He met his wife, Desiré Ash, whilst studying for his BA at Savannah State College.
With a strong love of literature, and a dream of becoming a teacher in his own future, he began teaching at the age of 16 in one of the schools his mother had established.
He later obtained a master's degree and Ph.D. from Boston University, in English Language and Literature, respectively.
He finished his career in education as a professor of English, with a specialty in African-American literature and poetry at the University of Chicago from 1970 until his death in 1982.
He completed the first full biography of the poet Gwendolyn Brooks just before his death from cancer in 1982.