Syracuse University (Graduate Studies in Political Science) Thomas Covington Dent (March 20, 1932 – June 6, 1998) was an African-American poet and writer.
His grandfather, Dr. Jesse Covington, worked extensively in the Negro Business League to promote the economic venues and advancements for African Americans.
Through this organization, Belle was able to develop social programs to support the African-American community as well as advocate against white mob violence.
His choice to attend Morehouse was a direct consequence of his efforts at cultivating his strengths to benefit his future work in the civil rights movement.
Early on during his tenure as editor-in-chief, it was evident that his social awareness allowed him to see reality for what it truly was and showcased his understanding of a complex system of playfulness.
For Students in Philosophy Only", "Younger Generation Sad Representative of American Youth", "When Professors Object We Must Always Yield", and "The Summing Up and Moving On".
For Students in Philosophy Only", Dent switches gear to discuss how dangerous it is to ask certain question in a campus class taught by Sam Williams.
Not long after he arrived in New York, he became involved in the political activities and literary elements that coincided to the emergence of Black Nationalism.
Thurgood Marshall then appointed Dent as the press liaison for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1960.
This traveling throughout the Southeast allowed him to provide help in attempts at getting James Meredith admitted as the first Black student at the University of Mississippi.
This journal was a Black nationalists literary organization that included the likes of LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), Harold Cruse, and Calvin Hicks.
This community in Harlem inspired Dent and he began meeting with other African-American poets including Calvin Hernton and David Henderson to discuss the formation of poetry workshops.
This was a very influential workshop that focused on poetry and the arts, while also publishing literary works such as the Umbra Magazine in 1963.
This was a mentorship program through which Dent worked towards cultivating the artistic skills and literary devices of the young writers around him including Kalamu ya Salaam.
[5] In 1973, Dent transitioned and formed a new mentorship program titled the Congo Square Writers Union in which he worked to bolster the young authors around him.
Dent offered extensive help to the individuals in this Union by introducing them to writers such as Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Keorapetse Kgositsile, Niyi Osundare, and Al Young.