Eve of Ifé: Black Society in Praise of Naomi Madgett

Naomi Madgett is a criminally underrated poet and purveyor of soul-stirring poetry.

Although she is not a household name among the likes of her literary idol Langston

Hughes, her works exploring and praising the black experience deserve further recognition

and enjoyment by the public.

Naomi Madgett was born Naomi Cornelia Long on July 5, 1923 in Norfolk, Virginia.

Her parents, Marcellus and Maude Long, a Baptist minister and teacher, raised Madgett in

an intensely religious home. Like many future writers, Madgett found solace in literature

and salvation in the works of Lord Alfred Tennyson and Langston Hughes, two poets she

often gave credit to for influencing her work. Similar to many of her contemporaries, she

began writing at an early age. (Reveal)

Like many black families of the era, the Longs moved often, likely seeking better

opportunities in new areas. Life in East Orange, New Jersey was difficult for the young

Madgett. She faced discrimination attending integrated schools and these experiences likely

formed the foundation for her explorations of race in her later work. The Longs later

moved to St. Louis where her fruitful experiences attending an all-black high school

fostered the positive views she held for her race and further influenced her literary output.

(Reveal)

Madgett published her first poetry book, Songs to a Phantom Nightingale (1941),

only days after her graduation. These poems mainly reflected her growing awareness of
her heritage and black pride. It wasn’t warmly received, but reviewers spoke of her

developing use of language and technique. She attended Virginia State University and

graduated in 1945 but withdrew from graduate studies at NYU to marry Julian Witherspoon

and move to Detroit in 1946. She worked at the Michigan Chronicle as a reporter and

copyreader and later became a teacher in the Detroit Public School system in 1955.

(Reveal)

Madgett’s literary output never ceased. A later anthology, One of the Many (1956),

received positive attention from critics. One of the poems, Refugee, was later included in

an anthology, The Poetry of the Negro, compiled by Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps.

This focus on praising the stalwartness and unique aspects of African American culture

continued to be a focus of her later anthologies, Pink Ladies in the Afternoon: New Poems

(1972), Exits and Entrances (1978) and Octavia and Other Poems (1988). (Reveal)

Madgett is mainly known for her focus on stressing the importance of African

American literature. Frustrated with the lack of coverage of Black authors in literature

classes, she developed and taught the first African American Literature course in the

Detroit public school system in the summer of 1965. She taught these classes regularly until

she retired from teaching at the primary level in 1968. She taught at Eastern Michigan State

University from 1968 until her retirement in 1984. (Reveal)

2
 She continued her focus on promoting work by African Americans when she took

over the struggling Lotus Press with her third husband, Leonard P. Andrews, in 1972. The

press shifted to focus on amplifying and publishing unheard black voices, many of whom

who have gone on to achieve their own fame. Madgett has received awards for her work,

including the Esther R. Beer Poetry award, the Josephine Nevins Keal Development Fund

Award, and many others. She also has a poetry award named in her honor. The Naomi

Long Madgett Poetry Award, awarded annually by the Hilton-Long Poetry Foundation

since 1993, focuses on further amplifying black voices. (Reveal)

Madgett’s work mainly focuses on her love for her race and her affection is keenly

felt in her poem First Man. In the lines she speaks of her adoration for the both the strength

and tenacity and black men. The first few lines, “Sculpted from the clay of Africa / First

man in all the universe” (Madgett) refers to the biblical story of Adam, purported to be the

first man on the newly formed planet. Adam was partially formed from clay, and since it is

generally believed all humanity began in Africa, she infers that black men were the first to

roam the Earth.

Madgett begins the simile that continues throughout the rest of the poem, saying

“You were created in the image of a tree. Transplanted now to foreign soil, you are still

wonderous in your towering vigor and amplitude, and in the shade you give.” (Madgett) In

this, Madgett speaks of the slave trade, of the shipment of Africans from the shores of their

home continent to the horrors that awaited them in foreign lands. She praises the tenacity of

3
black men to withstand such atrocities and their ability to still remain strong, providing

shade and comfort to all much like the mightiest of trees.

Madgett then says, “Tender birch or seasoned oak, mahogany or cedar, baobab or

ebony, you are the joy of a new Eden, crested with leaves as varied as fades and

dreadlocks.” (Madgett) In these lines, Madgett speaks of the brilliant diversity of black men

and likens them wide range of skin tones present to varieties of trees. She also speaks of the

many hairstyles of hair black men sport and compares them to the leaves on a tree. From

afros to dreadlocks, the styles of black men are completely unmatched in both their

uniqueness and complexity.

The next few lines: “Your countenance, like rings of a stalwart trunk, tells the

unmatched story of how you persevered and flourished in spite of bitter storms.” (Madgett)

Madgett speaks of the immense strength black men have had in order to withstand

centuries of strife and discrimination. From the horrors of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade to

the prison complex, from lynchings to public executions by police sworn to protect, from

Jim Crow to “Make America Great Again”, black men have remained stalwart against

unspeakable horrors, stoic and unwavering like the roots of a tree. Madgett likens this

strength to the ancient rings of a tree that has weathered immeasurable storms. The final

stanza stands as a love letter to black men where she expresses her affection and

appreciation for the love they manage to give in spite of insurmountable trauma.

4
 Madgett’s themes of love and adoration for black men are still relevant in the 21st

century. Many black men could benefit to hear her praises of their looks, heritage and

purpose in a social climate where blackness, specifically black manhood, is perceived as a

national threat and menace to society. Black men are all too often not told of their value to

society and underestimated, which often leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy of crime and

unjustly long sentences in the prison system. Perhaps if black men were told of their

immeasurable strength, of their power, of their innate uniqueness and history of

perseverance under the direst of circumstances, would find the strength to overcome some

of the obstacles placed in their way.

Naomi Madgett is one of the many living literary legends in the black community.

Her belief in self-love and the importance of learning about the history and contributions of

African American authors is integral to the furthering of black society. It is important to

give Madgett’s work and contributions the recognition they deserve while she is still

living—to thank her for her tireless work to further the study of African American

literature—instead of waiting to sing her praises after her passing. All too often the work of

visionaries is overlooked until they close their eyes for the final time, their contributions

having no solid worth until they take their last breath.

5
 Works Cited

Madgett, Naomi. “First Man.” Holt African American Literature, by Alfred Tatum and Eric

Cooper, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2009.

Reveal, Judith. “Madgett, Naomi Long (1923-).” Women in World History: A Biographical

Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia.com, 23 May 2020,

www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/madgett-

naomi-long-1923.

900111040