Le ROI Jones was the original name for the activist who became Amiri Baraka. He came from the Beat Movement to activism after the assassination of Malcolm X, taking his new name. As a writer, he was able to contribute a literate voice to the civil ri Continue Reading...
Context Baraka and his contemporaries show distinctly modernist trends in their works, which are also distinctly colored by the Civil Rights Movement era through which they lived and in which many -- including Baraka himself -- began their literar Continue Reading...
The Politics of Twentieth Century Poetry: Amiri Baraka versus Allen Ginsberg The poetry of Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and Allen Ginsberg are example of how serious literary works can be used as a vehicle of social change. Both poets wrote during tumu Continue Reading...
Gay rights are also an issue of regular discussion. This sector of society is so marginalized that many states by law do not allow them to marry each other. Instead, they are expected to practice their courting and dating rituals in what is describ Continue Reading...
These differing attitudes come into clearer focus in their more autobiographical poems. Baraka's "Leroy" shows his yearning for the black heritage that he sees being passed down to him through his mother and through him to the next generation of Af Continue Reading...
His own work was also published in a wide variety of literary magazines several of which were prestigious and nationally respected. His publication and involvement in publishing impressive accomplishments for an African-American man in the United St Continue Reading...
In fact, he identified himself entirely with it, even in his own self-reflection. In the reflective poem "leroy," published in 1969 under his newly adopted name Amiri Baraka, a nostalgic comment on his mother becomes a lofty vision of himself as the Continue Reading...
While Baraka's play Dutchman ends in fatal violence against a young black male endeavoring in vain to assert his individual identity and manhood, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, which takes place in the 1950's, on Chicago's South Side, en Continue Reading...
This may not have been the lesson of the drama, but it certainly reminded me of this fact. In another way, I find the story unsettling in that it indicates how oftentimes the minority person is punished solely by virtue of his being a different col Continue Reading...
In "An Agony. As Now," the poet is looking inside himself to find answers. The poem reads as a piece of literature that reveals the torment of the speaker. The poet is experiencing torment, among other things and, at times, we might even think he i Continue Reading...
Music or Musical Theatre Like the Rising Sun Although in conventional times and among younger people jazz music is disparaged as boring 'elevator music', true jazz music is anything but. I reached this conclusion after listening to some excellent c Continue Reading...
African-American Art Creative African-American Literature Were one to pause to give this subject consideration, it would appear that the vast majority of African-American artwork within the 20th century was organized around and largely revolved abo Continue Reading...
Weldon Johnson Separate the Races? One of the most prevalent themes explored in James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man is the ramifications of miscegenation during America's racially charged late 19th/early 20th century epoc Continue Reading...
This is evident from the first as the poet writes, I am inside someone -- who hates me. I look out from his eyes (1-3). This approach allows him to take a jaundiced view of himself and criticize his own shortcomings, as if they were those of someo Continue Reading...
Slave, Not Born a Slave The Making of Slavery The sense of proprietorship of slave traders, owners, and other propagators of chattel slavery that was prevalent in the United States until the middle of the 19th century would be absurdly laughable - Continue Reading...
Black Arts Known as the "artistic sister of the Black Power movement," Black Arts refers to the collective expressions of African-American culture during the 1960s and 1970s. Corresponding with the climax of the Civil Rights movement and the self-em Continue Reading...
Sherman Alexie There is no denying the fact that Sherman Alexie is a writer of considerable fame. A number of his literary publications have been transferred into film, which is generally a more lucrative market than books. When a writer's work of f Continue Reading...
The Black Arts Era is characterized by powerful voices such as that of Ishmael Reed or Amiri Baraka. In his poem Black Art, Amiri Baraka potently draws attention to the need for a self-conscious black poetry which would accentuate intentionally all Continue Reading...
The Black Arts Movement refers specifically to the rise of African-American literature in the 1960s. Writer and activist Amiri Baraka started the movement in Harlem in response to the assassination of Malcolm X and actively encouraged black writers Continue Reading...
Chicago writing Format a) Discuss Black Americans survived To a large degree, African-Americans were able to survive the Great Depression the way most Americans were able to do so -- by utilizing what forms of federal relief that they could and by Continue Reading...
Upon leaving the military Robison found work with the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs. The World War II years marked the heyday of the Negro Leagues. With black and white worker flooding into Northern industrial centers, with relatively full emplo Continue Reading...
Baggetta says, "My painting process is a very active one where my first marks and impressions are usually quiet and deliberate strokes" (Marla pp). Two of her pieces, "Across the Fields," (9"x9") and "Winter Hike," (12"x12") are excellent examples o Continue Reading...
Phillis Wheatley and the poem "Being Brought From Africa." PHILLIS WHEATLEY Phillis Wheatley came to America as a slave when she was a young girl; she was probably about eight-years-old when Mr. And Mrs. Wheatley purchased her. She lived in Boston Continue Reading...
As a character, Celie's own experiences have not engaged her on the same levels that Shug's sexual experiences have. This is to say that Celie's life and collection of experiences have not been personally gratifying or freeing in the way that Shug s Continue Reading...
This is not really a typical swing rhythm, however. Jazz musicians almost always play eighth notes straighter than that, except perhaps in the style known as the shuffle. A correct ratio for swing cannot be given precisely. Different musicians tend Continue Reading...
Hair" "Bad Hair" The relationship between politics and African-American hair is tenuous at best. Any researcher would be hard pressed to find another race or group of people whose hair factors into its politics. Indeed, such a notion borders on rid Continue Reading...
The litanies of the order are believed to have been taught to al-Tijani directly by the Prophet Mohammed. In these visions, al-Tijani was instructed to break ties with other orders, and followers of the Tijaniyyah path were restricted to affiliation Continue Reading...
The resistance tactic of educating black youth is challenged and despite the fact that the boy has likely been told that this education will free him of prejudice, through proof of his intellect he is called back and told to keep the error to himsel Continue Reading...
New York City: An Examination of Urban Design and Space Function as it Relates to Civic Participation The objective of this study is to examine urban design and space function as it relates to civic participation in New York City. Kevin Lynch conduc Continue Reading...
Theatre: English-speaking versions of Hamlet vs. European versions The many contemporary interpretations of Shakespeare enacted on the modern stage underline the fact that Shakespeare was a playwright for the ages, not simply a man of his own time Continue Reading...
African-American Literature -- Compare and Contrast The two stories selected for this first comparison, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs and the short letter from Jourdon Anderson, "To My Old Master," are both extremely touch Continue Reading...
Allen Ginseng was a popular poet of the Beat Generation, a non-conformist free thinker who belonged to a group of people who dared to express his ideals and change mindsets. The post-World War II period was characterized by unreasonable, blind faith Continue Reading...
