Amiri Baraka

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 rights and Black Power movements. This paper will outline those contributions that he made to both of these movements, including founding the Black Arts Movement.

Early Life Jones was born and raised in Newark and took an interest in both music and writing at an early age. After graduating Howard University with a degree in English in 1954, he joined the Air Force. He was dishonorably discharged and then relocated to Manhattan. He attended Columbia University and became an artist in Greenwich Village, before becoming affiliated with the Beat Movement (Biography, 2014). He married Hettie Cohen and the two started a literary magazine together, and a family.

This part of his life came to a close quickly, however, with the assassination of Malcolm X (Als, 2014). Black Arts Movement Jones' response to the assassination was to disavow his prior life, move to Harlem, change his name to Amiri Baraka and started the Black Arts Movement. This movement was the artistic counterpoint to the Black Panther Party in particular, a vehicle for espousing ideas about black separatism and civil rights (Ibid).

Baraka's works, mostly plays and poems, project a tone that has been called "incendiary" for its controversial nature, particularly with regards to issues of race and power. Activism The Black Arts Movement was short-lived, and before long Baraka found himself back in Newark, where he continued to contribute to political activism.

He converted to Islam, and later styled himself as a Marxist as well -- he had visited Cuba shortly after the revolution there to learn about the doctrine, and brought it back to incorporate it into his views on race and black power. His writings "explored the anger of African-Americans and…" was a "weapon against racism" (AmiriBaraka.com, 2014). His work was an expression of sentiments that were a part of the Civil Rights Movement, and Black Power Movement.

Baraka was able to be an idea leader, and his works were highly influential among the leaders of these movements. He sought to create with his work a black aesthetic and identity, an artistic expression of black separatism, and it is from these ideals that his work gained much of its power. Having that sort of expression no doubt helped to strengthen those on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement. His activism also inspired many other young black artists to pursue the arts as a means of expression.

The quest for cultural identity became one of the themes of the Black Power Movement and was reflected not just in his arts, but in the arts of those who were inspired by Baraka. He became something of a teacher for the community, a figurehead for the artistic side of black aspiration and quest for identity (Ulaby, 2014). Contributions The Civil Rights and Black Power movements were political movements that lacked for the most part artistic voice.

These movements were social, too, but this had yet to manifest outside of politics prior to Baraka. Yet, these movements were always holistic in nature, about the establishment of a black American identity, tying history with modern life, and all aspects of that modern life. While others were fighting the political system directly, Baraka gave a different sort of voice to the movement, one that was powerful. These movements advanced not just because of their political gains, but because of their cultural gains.

Black culture needed voices that could unite, and Baraka was one of those voices. This means that his contribution was invaluable, because he expanded the scope of Black Power beyond just the political. His was a contribution that extended Black Power into other facets of life, to present it as a whole movement, something that could encompass life for all African-Americans, not just the political side of life. In that way, he continued to espouse the ideals of Black Power in all aspects of his life.