985, selected as the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, an honorary one-year term, known as the Poet Laureate of the United States
1988, inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame
1989, awarded the Robert Frost Medal for lifetime achievement by the Poetry Society of America
1994, chosen to present the National Endowment for the Humanities' Jefferson Lecture
1994, received the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
1995, presented with the National Medal of Arts
1997, awarded the Order of Lincoln, the highest honor granted by the State of Illinois
1999, awarded the Academy of American Poets Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement


Don L. Lee (Haki Madhubuti)

Founded Third World Press (1967)
National Endowment for the Arts fellowships (1969, 1982),
Kuumba Workshop Black Liberation Award (1973),
Broadside Press Outstanding Poet's Award (1975).

Sonia Sanchez

In 1969, Sanchez was awarded the P.E.N. Writing Award
She was awarded the National Education Association Award 1977–1988
She won the National Academy and Arts Award and the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Award in 1978–79
In 1985, she received the American Book Award for Homegirls and Handgrenades
She has also been awarded the Community Service Award from the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, the Lucretia Mott Award, the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Humanities, and the Peace and Freedom Award from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
1999 Langston Hughes Poetry Award
2001 Robert Frost Medal
2004 Harper Lee Award
2006 National Visionary Leadership Award.
2009 Robert Creeley Award, from the Robert Creeley Foundation
2012-14 Served as the first Philadelphia Poet Laureate
In 2017 Sanchez was honored at the 16th Annual Dr. Betty Shabazz Awards in a ceremony held on June 29 at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Harlem
In 2018, she won the Wallace Stephens Award

Nikki Giovanni

Keys to more than two dozen American cities, including New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and New Orleans
State Historical markers in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Lincoln Heights, Ohio
Seven NAACP Image Awards:
Love Poems (1998)
Blues: For All the Changes (1999)
Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea (2003)
Acolytes (2008)
Hip Hop Speaks to Children (2009)
100 Best African American Poems (2011)
Bicycles (2010)
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (1968)
Harlem Cultural Council (1969)
Woman of the Year, Ebony Magazine (1970)
Woman of the Year, Mademoiselle Magazine (1971)
Woman of the Year, Ladies Home Journal (1972)
National Association of Radio and Television Announcers Award for Best Spoken Word Album, for Truth Is on Its Way (1972)
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (1968)
Harlem Cultural Council (1969)
National Association of Radio and Television Announcers Award for Best Spoken Word Album, for Truth Is on Its Way (1972)
National Association of Radio and Television Announcers Award for Best Spoken Word Album
National Book Award Nomination for Gemini (1973)
Life Membership & Scroll, The National Council of Negro Women (1973)
Woman of the Year, Cincinnati YWCA (1983)
The Ohio Women's Hall of Fame (1985)
Outstanding Woman of Tennessee (1985)
Duncanson Artist in Residence, The Taft Museum (1986)
The Post-Corbett Award (1986)
The Post-Corbett Award (1986)
The Children's Reading Roundtable of Chicago Award for Vacation Time (1988)
The Ohioana Library Award for Sacred Cows (1988)
The Children's Reading Roundtable of Chicago Award for Vacation Time (1988)
The Ohioana Library Award for Sacred Cows (1988)
The Cecil H. and Ida Green Honors Chair, Texas Christian University (1991)
The Hill Visiting Professor, University of Minnesota (1993)
Tennessee Writer's Award, The Nashville Banner (1994)
The Tennessee Governor's Award in the Humanities (1996)
The Langston Hughes Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters (1996)
Parents' Choice Award for The Sun Is So Quiet (1996)
Artist-in-Residence. The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts (1996)
Contributor's Arts Award, The Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing (1996)
Living Legacy Award, Juneteenth Festival of Columbus, Ohio (1998)
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Johnson & Wales University (1998)
The Appalachian Medallion Award (1998)
Cincinnati Bi-Centennial Honoree (1998)
The Tennessee Governor's Award in the Arts (1998)
National Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent, the Gwendolyn Brooks Center of Chicago State University (1998)
Inducted into The Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent (1999)
United States Senate Certificate of Commendation (2000)
2000 Council of Ideas, The Gihon Foundation (2000)
Virginia Governor's Award for the Arts (2000)
The Rosa Parks Women of Courage Award, first recipient (2001 and again in 2002)
The SHero Award for Lifetime Achievement (2002)
American Library Association's Black Caucus Award for Non-fiction for (2003)
Inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, Delta of Tennessee chapter, Fisk University (2003)
Named a History Maker (2003)
The East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame Award (2004)
Finalist, Best Spoken Word Grammy (2004)
A species of bat named in her honor (Micronycteris giovanniae) (2004)
Named one of Oprah Winfrey's 25 Living Legends (2005)
Poet-In-Residence, Walt Whitman Birthplace Association Award (2005)
Child Magazine Best Children's Book of the Year (2005)
John Henry "Pop" Lloyd Humanitarian Award (2005)
ALC Lifetime Achievement Award (2005)
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (Honorary Member) (2006)
Caldecott Honor Book Award (2006)
Carl Sandburg Literary Award (2007)
The National Council of Negro Women Appreciation Award (2007)
The Legacy Award, National Alumni Council United Negro College Fund (2007)
Legends and Legacies Award (2007)
Women of Power Legacy Award (2008)
National Parenting Publications Gold Award (2008)
Sankofa Freedom Award (2008)
American Book Award honoring outstanding literary achievement from the diverse spectrum of the American literary community (2008)
Literary Excellence Award (2008)
Excellence in Leadership Award from Dominion Power (2008)
Ann Fralin Award (2009)
Moonbeam Children's Book Award (2009)
Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Dedication and Commitment to Service (2009)
Art Sanctuary's Lifetime Achievement Award (2010)
Presidential Medal of Honor, Dillard University (2010)
Affrilachian Award (2011)
Library of Virginia's Literary Lifetime Achievement Award (2016)
Maya Angelou Lifetime Achievement Award (2017)

Dudley Randall

1962 and 1966: the Wayne State Tompkins Award for poetry and for poetry and fiction
1973: Kuumba Liberation Award
1975: Plaque as Distinguished Alumnus from the University of Michigan
1977: International Black Writers’ Conference Award
1981: Creative Artist Award in Literature, Michigan Council for the Arts [10]
In 1981, Randall was named Poet Laureate of the City of Detroit by Mayor Coleman Young
In May 2001, the University of Detroit Mercy’s McNichols Campus Library was designated a national Literary Landmark by the Friends of Libraries USA (now the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations) and UDM’s Dudley Randall Center for Print Culture was named in his honor.
The Dudley Randall Poetry Prize is awarded to a University of Detroit Mercy student each year

11/30/2018

Only 10 years after it was founded, the Broadside repertory included more than a hundred broadsides, not including a plethora of books, audio tapes, LPs and posters, all of which in great demand by individuals, libraries, bookstores and universities around the world. Additionally, Broadside put out 81 books between the years of 66-75, including work of more than 200 poets and critics, more than twice the number of poetry titles by black authors brought out by all publishers in the United States from 1945 to 1965.

Melba Boyd, a Broadside Press poet and head of Wayne State University's Africana Studies department writes, "As an independent press that was successful but small compared to mainstream (publishers), it opened up the literary canon, and now mainstream publishers began publishing poetry and black writers and other minority writers. It ... changed the whole character of American literature" (Boyd).

11/30/2018

Many critics agree, Broadside Press had a lasting impact.

- "Broadside Press was bigger in terms of impact than just the specific books," said Melba Boyd, a Broadside Press poet and head of Wayne State University's Africana Studies department. (“Dudley Randall’s Life & Career”)
- "As an independent press that was successful but small compared to mainstream (publishers), it opened up the literary canon, and now mainstream publishers began publishing poetry and black writers and other minority writers. It ... changed the whole character of American literature." (“Dudley Randall’s Life & Career”)
- “By the mid ‘70’s, the Broadside repertory – more than a hundred single broadsides, as well as books, audio tapes, LP’s and posters – was in demand by individuals, bookstores, libraries and universities around the world.” (“Dudley Randall & Broadside Press”)

11/30/2018

The contributors highlighted in the make up three parts of the legendary Broadside Quartet (Etheridge Knight, Sonia Sanchez’s second husband, is the fourth). The four (then) young poets had great ability and potential, which Dudley Randall recognized:

“Broadside Press helped bring these poetic voices before the bar of public opinion to expand the markets for their broadsides, tapes, and books of poetry and to advance their general careers as writers.” (Thompson 177)

Both Broadside Press and the Quartet benefited from their individual partnerships—Randall got the four poets started on their illustrious careers by releasing or distributing their very first poetry books, and the small publishing company was put on the cultural map by producing such a concentrated array of bursting talent.

It can be said that each spotlighted writer took their time at Broadside with them throughout their successful careers. Don Lee even went so far as to start his own Black Art-producing publishing company, Third World Press. Lee was able to use Third World to propagate Black Art just as Dudley Randall did with Broadside. Black Art needed to be published and distributed worldwide to make the difference that was intended, so any institution dedicated to do just that was utilized enormously. Sonia Sanchez took her experiences of writing under Randall to carve an illustrious career under other publishers. She continued to write in her thought-provoking, irregular style so much that her work could not be ignored as it stirred the urban public so. Gwendolyn Brooks had a bit of a longer career with Broadside, as she became its editor after leaving another publishing job until her death. She continued to serve to the high standards that Randall set, creating accessible opportunities for Black Art and Aesthetic until her death in 2000.

11/30/2018

One of "Sister" Sonia Sanchez’s foremost works under Broadside Press was the 1970 poetry book We a BaddDDD People. The book is split into three parts: “Survival Poems,” “Love/Songs/Chants” and “TCB-en poems.” The first section approaches how both “wite” and intrinsic black societal influences regularly endanger the lives of black people, and how the black people survive, which sometimes requires the embrace of the danger. “Love/Songs/Chants” is a fond but careful reminisce of the Black Artful explosion of the 1920s and 30s. The final part uses the acronym TCB—Takin’ Care of Business—an effective quotation to use, for the section is a furious prediction of a coming revolution in which black people take care of their business by holding everyone accountable, including themselves.

“Critics agree that Sonia Sanchez is a revolutionary poet of undisputed integrity whose goal is to better the world, and they praise We a BaddDDD People for the originality of its forms and its singing and chanting voice.” (Oxford)

The embedded video has Sanchez reading bits of We a BaddDDD People intercut with established admirers discussing her influence not only on Black poetry, but on poetry.

https://youtu.be/j7cP6g6VBAY

11/30/2018

As part of the Afrikan Liberation Arts Ensemble, Lee (Madhubuti) would often recite his poetry with music from the band Nation. In 1976, the Ensemble recorded a performance by Lee and Nation of Lee’s poem, Walk the Way of the New World. This poem was featured in Lee’s 1970 poetry book with the same title, We Walk the Way of the New World, a Broadside Press published book.The performance begins with roughly a minute and a half of instrumental, and then transitions into Lee powerfully reciting his poem. Some background vocals are supplied as well, but the overpowering message of the performance is driven by Lee. At the end of the recitation, Lee states the title and message of his poem again, “we walk the way of the new world” and then repeats the phrase “new world” two extra times in order to symbolize that the new world is upon us, and that Black artists are ready to embrace it. Lee’s idea of a new world is correlative with the Black Arts Movements’ belief in creating a new set of Black ethics for a new, Black aesthetic -- a new world.

1976

11/30/2018

One of Gwendolyn Brooks most famous pieces, “We Real Cool” was one of the very first broadsides published. Shortly after Randall started publishing, Gwendolyn Brooks gave permission for Randall to republish one of her poems, resulting in “We Real Cool” in December 1966 as the sixth broadside.

Using simple, illuminative paper-cut puppetry, this enchanting video imagines the moment of witness that inspired Gwendolyn Brooks to write her landmark poem, “We Real Cool.”

11/30/2018

Gwendolyn Brooks published many works both in and outside of Broadside Press, but Aloneness (1971) was unique in its outreach to children. Brooks continued to show her commitment to black art and cultivating the black identity through this piece as it aims to give black children the opportunity to see themselves in art forms -- something not typical at the time of the Broadside publishing. Not only does Aloneness support black children, but it offers relevance and reassurance. This relevance comes from being a minority in a prejudiced world, one in which feeling alone may become normal. Brook’s poems makes this feeling feel “ok” and offers children comfort in knowing they are not the only ones that may be feeling this way. This reassurance supported black children in their identities and backed the black Arts Movement that pushed to give black people confidence in their identity and to shape a community.