LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, playwright, author, poet, activist, critic, and educator. His life has been a changing cycle through multiple philosophy and beliefs. He has been considered a literary genius among his peers and a man we all can learn from. A leader of the Black arts movement, Baraka's numerous plays, poems, and essays inspired a generation of black folks to stand up because it was nation time (black Nation). In his long and on going life he has gone through numerous changes of philosophy. From Wild Beatnik ranting against the square world in the 1950s through the early 1960's, to black nationalist renouncing the white world from the mid sixties through the early seventies, to Marxist - Leninist rejecting monopoly capitalism from the mid seventies till present day. And in this paper I plan on talking about those three periods. And the numerous amount of literature and plays he produced during each time period in his life. .
As a child Baraka deeply affected by his pop culture heroes he created his very own comic strips and science fiction tales. He was a very intelligent child and had a deep interest in music. Extremely smart, Baracka graduated two years early from Newark's Barrringer High school. While there he nurtured his writing skills by having a large involvement in the school newspaper. From High school he went to college at the Newark branch of Rutgers University, after one year he transferred to to a predominately black Howard University. At this time he changed the spelling of his name from LeRoy Jones to LeRoi jones the french spelling. As to whether he graduated from Howard or not I"m not too sure. My sources have conflicting information when it comes to his college education. A few of them say he gradated from Howard and from there he entered the air force as a gunner for three years. The others say he got kicked out of college and then went to the air force.
The content/themes of Amiri Baraka's writing are about many controversial subjects in his time. ... Amiri Baraka has a unique style of writing. ... Amiri Baraka's work had a great reputation in society. ... Amiri Baraka's life experiences, his career, and his writing are related in some ways. ... The death of Malcolm X had a great effect on Amiri Baraka. ...
Amiri Baraka was born on October 7, 1934, in Newark, New Jersey. His original name was not Amiri Baraka, his birth name was Everett LeRoi Jones. He originally wrote under the name LeRoi Jones His name got changed to Amiri Baraka when he converted to Islam, it then first became Imamu Amiri Baraka then he altered it. ... Amiri Baraka had also written fiction and non-fiction books. ... In 1956 Amiri Baraka had divorced his wife Hettie Cohen. ...
One of the most prominent representatives of these revolutionary authors was Amiri Baraka, who had been an acclaimed writer of poetry, fiction and music criticism, before he was sent to prison in 1967 after the Newark riots. ... Although a couple of anti-semitic remarks have somewhat beclouded his reputation, Amiri Baraka is undeniably one of the strongest voices of the Black Power movement. ...
In October 2001 Amiri Baraka, New Jersey's poet laureate, wrote a poem called "Somebody Blew Up America". ... Baraka to step down from his position because he was causing too much problems and Mr. Baraka even admitted that this is a"' poem that aims to probe and disturb-(Newman, 2). ... Baraka has taken advantage of his first amendment rights. ... Baraka, who are taking advantage of their first amendment. ...
The movement's major players were Amiri Baraka/Leroi Jones, Adrienne Kennedy, Ron Karenga, Larry Neal, Sonia Sanchez, and many more Black artists at this particular time in American history. ... Many felt the movement lost it's fire when Amiri Baraka left the movement in 1974 adopting a Leninist/Marxist philosophy and when Hoyt Fuller died in 1971. ...
Amiri Baraka's play Dutchman uses a dramatic interplay between the two lead characters, Lula and Clay, to grab the attention of the audience and to allow more focus to be placed on complex societal issues. ... This is a classic example of how Baraka uses dramatic lies to bring more serious issues to light. ... Lula's ambivalence to the offense in her statements creates the space for the audience to question what Baraka meant when he stated that his characters were "the spirit of America itself". ... Through examining the effects of Lula's act of lying, the offensive name-callin...
African American poetics as well as all kinds of art and literature blossomed in a ghetto of New York called Harlem, where black artists began to write and make art of the subject of African Americas" share of the apple called "America". The Harlem Renaissance, as the name given to this whole bunch ...
