Amiri Baraka was born Everett LeRoi Jones on October 7, 1934 in Newark, New Jersey. He moved to New York's Greenwich Village in the late-1950s. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nickname: The Brick City Map of Newark in Essex County Coordinates: County Essex Founded/Incorporated 1666/1836  - Mayor Cory Booker, term of office 2006–2010 Area [1]    - City 67. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nickname: The Brick City Map of Newark in Essex County Coordinates: County Essex Founded/Incorporated 1666/1836  - Mayor Cory Booker, term of office 2006–2010 Area [1]    - City 67. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ...

Background

Until the mid-1960s, he published as LeRoi Jones; in 1965, following the assassination of Malcolm X, he changed his name to Amiri Baraka and moved to Harlem ^[1]. The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, also known as Detroit Red and Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Omaha, Nebraska, May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965 in New York City) was a Muslim Minister and National Spokesman for the Nation of Islam. ... For other uses, see Harlem (disambiguation). ...

Throughout his career, Amiri Baraka has explored a variety of themes through his work, both personal and political in character, including race relations, Beat aesthetics, Black Nationalism, Marxism, and contemporary political events^[2]. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Marxism takes its name from the praxis — the synthesis of philosophy and political action — of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

Baraka has founded or co-founded a number of organizations, including Yugen magazine, Totem Press, the Black Arts Repertory Theatre, and the Congress of African People. He has served as director of the Congress of African People, secretary-general of the National Black Political Assembly, and has served as New Jersey's Poet Laureate.^[3][4] On March 10, 1972 the first National Black Political Assembly was held in Gary, Indiana. ...

He has taught at such universities as Yale and George Washington, and in 1982 became a tenured professor in the African Studies Department at SUNY Stony Brook. “Yale” redirects here. ...   The George Washington University (GWU), or informally, G.W., is a private, coeducational, non-sectarian university located in Washington, D.C.. Founded in 1821 as the Columbian College, the university has since developed into a leading educational and research institution. ... An Africanist is a specialist in African affairs, cultures, or languages. ... Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU) or the University at Stony Brook (USB), or the State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNYSB), located in Stony Brook, New York, USA, is one of the premier public universities in the United States with more than 21,000 students enrolled. ...

Recent years

In early-2007, a revival of his play Dutchman, with Dule Hill and Jennifer Mudge, was produced at the Cherry Lane Theatre, where the play had debuted on March 24, 1964 starring Robert Hooks. His poem, Somebody Blew up America was set to music in the multi-award winning film 500 Years Later in 2005. External link IMDB entry for Dule Hill Categories: People stubs | 1974 births | Television actors ... Cherry Lane Theatre entrance The Cherry Lane Theatre, located at 38 Commerce Street in the borough of Manhattan, is New York Citys oldest, continuously running off-Broadway theater. ... March 24 is the 83rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (84th in leap years). ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Robert Dean Hooks (April 18, 1937 in Washington, DC) is an African American actor. ... 500 Years Later (፭፻-ዓመታት በጓላ) is an independent documentary film directed by Owen Alik Shahadah, written by M.K. Asante, Jr. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Personal life

He was married to Hettie Jones (born Hettie Cohen) from 1958 to 1966. He has been married to Sylvia Robinson (now known as Amina Baraka) since 1967. They had five children together. ^[5] Hettie Jones (born 1934 as Hettie Cohen) is most well-known as the former wife of Amiri Baraka, known as LeRoi Jones at the time of their marriage, but is also a writer herself. ...

Controversy

In 1965, Baraka wrote: "Most American white men are trained to be fags. For this reason it is no wonder their faces are weak and blank. … The average ofay [white person] thinks of the black man as potentially raping every white lady in sight. Which is true, in the sense that the black man should want to rob the white man of everything he has. But for most whites the guilt of the robbery is the guilt of rape. That is, they know in their deepest hearts that they should be robbed, and the white woman understands that only in the rape sequence is she likely to get cleanly, viciously popped."

Amiri Baraka was New Jersey’s Poet Laureate at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks. He wrote a poem titled "Somebody Blew Up America" about the event. The poem was controversial and highly critical of the American government. The poem also contains lines claiming Israel's involvement in an alleged 9/11 conspiracy: It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... A Poet Laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events. ... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly... Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, a variety of conspiracy theories have emerged about the attacks which contradict the mainstream account of events that day. ...

 Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers To stay home that day Why did Sharon stay away? 

 [...] 

 Who know why Five Israelis was filming the explosion And cracking they sides at the notion 

While the claims made in those lines were not original to Baraka, the source material upon which he relied (in particular, the stories of the 4,000 Israeli workers and the canceled trip by by Ariel Sharon) has been largely discredited. Despite the debunking, Baraka currently stands by the claims made in the poem, which many critics consider to be representative of New Antisemitism, though Baraka and his defenders prefer to define his position as Anti-Zionism. This article is about the former World Trade Center (Twin Towers) in New York City. ...   (Hebrew: , also known by his diminutive Arik אָרִיק) (born February 27, 1928) is a former Israeli politician and general. ... New antisemitism is the concept of an international resurgence of attacks on Jewish symbols, as well as the acceptance of antisemitic beliefs and their expression in public discourse, coming from three political directions: the political left, far-right, and Islamism. ... Anti-Zionism is a term used to describe opposition to Zionism, the movement supporting the right of the State of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. ...

After publishing this poem Governor Jim McGreevey tried to remove Baraka from the post, only to discover that there was no legal way to do so. So he then abolished the NJ Poet Laureate title, Baraka no longer holds the position as Poet Laureate in New Jersey. James Edward Jim McGreevey (born August 6, 1957) is a United States Democratic politician. ... A Poet Laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ...

In spite of his sometime-controversial writing, Baraka has received honors from a number of organizations, including the Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Langston Hughes Award from The City College of New York, The Rockefeller Foundation Award for Drama, an induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a lifetime achievement award from the Before Columbus Foundation. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation funds the Guggenheim Museums. ... The National Endowment for the Arts is a United States federally funded program that offers support and funding for projects that exhibit artistic excellence. ... The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to an American author. ... The City College of The City University of New York (known more commonly as City College of New York or simply City College, CCNY, or colloquially as City) is a senior college of the City University of New York, in New York City. ... The Rockefeller Foundation (RF) is a prominent philanthropic organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. ...

The controversy surrounding Baraka gained the attention of debate coordinator, Brian Boothe, a Purdue University graduate. Boothe, in an effort to provide a platform for Baraka's views, and to have them debated, was successful in getting Baraka on "The Sean Hannity Show", in which fireworks lit when Hannity and his guest collided. During the debate, Baraka refused to condemn any controversial race based statements he had made in the past, subsequently making Hannity conclude him as a racist, to which Baraka disagreed.

In 2004, Amiri Baraka, together with Danny Glover and other American intellectuals and activists,took part in an event held in Caracas, Venezuela under the sponsorship of the government of Hugo Chavez. He participated in various forums debating issues from globalization and privatization to arts and music. The congress issued a proclamation critical of the United States and world powers for their lack of humanity and for their rule within capitalist models.

Bibliography

Fiction

• The system of Dante's Hell; a novel.
• Tales of the Out & Gone.

Poetry

• Preface to a twenty volume suicide note; poems.
• The dead lecturer; poems.
• Spirit Reach.
• Hard Facts.
• Selected poetry of Amiri Baraka/LeRoi Jones.
• Somebody Blew Up America

Records

• New Music, New Poetry. With David Murray (Sax), Steve McCall (Drums)
• Real Song. On Enja/Weber 8098

Plays

• Dutchman
• The Toilet
• The Slave
• What Was the Relationship of the Lone Ranger to the Means of Production?

Non-fiction

• Blues people: Negro music in white America.
• Home: Social Essays.
• Black music.
• Daggers and javelins: essays.
• The autobiography of LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka.
• The Revolutionary Theatre: essay from Liberator July 1965
• Jazz and the White Critic. In Downbeat Magazine August 15th 1963

Collections

• Selected poetry of Amiri Baraka/LeRoi Jones.
• Selected plays and prose of Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones).

Notes

1. ^ Amiri Baraka.
2. ^ Amiri Baraka: Biography and Historical Context.
3. ^ Black History: Amiri Baraka.
4. ^ Amiri Baraka: Poet, Dramatist, Music Critic.
5. ^ Amiri Baraka

External links

• Official Website
• Amiri Baraka at the Internet Movie Database
• Selection of poetry
• " 'Blast From the Past' with poet and playwright Amiri Baraka" for the WGBH series, Say Brother
• Another selection
• Interview with Baraka on AllAboutJazz.com