Amiri Baraka | |
|---|---|
 Baraka in 2013 | |
| Born | Everett Leroy Jones October 7, 1934 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | January 9, 2014 (aged 79) Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Pen name | LeRoi Jones, Imamu Amear Baraka[1] |
| Occupation |
|
| Period | 1961–2014 |
| Genre | Poetry and drama |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Kellie Jones Lisa Jones Dominique di Prima Maria Jones Shani Baraka Obalaji Baraka Ras J. Baraka Ahi Baraka Amiri Baraka Jr.[2] |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service |  United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1954–57[3][4] |
| Website | |
| www | |
Amiri Baraka (born Everett Leroy Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), previously known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka,[1] was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism. He was the author of numerous books of poetry and taught at several universities, including the University at Buffalo and Stony Brook University. He received the PEN/Beyond Margins Award in 2008 for Tales of the Out and the Gone.[5] Baraka's plays, poetry, and essays have been described by scholars as constituting defining texts for African-American culture.[6]
Baraka's career spanned nearly 52 years, and his themes range from Black liberation to White racism. His notable poems include "The Music: Reflection on Jazz and Blues", "The Book of Monk", and "New Music, New Poetry", works that draw on topics from the worlds of society, music, and literature.[7]
Baraka's poetry and writing have attracted both high praise and condemnation. In the African-American community, some compare Baraka to James Baldwin and recognize him as one of the most respected and most widely published Black writers of his generation,[8][9] though some have said his work is an expression of violence, misogyny, and homophobia.[10] Baraka's brief tenure as Poet Laureate of New Jersey (in 2002 and 2003) involved controversy over a public reading of his poem "Somebody Blew Up America?", which resulted in accusations of antisemitism and negative attention from critics and politicians over his assertion that the US and Israeli governments had advanced knowledge of the September 11 attacks.[11][12]
- ^ a b Shaw, Lytle (2013). Fieldworks: From Place to Site in Postwar Poetics. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. p. 107. ISBN 9780817357320.
- ^ Bonamo, Mark (July 1, 2014). "Newark mayor's new chief of staff Amiri Baraka, Jr.: 'I've got my brother's back'". Politicker NJ.
- ^ Schudel, Matt (January 10, 2014). "Amiri Baraka, 79: Architect of Black Arts Movement". The Washington Post. p. B5.
- ^
"Amiri Baraka - Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More". Academy of American Poets. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
He served in the Air Force from 1954 until 1957.
- ^ "Open Book/Beyond Margins Award Winners". PEN American Center. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
- ^ Nelson, Cary (2000). Anthology of Modern American Poetry. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 997.
- ^ "Amiri Baraka". AmiriBaraka.com. Celeste Bateman and Associates. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
- ^ Salaam, Kaluma (2001). "Historical Overviews of the Black Arts Movement". In Andrews, William L.; Foster, Frances Smith; Harris, Trudier (eds.). The Oxford Companion to African-American Literature. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195138832.
- ^ Nelson, Cary, ed. (2002). Modern American Poetry: An Online Journal and Multimedia Companion to Anthology of Modern American Poetry. Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign..
- ^ Watts, Jerry Gafio (2001). Amiri Baraka: The Politics and Art of a Black Intellectual. New York City: New York University Press. pp. 253, 331–333. ASIN B004HFR7VY.
- ^ Stevens, Katherine (February 25, 2003). "Baraka refutes criticism. Controversial N.J. poet laureate denies accusations of racism". Yale Daily News. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
- ^ Pearce, Jeremy (February 9, 2003). "When poetry seems to matter". The New York Times. Retrieved January 10, 2014.