Everett Hoagland's poetry is a celebration of Afro-American history and culture based on the thematic and aesthetic assumptions of the black arts movement. The differences between his collections of poetry suggest his artistic maturation and the concretization of the values of the black aesthetic.

The son of Everett Hoagland, Jr. and Estelle Johnson Hoagland, he was born on 18 December 1942 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he spent his youth. Hoagland received a bachelor's degree from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1964, having been a recipient there of the Silvera Award for Creative Writing. He taught English at Harding Junior High School in Philadelphia from 1964 to 1967. His other early teaching experiences included the Operation Headstart program in Philadelphia during the summer of 1965 and English classes in Philadelphia's Adult Evening School from 1965 to 1966.

In 1967 Hoagland returned to Lincoln University where he served as assistant director of admissions until 1969. In 1968, the American Studies Institute...