I knew Dennis Brutus when he was at the University of Pittsburgh. A very fine, courageous, and gentle man. A friend of mine invited him to a class she was teaching at a prison in Pittsburgh. You have to go through a metal detector to get inside. Dennis had to go through about five times, each time removing some object he had forgotten about. I am sure the guards were irritated, but what could they do? If you knew Dennis and his manner, I am sure you can appreciate the humor and irony in the situation. Needless to say, he was a big hit with the men in the class.
Dennis Brutus had that rare quality of making you feel important in what you were doing even as he was humble about his own profound contributions to the struggle for human liberation.