We Remember Useni Eugene Perkins

Activist, social worker, poet, scholar, educator, and playwright Useni Eugene Perkins has joined the ancestors at the age of 90. 

“We have known Useni for many years and marveled at his dedication and contributions to the Black community and to Black arts,” said Wade Hudson, president and CEO of Just Us Books. “He was a good brother!”

Just Us Books published two of Useni's works, Poetry From The Masters: The Black Arts Movement in 2009, and Kwame Nkrumah's Midnight Speech for Independence, illustrated by Laura Freeman. His most recent published children’s book, it won the 2022 Children’s Africana Book Awards Best Book for Young Children and was called "Essential reading for any and all future (and current) freedom fighters” in a Kirkus starred review.

A celebrated member of the Black Arts Movement, Useni Eugene Perkins was born in Chicago on September 13, 1932. Following military service, he earned bachelors and masters degrees from George Williams College. He went on to leverage his studies in social work in a career focused on the social development of urban youth, serving as Executive Director of the Better Boys Foundation Family Center in Chicago and in leadership roles with the Urban League of Portland, the DuSable Museum, and Chicago State University Family Life Center.

Useni’s dedication to strengthening his community and his work advocating for youth translated to the written word as well, through books of poetry such as Black is Beautiful and plays including “Image Makers.” In 1975, his poem “Hey Black Child” served as the closing song for his children’s musical “Black Fairy and Other Plays.” Public recitations, including young Pe’Tehn’s viral performance decades later introduced the poem to new audiences, though it was sometimes wrongfully attributed to other greats such as Countee Cullen and Maya Angelou. In 2017, Hey, Black Child was published as a picture book illustrated by Bryan Collier and received a starred review from Kirkus.

“I’m honored that my poem has been associated with these two gifted writers, but I’m glad the world can now learn about the poem’s true roots,” Useni said.

Useni penned many other books including An Apology to My African Brother; Silhouette; Home Is a Dirty Street: The Social Oppression of Black Children; Pride of Race; and Midnight Blues in the Afternoon and Other Poems.

His contributions to literature and the Black community have been recognized with numerous awards, notably induction into the Gwendolyn Brooks Literary Hall of Fame and inclusion in HistoryMakers.com, a digital archive dedicated to preserving histories of African Americans. Useni’s play “If We Must Die,” about the 1921 Tulsa massacre, earned him an award from The Black Network for Excellence in Playwriting in 2002. 

Useni travelled to Ghana extensively, experiences that inspired his picture book on Ghana’s President Kwame Nkrumah years later. In 2007 he was inducted into the Gefia Society in Akatsi, Volta Region, Ghana and installed as their Academic Development Chief under the stool name of Torgbui Perkins Agbale I.

We lift up the memory of Brother Useni, his important work and his commitment to our people, especially our youth. May it continue to inspire us all.