A Conversation with Haki Madhubuti & Michelle Gipson on Dec 3

Professor Haki Madhubuti joins Michelle Gipson for a special edition of Wine & Words on December 3 at 7 pm (EST) steaming live via Hammonds House Museum’s Facebook and YouTube channel. This is a free event.

The conversation will center around Madhubuti’s book, Taught by Women: Poems as Resistance Language. In these new and selected poems Madhubuti, poet, publisher, editor, and activist, places us in lyrical proximity to a legacy of women whose lives he honors with warm verses and timeless reverence. Each poem is a vivid portrait of the “magnificent energy” emanating from a rainbow of Black women. Madhubuti celebrates the luminous spirits of women whose visible ‘greatness’ has left an indelible mark on his life’s work.

Born Donald Luther Lee in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1942, Haki Madhubuti is a poet, essayist, and editor. He attended the University of Illinois and received an MFA from the University of Iowa. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Heart Love: Wedding & Love Poems (Third World Press, 1998); Groundwork: New and Selected Poems (Third World Press, 1996); Killing Memory, Seeking Ancestors (Lotus Press, 1987); Earthquakes and Sunrise Missions: Poetry and Essays of Black Renewal (Third World Press,1984); Book of Life (Broadside Press, 1973); and Directionscore: Selected and New Poems (Broadside Press, 1971). His prose works include Claiming Earth: Race, Rage, Rape, Redemption (1995), Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous? (1990), Enemies: The Clash of Races (1978). He is the editor of Million Man March/Day of Absence: A Commemorative Anthology (1996).

The founder and editor of Third World Press and Black Books Bulletin, Madhubuti directs the Institute of Positive Education. Among his honors and awards are an American Book Award (1991) and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He formerly worked as a professor of English and Director of the Gwendolyn Brooks Center at Chicago State University.

Michelle R. Gipson is the Publisher and Founder of Written magazine. She holds a B.A. and a M.A. from Hampton University, attended Stanford University's Executive Publishing Course, and Harvard University's Maynard Institute. A freelance writer, radio personality, and marketing and advertising executive, Ms. Gipson has been in publishing and media for more than 15 years. She has contributed to Essence, Chicken Soup for the African American Soul, Chicken Soup for the Recovering Soul, and Where Did Our Love Go: Love and relationship in the African American community.

Hammonds House Museum is generously supported by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Fulton County Arts and Culture, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, National Performance Network, AT&T and WarnerMedia.

Hammonds House Museum’s mission is to celebrate and share the cultural diversity and important legacy of artists of African descent. The museum is the former residence of the late Dr. Otis Thrash Hammonds, a prominent Atlanta physician and a passionate arts patron. A 501(c)3 organization which opened in 1988, Hammonds House Museum boasts a permanent collection of more than 450 works including art by Romare Bearden, Robert S. Duncanson, Benny Andrews, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Hale Woodruff, Amalia Amaki, Radcliffe Bailey and Kojo Griffin. In addition to featuring art from their collection, the museum offers new exhibitions, artist talks, workshops, concerts, poetry readings, arts education programs, and other cultural events throughout the year.

Located in a beautiful Victorian home in Atlanta’s historic West End, Hammonds House Museum is a cultural treasure and a unique venue. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they continue to observe CDC guidelines, but look forward to welcoming in-person visitors soon! For more information about upcoming virtual events, and to see how you can support their mission, visit their website: hammondshouse.org.

MEDIA Contact: Karen Hatchett at Hatchett PR, karen@hatchettpr.com