He'd read her in anthologies while he was in the service. Madhubuti met Brooks in the early '60s, when he was a young veteran writing poetry in Chicago. 'Kindness was her religion,' says Haki Madhubuti, director of Third World Press, in Chicago. 'She gave chunks of money and just said, 'I think this will help.' ' 'There were people she gave rent to, gave car payments to,' Blakely remembers. It also took the pressure off people who were trying to write. The prize money funded poetry prizes Brooks created to encourage aspiring poets - especially children. 'It was more important to help a writer than to have the latest Nike or pair of shoes or Gucci bag or whatever, so that's what she spent her money on,' Blakely says. Peacock.'īrooks loved being able to do nice things for other people, even though she did not live a lavish lifestyle herself. she just had a happy little fit, where she only got presents from Marshall Field's and C.D. Nora Brooks Blakely remembers when her mother taught at three colleges concurrently: 'That Christmas, suddenly the Christmas presents changed. Mothering took up a fair amount of time, but when the children were a bit older, Brooks continued giving readings, and she also began to teach. The award, and the financial reward that accompanies it, came at a time when Brooks and her husband, Henry Blakely, had a young son, Hank. 'The fact that she was the first African-American to be awarded the Pulitzer made her notoriety go through the roof,' Jackson said. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun Author Angela Jackson

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