African American Literature and the Black Arts Movement: First Edition Margaret Walker’s "Prophets for a New Day," 1970

Margaret Walker African American Literature

Book

WALKER, Margaret. Prophets for a New Day. Detroit: Broadside Press, 1970. First edition, first printing, July 1970. 32 pages. Walker's second collection of poetry, published twenty-eight years after her award-winning "For My People" (1942), addresses the Civil Rights Movement through poems commemorating its leaders, martyrs, and grassroots activists. Drawing upon biblical prophecy and African American religious traditions, Walker connects the struggle against racial segregation with the prophetic demands for justice and liberation. Published by Dudley Randall's Broadside Press, a leading publisher of the Black Arts Movement, the collection links an established voice of African American literature with the political and literary activism of the 1960s.

Contents include "Street Demonstration," "Birmingham," and "For Malcolm X," alongside poems honoring Medgar Evers and the murdered civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. Original stapled pictorial wrappers featuring a photographic collage by African American artist Shirley Woodson, incorporating portraits of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Photograph of Walker on the rear wrapper, with publisher's advertisements inside the covers. Wrappers show creasing, rubbing, staples remain intact but delicate. Light chipping to wrapper, with abrasions, rear wrapper toned; interior pages generally clean with light age toning and occasional spotting. Overall in good condition.

Item #24054

Price: $575.00