Overview

Poet and playwright Amiri Baraka is best known as one of the African American writers who helped ignite the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s. This book examines Baraka's cultural approach to Black Power politics and explores his role in the phenomenal spread of black nationalism in the urban centers of late-twentieth-century America, including his part in the election of black public officials, his leadership in the Modern Black Convention Movement, and his work in housing and community development. Komozi Woodard traces Baraka's transformation from poet to political activist, as the rise of the Black Arts Movement pulled him from political obscurity in the Beat circles of Greenwich Village, swept him into the center of the Black Power Movement, and ultimately propelled him into the ranks of black national political leadership. Moving outward from Baraka's personal story, Woodard illuminates the dynamics and remarkable rise of black cultural nationalism with an eye toward the movement's broader context, including the impact of black migrations on urban ethos, the importance of increasing urban concentrations of African Americans, and the effect of the 1965 Voting Rights Act on black political mobilization.

Full Product Details

9780807847619

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Reviews

In giving us much to discuss and debate in its richly informative and insightful pages, [this book] deserves the widest possible audience. American Quarterly

In giving us much to discuss and debate in its richly informative and insightful pages, [this book] deserves the widest possible audience.<p> American Quarterly

In giving us much to discuss and debate in its richly informative and insightful pages, [this book] deserves the widest possible audience. American Quarterly A well-researched, decidedly worthwhile study that enhances our understanding of Black Power stratagems. American Historical Review In giving us much to discuss and debate in its richly informative and insightful pages, [this book] deserves the widest possible audience. American Quarterly A well-researched, decidedly worthwhile study that enhances our understanding of Black Power stratagems. American Historical Review The author does an excellent job of exploring the complexities of the modern black struggle for freedom in America. American Studies The most important book to be written about the Black Power Movement. The Gaither Reporter The best published work on the black power movement to date. Journal of American History

In giving us much to discuss and debate in its richly informative and insightful pages, [this book] deserves the widest possible audience.""American Quarterly"" A well-researched, decidedly worthwhile study that enhances our understanding of Black Power stratagems.""American Historical Review"" ""A well-researched, decidedly worthwhile study that enhances our understanding of Black Power stratagems.""American Historical Review"""" ""In giving us much to discuss and debate in its richly informative and insightful pages, [this book] deserves the widest possible audience.""American Quarterly"""" The author does an excellent job of exploring the complexities of the modern black struggle for freedom in America.""American Studies"" The best published work on the black power movement to date. ""Journal of American History"" The most important book to be written about the Black Power Movement. ""The Gaither Reporter""

Author Information

Komozi Woodard is professor of American history at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. He has also worked extensively as an activist and journalist.

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