Black Arts Movement
We want a black poem. Anda Black World.Let the world be a Black Poem
From “Black Art” by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka)
• 1960’s & 70’s• Included poets, writers,
performers, artists• Confronted white power
structures• Asserted African American
cultural identity• Community-centered• Organized throughout the U.S.
Amiri Baraka(LeRoi Jones)(1934-2014)Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School in Harlem
Nikki Giovanni(born 1943)
Jay Wright(born 1935)
Larry Neal (1937-1981)
Sonia Sanchez (b. 1934)
6 haiku by Sonia Sanchez(for Elizabeth Catlettin Cuernavaca)
1.La Señoramaking us rememberflesh and wind
2.O how youhelp us catcheach other’s breath
3.a woman’sarms climbing withcolored dreams
4.Elizabethslides into the poolhands kissing the water
5.i pickup your breath andremember me
6.your handshumming hurricanesof beauty.
Nikki Giovanni
Jay Wright
Amiri Baraka