Amiri Baraka - Research Paper Example

d: 1st March AMIRI BARAKA Amiri Baraka hails from New Jersey, United s. He was born in 1934 and has written over 40 books on various genres ranging from essays, poems, drama, music history and criticism. He has been considered by many as a revolutionary figure in the world of politics and a poet icon of his own right. He has written poetry and conducted lectures on different cultural and political issues in States, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. The themes of Baraka’s work have varied immensely.

They have ranged from musical orishas to his insights on the revolutionary movements that have taken place all over the world. (Sollors) In the musical orishas, some of his most famous works include the Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk and SunRa. He has also written on Cuban Revolution, known for Malcolm X and various other revolutionary movements. Thus the themes of his works have mostly revolved around revolutionary movements , politics and culture. Baraka’s is also famous as the founder of the Black Arts Movement in Harlem.

This happened during the 1960s and paved way or new American theater aesthetics. He wrote Blues People and a play Dutchman revolving around the nature of the movement. Some of his other famous titles include the poetry LeRoi Jones (1979), The Music and various other poems on Jazz and Blues that were authored by Amir. His sorted essays, The Essence of Reparations (2003) are also very popularly known across the globe. (Amir Baraka-Biography) He became so well known that he became the subject of numerous documentary films such as Mario Van Peeble’s Poetic Licence and the In Motion: Amiri Barka.

He also featured in numerous films. One of the most recent documentaries in which he featured was the award winning documentary, The Black Candle. The themes of his published collection of essays, The Essence of Reparations, revolve around Amiri’s twenty first century watershed movement of Black peoples. It also has essays written on subjects like racism, national oppression, colonialism, neocolonialism, self determination and national and human liberation. He has addressed these issues very constructively as well as critically.

He became widely considered as a proponent of social justice thanks to his works. He is considered an advocate of social justice like no other American writer. He would promote his cause at various universities like Yale, Columbia and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His other famous works include Somebody Blew up America & Other Poems. These poems were immensely popular in the Caribbean and were ground breaking. The theme of these poems revolved around a poet warrior who was confronted with the battle royal with the then governor of New Jersey and with a range of detractors who wanted him to resign as the state’s Post Laureate.

Baraka wrote a lot on political and cultural disputes. Most of his works revolved around this theme. Somebody Blew up America is his one of his most popular works. The book revolves around what happened in 9/11 and was subjected to immense criticism. The poem criticized racism in America immensely. It also included furious and angry depictions of various public figures such as Condoleezza Rice, Trent Lott and Clarence Thomas. He also suspected Israel’s role in the September 11 attacks on World Trade Center in his book.

Regarding this, he wrote: 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 (Harris) He openly announced his suspicion of Bush and Israelis in the attacks. He claimed that the information had already been circulating around and had been reported by American and Israeli Press. He dismisses claims that his poem is targeted against Jews as people themselves but is only blaming Israelis.

People started naming Baraka as “Black Radical” for his perception on what happened in 9/11. Unfortunately for Baraka, his laureate title was taken away from him for being honest about his opinion. Many feel that this is exactly how one is victimized today when we reveal the truth. The poem is a classic, courageous and a bold account of what he believed was the real reason behind 9/11. Bibliography Amir Baraka-Biography. 1 Mar 2011 . Harris, William J. The Poetry and Poetics of Amiri Baraka: The Jazz Aesthetic.

U of Missouri P, 1985. Sollors, Werner. Amiri Baraka / LeRoi Jones: The Quest for a "Populist Modernism. Columbia: UP, 1978.