Thomas Elias Weatherly, Jr., forged and purified by the white heat of nonconformity, has responded to the external, fragmented reality of the black-white world that he has engaged and sought to conquer through mythmaking. Although his poetry has not commanded wide critical acclaim, his diverse roles as poet-in-residence, teacher of poetry in elementary and secondary schools, and conductor of workshops have helped him reach a wide range of audiences. Seeking to interpret the human condition by particularizing the black experience, he has recognized African culture as the heritage of American blacks who have been brought to the Western world via the indentured servants and slaves who struggled through emancipation, reconstruction, and the American industrial revolution, and who are now engaged in a social revolution. Weatherly, like poets Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), has made a dynamic contribution to Afro-American literature.

Weatherly was born on...