Henry Dumas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Henry Dumas
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | July 20, 1934 Sweet Home, Arkansas, United States |
| Died | May 23, 1968 (aged 33) Manhattan, New York |
| Occupation |
|
| Literary movement | Black Aesthetic |
| Spouse | Loretta Ponton |
| Children | 2 |
Henry Dumas (born July 20, 1934 – died May 23, 1968) was an American writer and poet. He wrote amazing stories and poems. Famous author Toni Morrison called him "an absolute genius." She helped publish his books after he passed away. These books included his poems, Play Ebony, Play Ivory, and his short stories, Ark of Bones, both published in 1974.
About Henry Dumas
Henry Dumas was born in Sweet Home, Arkansas, in 1934. He lived there until he was ten years old. Then, his family moved to New York City. Even after moving, he remembered the religious and folk traditions from his hometown.
In Harlem, New York, he went to public school. He graduated from Commerce High School in 1953. After high school, he attended City College of New York. He then joined the Air Force. Before joining the military, he met Loretta Ponton in New York. They stayed in touch and married in 1955. They moved to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
Dumas also spent 18 months in the Arabian Peninsula. There, he became very interested in Arab culture. He served in the military until 1957. After that, he started studying at Rutgers University. He attended as both a full-time and part-time student. He did not earn a degree there. Henry and Loretta had two sons: David, born in 1958, and Michael, born in 1962.
In 1967, Dumas became a teacher and counselor. He also directed language workshops. This was at Southern Illinois University's Experiment in Higher Education in East St. Louis. He worked with Dr. Edward W. Crosby, who edited the Hiram Poetry Review. Some of Dumas's early writings were published in this review. This is likely how they met. Dumas also became an editor for the Hiram Review from 1967 until his death.
After Dumas's death, Dr. Crosby returned to the Hiram Review. He encouraged Eugene B. Redmond, a fellow teacher and poet, to talk to Loretta Dumas. They wanted to publish Henry's works after he was gone. Arrangements were made, and with help from Hale Chatfield, Dumas's works were published by SIU Press.
His Death
On May 23, 1968, Henry Dumas was shot and killed. He was 33 years old. This happened on a subway platform in New York City. A New York City Transit Police officer was involved. According to news reports, the officer said Dumas was threatening another man with a knife. The officer claimed he told Dumas to drop the knife. But Dumas supposedly turned and attacked the officer. The officer then fired three times.
The exact details of the shooting are still unclear. No witnesses spoke about it. Also, the police records of the shooting were destroyed. This happened when the Transit Police Department joined the New York City Police Department in 1995. Dumas's death is often called "a case of mistaken identity."
Henry Dumas was buried in Long Island National Cemetery in Suffolk County, New York. His death is mentioned in poems by other writers. These include "An Alphabet of My Dead" by Robert Pinsky and "Night, for Henry Dumas" by Aracelis Girmay.
Recognition After His Death
Only a few of Henry Dumas's writings were published while he was alive. These appeared in small magazines in the 1960s. It was mainly thanks to Eugene B. Redmond that many of his works were published later. Redmond was in charge of Dumas's literary estate.
Poetry for My People was first published in 1970. This was by Southern Illinois University Press, where Dumas had worked. Toni Morrison, who was an editor at Random House, read this book. She used her influence to have Random House publish two more collections in 1974. These were Play Ebony, Play Ivory (a reprint of Poetry for My People) and Ark of Bones.
To get people interested in Dumas, Morrison hosted a book launch party. In her invitation, she said Dumas's work was "some of the most beautiful, moving, and profound poetry and fiction that I have ever in my life read." When Play Ebony, Play Ivory came out, a writer named Julius Lester called Dumas "the most original Afro-American poet of the sixties."
In 1976, Dumas's short story "Thalia" won a literary award. This award was from Black Scholar and given by James Baldwin. Poet Eugene Redmond helped bring more attention to Dumas in 1988. He published a collection of short stories called Goodbye Sweetwater. This book had both old and new works. Redmond released another collection, Knees of a Natural Man, in 1989. In 2015, Redmond hoped that the Black Lives Matter movement would help new audiences discover Dumas.
Rapper Milo has mentioned Henry Dumas in his songs many times. A good example is his song "Napping Under the Echo Tree." The title of this song is a reference to Dumas’s book, Echo Tree: the Collected Short Fiction of Henry Dumas. Dumas is also mentioned by name in the song's lyrics.
What Influenced His Writing
Henry Dumas said he was greatly influenced by Moms Mabley and gospel music when he was young. He often used his spiritual upbringing in his writings. He also wrote about his experiences growing up as a Black child in the South during the 1930s and 1940s.
Dumas was very interested in the music and folk traditions connected to the Black experience. In the 1960s, he became known as an important voice of the Black Power Movement. He was also part of the Black Arts Movement. He loved music, especially gospel, spirituals, jazz, and blues. Dumas even studied with jazz musician Sun Ra in the mid-1960s.
Dumas's poem "Black Paladins" became the title of a music recording. This recording was made by Joseph Jarman and Famoudou Don Moye in 1979. Dumas often wrote about important topics of the 1960s. In his poem "Afro American," he tried to explain what it means to be Black. He also explored having a dual heritage. He suggested recognizing both parts of this heritage.
Writer Margaret Walker and musicians James Brown and John Coltrane also greatly influenced his writing. Elements of Black Christianity, Islam, Sufi mysticism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Native American mythology, and African mythology appear in Dumas's works.
Both his stories and his poems explored themes of the Black Arts, or Black Aesthetic movement.
