Giovanni + Baraka= Black Arts

What is the Black Arts movement? As Time Magazine stated, The Black Arts Movement is a single, most controversial moment in the history of African-American literature--possible in American literature as a whole". It was basically to encourage black pride and to seperate black idealogies to strengthen black culture, creativity and education. It voiced black thoughts. It all began in Harlem, New York in 1965 and it last for about ten years. The Black Arts Movement was also called the "sixties" movement. After the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, a famous black artist named LeRoi Jones later known as Amiri Baraka moved to Harlem. Baraka was the most respected black publisher writer in the history of Poetry. Although his poems were centered around African American culture and the Black Power movement, at the same time, he still inspired many white poets because he took words and emotions and created intelligent and genius poems. One of his most famous poems, which we studied in our Contemporary Poetry class studied was "In Memory of Radio", however the poem is not about radio. Baraka uses subjects in this poem to depict many idead throughout society like techinology, imagination and imagination. This poem is written in free verse in which Baraka evokes a sense of loss and nostalgia. The main image Baraka uses is the superhero, "The Shadow", under the cloak of invisibility to hunt down the worlds evil. Although Baraka's work was centered around the Black Arts, his earlier work was influenced by the Beat Movement and Beat writers such as Kerouac (as he mentioned in his poem). The Beat movement challeneged everything that was considered "right" such as the middle class, the popular suburban white culture and the government.

Another signature Black Arts Movement poet was Nikki Giovanni, a strong supporter of the Black Arts and the rights and freedom of women who inspired many African Americans and women. She begins the poem "Ego Tripping" with the line "I was born in the Congo", which gives us an idea that she is black. She is basically saying that this is who I am. I am black, I am a woman. What is interesting and inspiring about this poem is that she compares herself to Allah and Jesus, like a Supernatural being. She puts herself on the level of God, stating that there is no difference between her and God, she is as special as God. Giovanni shows that she is perfect, unique and special, one of the main themes of the Black Arts Movement, that blacks ARE special and unique. She ends the poem with "I mean...I can fly like a bird in the sky...". This last line emphasizes the freedom of blacks and women. That everyone has the capability to fly and be free from no restrictions, that there are possibilities for everyone.