As a child, Cook traveled extensively in the United States and Europe with his parents as they pursued their respective careers in the entertainment industry.

In Washington, DC, the Cook family lived across the street from the legendary jazz musician Duke Ellington.

While completing his graduate education, Cook worked as an assistant professor of romance languages at Howard University from 1927 until 1936.

After two years in Haiti, Cook returned to Washington, D.C., to work as a professor of romance languages at Howard University, where he stayed until 1960.

During this time, Cook continued to write about Haiti, and he also translated works of African and West Indian writers from French to English.

His wife was also involved in many social programs, including a project to distribute medical supplies across the country and participation in women's groups.

In 1969, Cook published The Militant Black Writer in Africa and the United States, co-authored with Stephen Henderson of Morehouse College.

The book consisted of expanded versions of speeches delivered by the two men at a 1968 conference in Madison, Wisconsin, called "Anger and Beyond:" The Black Writer and a World in Revolution.

Cook concluded his essay by stating: "In the main, statements by the Africans seem to me less extreme and violent than many by West Indian and North American blacks."