Mr. Dennis Brutus

I just found out I'm sorry for your lost I knew shelly for about 20 years and we talked every couple years.but I know she loved her sisters girl that she called peanut.shelly may god be with you.

May you find comfort also in God's promises found in the last book of the Holy Scriptures. "And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away."
2 Peter 3:13; 1 Cor. 15:24-26

Sincerely,

Lynette Gonzalez-Perth Amboy, NJ

I am sorry to hear about your family's loss. Please take a moment and read Romans 5:28,29.

It was a pleasure &honor to be in your presence while attending Pitt. I was so inspired that I only wished that I would had been blessed with your spirit sooner. I came out of your class with so much more than a credit & grade. Thanks for lighting the way on a glorious path. May God continue to bless you & all those who have been touched by your grace, knowledge, words, spirit and overall presence. Your words & strides for a better world will live on forever!

My sincere condolences to the family. Dennis Brutus will be missed.

Thank you for trying to make our world color blind. One word and one thought at a time. You will be in my heart forever.

We were so sorry to hear of your loss. The thoughts of many are with you at this time of sorrow.

My condolences to the Brutus family. Mr. Brutus was a fine and well-respected professor, but I knew him through his many meetings that I attended at the University of Pittsburgh. I was struck by how exceptionally organized he was. He ran extremely fine-tuned meetings. This is a lost art! Obviously too, we at Pitt miss his beautiful poetry. Again, my condolences.

PASSING OF A GREAT HEART

for

Dennis Vincent Brutus
1924-2009

We’ve come through a year, a year
Unimaginable, hanging heavy like
Summer grapes on the gut
Witnesses to a mass exodus of Great Hearts:
Leaders, movers, rockers, shapers of our Age
We re-enter our time

In the green family garden with dogs & children,
Indigenous floras burgeoning into a vegetal tapestry,
Giant strelitzias, birds-of-paradise
Soaring skyward like arrows
We toasted your four score and fifth year

With the summer breeze spiced lemony geranium,
Perched on your mobile throne
Poet – warrior – king
Cradled against the softness of skins
Body failing, voice faltering,
A spirit alight with undying fight
We wished you–

“You’re here,” you said,
Eyes fiery yet faraway
I gently took your hand
Your pain pulsing in the palm of my hand

At high school in the post-Sharpeville ‘70s
Nortje’s world and “Dead Roots” made me
Discover you and Langston Hughes.
“Letters to Martha and “A Simple Lust” ripped off
The cataracts veiling my vision–
Iconoclast, exiled mentor, you
Blasted a whole generation of youth
Out of slumber into action
Our poems, the fire and ice of your influence

Tireless troubadour of truth, hope and justice
Our skies, air, atmosphere, our strip-mined
Wildernesses, Eagles, rivers, seas, estuaries, fish,
Whales, bears, honey bees and the burnt
Little ones languishing in sweatshops and wars, the
Leached labourers of the world, refugees,
Prisoners and torn souls ensnared in
Concentration camps still dotting our planet
Call out your name; drum your praises into the wind

Dennis, amidst banners and loudhailers,
Vitriolic poet-campaigner, fearless eco-warrior,
You strode the struggle-rent perimeters of the globe
From Josie to Mozambique, Robben Island to London,
Sweden to Dakar, Caracas to Cuba, Cairo to Iraq,
Seattle to Switzerland, Mexico to Madrid,
Rotterdam to Nigeria, Paris to Palestine,
Germany to Zimbabwe, Algeria to Afghanistan
And across your wintering hours
Your spirit ached to soar to Copenhagen;
To Seattle Copenhagen, menace the oil Moghals,
Demand the survival of our people, forests,
Mountains, waterways, dwindling birds and animals,
Demand the survival of our planet as we know it.

Deela Khan
5 January 2009

You were my mentor for years. You expanded my view of struggle from local to regional to international. You connected me to the world in ways that I will never forget. I owe you so much. There is so much I can say with respect to your impact on me. I will forever be grateful.

I borrow from Auden on Yeats (as Dennis told me he once met Auden):

Earth has received an honored guest;
Dennis Brutus is laid to rest.
Let the African poetic memory lie;
Robbed of this great voice in a sigh.

A bulwark against injustice;
This prophet against apartheid and other inhuman travesties.
We admired you for your honesty.
Forever you will stand out in the conscience registry.

We will miss you, brother,
See you up in heaven's ladder.
Tijan M. Sallah, Potomac, MD

It has been a honor to have met and studied under Prof Brutus at the University of Pgh's Africana Studies Dept. My prayers go out to the family.
Much love and respect.
Henry Mallory, Pgh, PA

I was captivated by his powerful and calm speech at the Armchair Theatre in Observatory, Cape Town after the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

I am grateful to have met and worked with Professor Brutus while I lived in Evanston from 1976-82. This great poet and activist has been an inspiration for practically all my adult life!

Dear Dr. Brutus:

Thank you for being such an inspiration and for sharing your autographed books of poetry! I will never forget all of the great times that we shared when you took Carl and me to lunch and dinner when we worked with you on technology in the Africana Studies Department at the University of Pittsburgh.

Rest in peace! Good doctor!

Hambagathle Baba

Go well sir! Go well!

Tracy Baton

Being in the presence of Dennis Brutus during his Pittsburgh tenure I was always impresed with his aura of nobility and quiteness. He was a force and presence that always left me with a peace and quite like a ocean wave.

Dear friend, principled comrade, fine poet, thoughtful activist -- I know many of us will miss him but feel joy that he was part of our lives. He continues to live in those seeking to do as he did.

Thank you, Professor Brutus, for your life's work in poetry and in action. It was a privilege to be your student, and your radical spirit inspires us in the grand struggle for justice.

A very sad day for many people around the world. I was very fortunate to have been in one of his classes in the mid-80's and he made a significant impact on me. My condolences to his family, friends and the countless people around the world who were touched by his truth, love and passion.

Comrade Dennis Brutus, ¡Presente!

Since he was one of the truest internationalists I have ever met, I know that the South African Dennis Brutus embraced the old US radical saying, "Don't mourn, organize!" And I am sure that he would not have it any other way.

Amandla! Ngawethu!