Dudley Randall, Broadside Press, and the Black Arts Movement in Detroit, 1960-1995. - Review - book review

African American Review, Fall, 2000 by Lorenzo Thomas

> For Thompson, Dudley Randall--as both poet and publisher--was successful "because he was able to break the chains of the past, which largely viewed much of black poetry as a middle[-] and upper[-]class phenomenon. instead of an elitist formation of black poets and publications, Randall and Broadside Press stressed an egalitarian basis for promoting the work of black poets." Thompson depicts Randall's labors as no less than heroic, comparing him to nineteenth-century abolitionists who "worked for decades to foster creative change and human awareness and understanding." If Thompson's final statistical citation is accurate-that 44 percent of American adults do not read even one book per year-- the praise that he expends on Dudley Randall's efforts to promote African American literacy is not overstated at all.