Quraysh Ali Lansana brought his friend and mentor, Haki Madhubuti, to the MobileBooth in order to hear more about what has influenced and inspired him.

Today Haki is the proprietor of Third World Press, one of the nations oldest independent publishers of black literature. Curious, Quraysh asked Haki where his connection to black literature began and Haki started his reply by explaining the realities of his impoverished childhood.

They were recorded in the StoryCorps MobileBooth when it visited Chicago in 2005.This story originally broadcast October 10, 2005.