Dudley Randall

Early inspiration stemmed from Randall's father taking him and his brothers to hear prominent African-American writers and artists speak, including W. E. B.

In 1966, Broadside Press published Poem Counterpoem, authored by Randall with Margaret Danner, founder of Boone House, a black cultural center in Detroit where they both read their work.

Naomi Long Madgett writes: "His interest in Russia, apparent in his translations of poems by Aleksander Pushkin ("I Loved You Once", in After the Killing) and Konstantin Simonov ("My Native Land" and "Wait for Me" in A Litany of Friends), was heightened by a visit to the Soviet Union in 1966.

His identification with Africa, enhanced by his association with poet Margaret Esse Danner from 1962 to 1964 and study in Ghana in 1970, is evident in such poems as "African Suite" (After the Killing).

Poet Albert M. Ward and former Dudley Randall Poetry contest winners Deonte Osayande and Lori Allan read their work.

[2][10] The press began because Randall wanted to establish copyright on two poems that Jerry Moore was setting to music, "Ballad of Birmingham" and "Dressed All in Pink."

Broadside Press took off in 1965 when, during the Writer's Conference at Fisk University, Randall saw Margaret Walker practicing her recitation of a poem about Malcolm X she was going to perform.

Randall and Burroughs communicated their intentions to edit a book of poetry on Malcolm X at the conference, and their fellow poets and publishers responded enthusiastically, some even refusing to be paid for their work.

[11] In 1966, Randall and Margaret Danner, fellow poet and founder of Boone House, published their work Poem Counterpoem through Broadside Press.

In May of the same year, Randall attended a conference where he received permission to publish work from Robert Hayden, Melvin B. Tolson, and Margaret Walker in a Broadside series.

The movement's origin is usually traced to March 1965 when, two months after the assassination of Malcolm X, LeRoi Jones (who later changed his name to Amiri Baraka) moved to Harlem.

[4][12] Although Randall was a proponent of the freedom BAM offered black poets, particularly up-and-coming artists, he was not afraid to question what he saw as inherent paradoxes within the movement.

The final stanza shows the pride typical of BAM poetry: "Replace / the leer / of the minstrel's burnt-cork face / with a proud, serene / and classic bronze of Benin" (8–12).

Published six years after the actual bombing, this poem would remind readers of the pain and death caused by the turmoil of the Civil Rights Movement.

A line attributed to the collection, but actually from Randall's poem "Splendid Against the Night", is quoted by two characters in the seventh episode ("The Best Washing Machine in the World").