Fred Williams, a local amateur historian of Detroit’s black community, became Fuller’s mentor while he attended Wayne State.
Aside from giving Fuller readings about Africa and African Americans, Williams also took him on his research trips to interview older members of the black community.
[1] Becoming frustrated with the disconnect between Ebony’s content and the struggle for black freedom, he quit his position as the magazine's associate editor in 1957.
In his autobiographical work Journey to Africa (1971), he describes his inability to find employment thereafter and his anger at the racially oppressive culture of America.
He believed that African and African-American culture would inspire black Americans to take action against racial oppression and contribute to more confident expressions of their own identity.
While being inspirational for many black authors at the time, Fuller was famously critical of Ralph Ellison for his lack of political fervor in his literature.