The significance of their role as intermediaries in the circulation of ideas within society was of primary importance to many African-American book publishers, and the intellectual and literary products which they fostered were integral to American culture.
Taken together, these political, economic, and educational advances created opportunities for a growing number of African Americans to engage in book publishing, an enterprise of great cultural import.
[6] Broadside Press, founded by poet and librarian Dudley Randall in Detroit in 1965, is an excellent example of this tendency to focus on the cultural and social importance of book publishing.
[10] Among these were works by a wide range of poets, including Nikki Giovanni, the Pulitzer Prize-winner Gwendolyn Brooks, Sonia Sanchez, Margaret Danner, Etheridge Knight, Don L. Lee (Haki Madhubuti), James Ryder Randall, and Addison Gayle.
Path Press, Inc. was formed in 1961 in Chicago by Frank London Brown, Herman C. Gilbert and Bennett Johnson,[12] but due to their inability to find a distributor the company did not release its first book until 1969.
[17] The goal of the Third Press, as Okpaku saw it, was "to broaden the scope and perspective of the reading public beyond the present narrow ethnocentric limits of the more conventional establishment publishers" (Chambers, 1971, 43).
[19] For African-American book publishers operating outside the commercial sector—that is, institutional and religious publishers—the ability to rely on an existing organization for resources and funding was of crucial importance.
Founded in Chicago in 1961 by educator, poet, and artist Margaret Goss Burroughs, the DuSable Museum of African American History, Inc., was the first institution of its kind to be established in the United States.
[23] Its book publishing activities began in 1963, and while of a relatively modest nature — by 1977 fewer than 20 titles had been released — its contributions have been valuable, with publications exploring "uncharted areas in black history and culture".
[26] Listed below are African-American book publishers active in the United States during the period 1960–80, their location, date of founding (and demise, if applicable), and selected publications.