Humboldt Black History spotlight
The Humboldt Black History spotlight is on Bill Marable. Bill A. Marable, 56, is the publisher and founder of the West Tennessee Examiner News- paper (Now The CrimeSEEN Examiner Newspaper). It is Jackson and rural West Tennessee’s oldest African American owned newspaper, operating since June of 2000.
Bill has been a lover of poetry since elementary school and began writing poetry in junior high. He is a native of Humboldt, TN and now resides in Jackson, TN.
Marable is also a founding member and current president of the board of directors of the Griot Writer’s Society - now called The Griot Collective of West Tennessee, a non- profit poetry workshop that meets monthly to provide an outlet for poets and writers to come and share their work. The organization is responsible for the publication of several volumes of poetry; including Anthology of Jackson Poets (1997) and Beneath The Baobab Vols I, II, and III (03, 05, and 07). The Collective is currently under the leadership of NAACP Image Award Nominee, James E. Cherry. In addition to winning 2nd place in the Nubianpoets.com 2017 National Poetry Month Contest, Marable has also placed in several other national competitions including The Detroit Writer’s Guild’s Paul Laurence Dunbar Poetry Contest.
Marable’s poetry was first published in The Coffeehouse Letters, in the early 90’s while a student at Lambuth University in Jackson, TN. He has since been published in the Skinny Poetry Journal (2019), The Pierian Literary Journal (2017-18) and Main Street Publishing’s Portals Vol. IX (2009).
In 2020, Marable plans to begin working on his first book, a collection of poetry which speaks to the current climate of disenfranchisement of African Americans.
“I credit teachers like Mrs. Barbara Carter who showed me that language can be a valuable tool and Harriet Kaye Croom who convinced me to take typing. Both of those skills I have used to create a career.”
Bill Marable is the son of the late Walter Marable and Ester L. Martin of Humboldt. He is the father of Lakeisha Douglas, Shanika Douglas, Jermal Marable, Jucana Lenzie, Enarde McCalister and L’Ouverture Marable. B Anthony Marable we salute you!
