"Haki Madhubuti (alias Don L. Lee):biography/bibliography

Haki R. Madhubuti (nee Don Luther Lee) was born Feb. 23, 1942, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Lee served in the U.S. Army (1960-63). He attended several colleges in Chicago and graduate school at the University of Iowa (M.F.A., 1984). He taught at various colleges and universities, in 1984 becoming a

faculty member at Chicago State University. His poetry, which began to appear in the 1960s, was written in black dialect and slang and via Lee's influence on the late 60s/early 70s recording group, "The Last Poets" is a strong predecessor of the 90s music style called Rap.. His work is characterized both by anger at social and economic injustice and by rejoicing in African-American culture. His first six volumes of poetry were published in the 1960s. The verse collection Don't Cry, Scream (1969) includes an introduction by poet Gwendolyn Brooks. Lee's poetry readings were extremely popular during this time.

An advocate of independent Black institutions, Lee founded the Third World Press in 1967, and he established the Institute of Positive Education in Chicago, a school for black children, in 1969. He is the author of 19 books. Among his poetry collections published under the Swahili name Haki R. Madhubuti are Book of Life (1973), Killing Memory, Seeking Ancestors (1987), and GroundWork: New and Selected Poems from 1966-1996 (1996). He also wrote From Plan to Planet--Life Studies: The Need for Afrikan Minds and Institutions (1973) and an essay collection, Enemies: The Clash of Races

(1978). Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous has sold in excess of 750,000 copies."

info from:

http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/madhubuti-lee/madhubuti_lee0.html

Men and Birth:

storms.we, locating new climates & seasons working with mid-

this line on it's own emphasizes the familiarity of this labor, even though it is taxing, it is something we remember

so far I have discussed the poem almost as if it is about actual birth, but certainly the "labor" can also exist as a metaphor, for the relationship, for social change, for the creative process

if it is truth that binds

why are there
so many lies between
lovers?

if it is truth that is liberating
why
are people told:
they look good when they don't
they are loved when they aren't
everything is fine when it ain't
glad you're back when you're not.

Black people in america
may not be made for the truth
we wrap our lives in disco
and sunday sermons
while
selling false dreams to our children.

I find this same sort of dominating presence with the many uses of "&" in his "Men and Birth: The Unexplainable." The &’s literally rise up higher than any other word or letter in his poem. I think he did this purposefully. His whole message is that men are lonely alone: "malepractice and maleabsence issue is loneliness & limiting to- / morrows" (Madhubuti, "Men and Birth: The Unexplainable," in The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart, p. 46). He goes on to talk about the need for men to experience the other side of humanity: the female. What better way to experience the full power of the female than through the images of the birthing experience he describes. Men are generally known to "know it all." Birth is a humbling experience for a man because men realize then and there that they don’t know it all-some things are just unexplainable (as the poem’s title suggests).

"Men and Birth: The Unexplainable" by Haki Madhubuti, Rag and Bone, p. 46

I just finished reading Stephanie's entry and I thought she had some great interpretations of the second stanza of this poem. Therefore, I'm going to focus on my favorite part of the work, the last poetry section.

birth (Madhubuti, "Men and Birth: The Unexplainable," in Rag and Bone, p. 46)

Simply stated. The word stands alone yet has tremendous power. It signifies the beginning of life. One of God's greatest and new creations. For parents, the birth of a child is the defining moment of life. A new creature enters the world, free and carrying with it unconditional love. Babies are free from the outside world and its evil, they know nothing but what they see first: Their mother and father. Their new family. The love of a newborn child has no bounds or restrictions. I cannot associate the word birth with any type of evil. If I hear of someone experiencing a new birth or a re-birth, it always seems positive. Birth. Simple, positive, love. Endless. The one moment in all of human nature that has no equal.

unlocks cultural strangulation allowing (Madhubuti, "Men and Birth: The Unexplainable," in Rag and Bone, p. 46)

I like the image of birth unlocking something that has been held down. The new creation sets forth a new meaning of life. The culture or society in which we live has no power over a baby. The father of a newborn is free to show his emotions, to let the world know that he can cry for a miracle. The word strangulation has such a nasty connotation. I picture hands that slowly squeeze the life out of the one being strangled. Fresh air cannot enter into the body. There is no oxygen. The baby, however, provides an endless amount of new oxygen and fresh air. A new child is a new beginning. It allows things previously restricted.

men to feel & touch & experience (Madhubuti, "Men and Birth: The Unexplainable," in Rag and Bone, p. 46)

A father has no connection with the man who is not the daddy to his child. He is a different person. The father's senses are in touch with the world like never before. In a sense, a baby's birth allows a father to have a re-birth. He touches things for the first time--they are different. Experiences of yesterday mean nothing today. I like the absence of the word "and" in this poem. A symbol (&) allows the important words to come closer to each other. This new birth is about feeling, touching, experiencing new things, all of which are similar. There is no room for ands or buts.

a source of love that springs in (Madhubuti, "Men and Birth: The Unexplainable," in Rag and Bone, p. 46)

A new child is like an bottomless glass of love. An endless fountain of youth. I think of an image that springs forth from the ground, which, in a sense, is where the father and child will return together when life is over. The child springs forth from the other world, carrying with it love and peace. The world the child enters, however, has pain and agony. But to return to the source is to understand what the birth means. The love that fills the room when a child is born defeats all the pain in the world. Creating something of their own, the father watches his perfect newborn enter the world.

smiles occasional tears and undying commitment. (Madhubuti, "Men and Birth: The Unexplainable," in Rag and Bone, p. 46)

Welcome to Life

"Men and Birth: The Unexplainable" by Haki Madhubuti

I'm going to pick up where Sersch left off and that's at the beginning of the poetry part right after the prose. I think the most astounding part of "Men and Birth: The Unexplainable" is the last half but I believe the second "stanza" is an important transition that leads in to the ending.

I love this poem for its sharp images and its wording that makes you feel like you're right there during the birth process and the beauty and ambiguity of it. Madhubuti welcomes "you" who "thought that baby delivering was others' work, / stranger's work" to "new seasons of wisdom" (Madhubuti, "Men and Birth: The Unexplainable," The Rag and Bone Shop). welcome to new seasons of wisdom is an invitation, no, more like a friendly greeting, taking the man by the hand into the unseen world where no longer "you" will think that "baby delivering" is "others'" or "stranger's work." Now you will know that baby delivering is not someone else's work because there is your "wife" giving you the wisdom, pushing life the two of you created out of the safety harbor into the world where you can experience this wisdom also.

"welcome to counting & breathing," (Madhubuti, "Men and Birth: The Unexplainable," The Rag and Bone Shop)

There is a rhythm and normalness to this strenuous birthing process in which the man needs to acquaint himself with. I imagine a man at the side of his wife's bed trying to help her along with the necessary breathing technique but more learning from her the pattern. =) Counting is something learned early on and breathing is a natural "habit" at birth. These two things. which seem so elementary, need to be relearned by the newcomer or at least learned in a new way to encourage this new life out of its comfort, warmed liquid home only so that you can teach this baby these steps later on in life.

"to pushing & contractions," (Madhubuti, "Men and Birth: The Unexplainable," The Rag and Bone Shop)

This is much more active and immediate--PUSH!!! You can hear the screams and chaos that is surrounding this baby's arrival into the world. These two actions, pushes and contractions, characterize labor and illustrate the mechanical steps behind urging the baby out. This is the middle of the stanza and seems so basic and introductory but I think Madhubuti is making it blatantly obvious so that all is clear to the newcomer.

"to urging life onward quietly & / magnificently" (Madhubuti, "Men and Birth: The Unexplainable," The Rag and Bone Shop)

Looking at other peoples' posts on this poem, I decided to do the one stanza no one has done yet. I thought this stanza was wonderful in that it seemed to imitate the whole birthing experience so well: the confusion, surprise, bewilderment, commotion--the whole barrage of images and emotions that are occurring during this event. And the way this is arranged, as a clump of words and images, also seems to connect the title . . . Men and Birth: The Unexplainable. From the very beginning of the poem, the author concedes that this is a very difficult, well, he almost seems to say impossible, thing to describe. But the poem attempts, through the collection of words and images, to somewhat recreate this "unquestioned miracle."

"muffled grunts interrupt sleep urging participation counting / push pushing encouraging your mate to relax to breathe prop-/ erly, constantly setting the mental clock. in the bed at her rear/"

The words are all spread out evenly on the page, flush with the margin on both sides, without any punctuation for most of these first two lines. In one way, it almost imitates the even breathing or panting of his wife giving birth. The lack of punctuation makes me as i read it want to punch the words out rhythmically and evenly. The words "to relax to breath prop- / erly" is especially unnatural punctuation. One would definitely expect a comma after relax, which would emulate a much more slow, calm, and comforting voice. Instead, the words are in the same choppy rhythm as before, emanating a tense, unnatural intonation. This seems to suggest or imitate the man being nervous and unsure--actually needing to be told to relax just as much as his "mate."

"pulling legs back enlarging womb creating unbelievable spaces / This line creates quite a vivid image of what the man is seeing, and to me it is comical in its end, "creating unbelievable spaces." It makes me imagine the man's jaw drop in surprise and awe as he watches this all happen, thinking, "How does she do that?"

"wider urging life here. men viewing & aiding the unquestioned / miracle on earth. sliding head first helpless struggling searching /"

The word urging here is powerful. . . . all the commotion and action in the room is united in this single process, "urging life here." It's a beautiful image. I connect this phrase most, however, with the father, standing by, watching the struggle, not really being able to help, but silently urging. The word is very close to urgent and urgency, and it brings to mind a sense of intensity and worry, also pleading. "here" is an important word also. it adds to the pleading. the father wants the life here, right now. The phrase "unquestioned miracle on earth" greatens the sense of awe in the poem. The word "unquestioned" shows his disbelief; he can't believe this miracle is just an accepted, everyday event. "On earth," then, seems to say he doesn't really think it belongs here, that it is a much more heavenly, divine sort of occurrence.

"attacking life into waiting hands baby crying for mother & lov- / ing touches. this is the drama, birth the maturing force that can / transform males, making them men of conscious. making them /"

"Attacking" is an interesting switch from the images described the line before which emphasized a more passive nature. "Attacking" contrasts greatly--an active, aggressive word and something not usually associated with babies. It does make sense, though--the baby being so helpless, maybe even feeling that herself, feeling her dependency, really needs to fight hard to survive. The line "crying for mother" strikes me, because i wonder what sort of emotion this arouses in the father as he watches--sadness? joy? envy? Are men envious of women's closeness to children? The last line describes an interesting irony, that birth is a "maturing force." Birth, the most young and impressionable time of the baby's life is a time of great maturation for the father. It suggests a very interesting aspect to the cycle of life.

"bringers of life and partners in the fight to guarantee better / better futures."