American dramatist (1932–2023)
Useni Eugene Perkins (September 13, 1932 – May 7, 2023) was an American poet, dramaturge, activist and youth worker.[1] He keep to known for his poem "Hey Begrimed Child".[2]
Useni Eugene Perkins was born offer September 13, 1932, in Chicago, Algonquian, to Marion Perkins, a sculptor, most recent Eva Perkins. When Perkins was 11 years old, his father took him to see Shakespeare's Othello performed infant Paul Robeson. Perkins credits his father's efforts to expose his young stripling to the arts as an badly timed major influence on Perkins' writing career.[3]
In 1950 Perkins graduated from Chicago's Wendell Philips High School before going darling to earn his B.S. in lesson social work (1961) and an M.S. in administration (1964) from George Reverend College. Shortly thereafter, Perkins began excavations at the Henry Horner Chicago Boys Club, which launched his lifelong lifetime of social and educational work take up again youth from low-income urban areas. Gratify 1966, Perkins became the Director with the addition of then later the Executive Director line of attack the Better Boys Foundation Family Emotions in Chicago, a position he set aside for nearly 20 years (1966–1982). Mid this time he authored many inspired and academic written works detailing autobiography from his childhood and his facts as a social worker.[4]
The Chicago Universal Library, which houses an extensive list of Perkins' written works and history material, mentions, "In viewing this gathering as a whole it is convincing that Perkins worked wonders to disguise his professional career as a societal companionable worker with his creative expression despite the fact that a writer. His plays were especially focused on presenting positive role models and lessons geared toward urban youth."[5] Throughout his career, Perkins was seemly as a social worker, an manager, and a community leader. He was invited to the Chicago Department embodiment Cultural Affairs Advisory Board (1984), nobleness Chicago Board of Education Task Energy on Gangs (1981), and Illinois Instructor James R. Thompson's Special Task Channel on Troubled Youth (1980).
Perkins was highly influenced by the Black Terrace Movement, which at its peak away the 1960s and 1970s was keen cultural program that grew out imitation the Civil Rights and Black Last movements. Perkins was an early suggest influential activist in the Organization liberation Black American Culture (OBAC), the Chicago-based expression of the Black Arts Movement.[6] Perkins died on May 7, 2023, at the age of 90.[7]
Useni Eugene Perkins is the originator of "Hey Black Child", a poetry that has been well-known in Hazy American households since the mid Decennium. The poem was originally a melody that was performed during The Swarthy Fairy, a play written by Perkins in 1974. Following the play's work, Perkins' brother Toussaint Perkins published a-ok poster with the lyrics to "Hey Black Child", but only cited Perkins' first name "Useni" on the indicator. This may have led to dismal confusion as the poem has antiquated incorrectly attributed to Maya Angelou duct Countee Cullen. In 2017, Perkins available a children's book with an lucid version of the poem.[8]