Thomas Covington Dent (March 20, 1932 – June 6, 1998) was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

poet and writer.

Early life and education

Thomas Dent was born on March 20, 1932, in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, to Albert W. Dent, president of

Dillard University Dillard University is a private, historically black university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 and incorporating earlier institutions founded as early as 1869 after the American Civil War, it is affiliated with the United Church of C ...

, and Ernestine Jessie Covington Dent, a concert pianist. He was the oldest of three sons. Thomas graduated from Oakwood School in 1948.Oakwood School, Class of 1948 Graduation Program He continued his education at Morehouse College receiving a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

in 1952. Thomas furthered his education at Syracuse University eventually receiving his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in international studies in 1956. Dent was a member of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

for two years, 1957–59. His published works included the book of poetry, ''Magnolia Street'' (1976) and ''Southern Journey: A Return to the Civil Rights Movement'' (1997). A collection of his work, ''New Orleans Griot: The Tom Dent Reader'', edited by

Kalamu Ya Salaam Kalamu ya Salaam (born March 24, 1947) is an American poet, author, filmmaker, and teacher from the 9th Ward of New Orleans. A well-known activist and social critic, Salaam has spoken out on a number of racial and human rights issues. For years h ...

, was published in 2018. He was included into the ''American Poetry Since 1970'' (Thunder's Mouth Press, 1990, ed. by Andrei Codrescu). He was a passionate groomer of other Black writers and worked hard to sustain the

Free Southern Theater The Free Southern Theater (FST) was a community theater group founded in 1963 at Tougaloo College in Madison County, Mississippi, by Gilbert Moses, Denise Nicholas, Doris Derby, and John O’Neal. The company manager was Mary Lovelace, later Cha ...

writing workshop and Congo Square Writers' Union in his hometown of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and the Umbra Workshop on the Lower East Side in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Notes

External links

Tom Dent's role in the organizational mentoring of African American Southern writers - ''African American Review''
1932 births 1998 deaths Writers from Louisiana African-American poets Morehouse College alumni American male poets 20th-century American poets 20th-century American male writers 20th-century African-American writers African-American male writers {{US-poet-1930s-stub