Third World Press Foundation, one of the nation’s oldest independent and prestigious Black publishing companies, has called 7822 S. Dobson Ave. in Grand Crossing home for 35 of its 55-year history.
But a flood causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage has threatened the stability and financial viability of the company, the publisher said.
Haki Madhubuti founded Third World Press in 1967, from his basement-level apartment on the South Side. Now 80, Madhubuti built the company into a premier destination for Black authors.
Throughout the years, Third World has become the publishing home for prolific Black writers including Pulitzer Prize winner and former Poet Laureate of Illinois Gwendolyn Brooks, as well as Angela Jackson, who became the Poet Laureate of Illinois in 2020, poet Margaret Walker and novelist Sam Greenlee.
Madhubuti was in Cleveland on Dec. 9 when he got a call telling him the news — a pipe had burst under the building. The basement was flooded to the knees, and books were floating everywhere, he said.
Two large dumpsters were filled with damaged books, Madhubuti said.
Repairs took weeks, causing the nonprofit to lose crucial donation time during the Christmas and Kwanzaa seasons, which typically make up more than 25% of their annual revenue.
“This was the season that most people are giving to (nonprofits), which we are, and we missed all of that, and so it hurt us financially, as well as the loss and the damage to our property,” Madhubuti said.
This prompted a suggestion from a board member to start a GoFundMe to raise money for the damages.
Madhubuti, who said he had never heard of the concept, obliged.
“We’ve never done anything like that before,” he said. “But we were in such a critical shape that I said we’ll pretty much do anything now because after 55 years, nothing that hit us like this before.”
The company’s losses totaled $200,000, but the GoFundMe’s goal was set at $95,000 — Madhubuti thought the six-figure total would “scare people off.”
The result was astounding.
The GoFundMe reached the $95,000 goal within two weeks, and is still climbing.
“It was like a movement,” Madhubuti said.
As of Jan. 27, the fundraiser has received over $111,000.
Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving became the top donor with a $50,000 contribution, Madhubuti said.
Donors have mailed checks and brought in their gifts to the store in-person, Madhubuti said.
Third World will continue the fundraiser through Black History Month in February.
“Our institution was built by Black people,” Madhubuti said. “This is why I think this has been a movement in terms of keeping us alive. Black people around the country buying our books, built us.”
Black bookstores and independent sellers always support Third World, Madhubuti said. But the response to the GoFundMe was still surprising.
“We are the publishers,” he said. “Part of our mission is that we define the Black community as our writers see this community. So therefore, it becomes very important that we keep the books in print.”
Mariah Rush is a staff reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times via Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster the paper’s coverage of communities on the South and West sides.
