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Black Arts Movement

Darius Teng

• mid 1960s to mid 1970s• Caused by dissatisfaction from some Activists of the progress of the Civil Rights movement, which they saw as limited• Social change would come with revolution,

not through the mainstream protests • Grew with the assassinations of Malcolm X

and Martin Luther King Jr., FBI war against Black Power groups like Black Panthers

Black Power Movement

• After these events many believed white society and the government was unable to or unwilling to help the black community gain equality

• Cynicism and suspicion towards government grew

• Increased popularity of the movement• Movement had a tendency towards black

nationalism and separatism• Independence rather than integration

Black Power Movement Cont.

• Emphasized self-determination, need for economic and political self-sufficiency

• Establishment of black-owned businesses, militant acts of defiance, pressuring of schools and colleges to develop black studies programs, electing of black candidates to public office

• By mid 1970s the movement was almost completely over because many goals were adopted by the Civil Rights movement

Black Power Movement Cont.

Polarization, 1972

• 1965 to 1975• Viewed as the artistic part of Black Power

movement because the basic ideas that defined them were the same

• Literature, poetry performances, theater groups, music, and dance were central to the movement

• Focus on themes of oppression and African American identity

• Invoked political activism• Criticized for occasionally being racist, misogynist,

homophobic, and anti-Semitic• Praised for encouraging people to establish distinct

voices in literature

Black Arts Movement

If I Were Jehovah, 1970

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/black-arts-movement

Timeline

Confrontation at the Bridge, 1974

• Topics of family, black identity, government or white oppression, action against injustice

• Death, blood, riots, and weapons

• Often has a militant or gloomy tone

• Use of African American vernacular English

Characteristics of BAM Poetry

Aunt Jemima and the Pillsbury Doughboy, 1963

• Born 1917 in Topeka, Kansas• Originally did not write very political poems• Became part of the movement after a gathering of black authors at Fisk University in 1967• In the Mecca was first BAM work and a critic

called it "raw power and roughness" • First black author to win Pulitzer Prize• Writes about the lower class in black

neighborhoods• Poetry often involves character and everyday life• Uses traditional ballads, sonnets, and free verse

Gwendolyn Brooks

• Born in 1934 in Newark, NJ• In 1950s he was associated with Beat poets • Trip to Cuba in 1959 and met artists

concerned with poverty and oppressive governments

• After assassination of Malcolm X moved from Greenwich to Harlem in 1965 and established the Black Arts Repertory Theater/School

• move is considered the beginning of the Black Arts movement

Amiri Baraka

• wrote The System of Dante’s Hell and Tales, which signified his break from Beat influence

• Both stories were psychological novels where a black protagonist struggles against white oppression

• BAM works have an incendiary and confrontational style

• Works often shocked his audience• Praised for emotional power, accused of fostering

hate• In 1974 he denounced the BAM for being racist

and became involved with third world liberation movements

Amiri Baraka

• born January 1914, DC•Founded Broadside Press, which published many BAM artists’ works•Experimented with a variety of styles•Sometimes uses fixed forms like haiku, dramatic monologue, often free verse•lots of imagery•Famous “Ballad of Birmingham” was response to 1963 church bombing

Dudley Randall

Unite, 1971

• http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172092

“Ballad of Rudolph Reed”

•http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/blackarts/historical.htm

•http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/blackarts/gabbin.htm

•http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/baraka/bio.htm

•http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brooks/life.htm

•http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG01/hughes/time.html

•http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5647

•http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_black_power/

•http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/gwendolyn-brooks

•http://hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/africanamerican/blackpower/index.html

•http://library.uncg.edu/dp/crg/topicalessays/blackpowermovement.aspx

•http://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/timeline/p_4.html

•http://www.ibiblio.org/sncc/black_power.html

•http://www.ushistory.org/us/54i.asp

•http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug01/hughes/intro.html

•http://wuster338fall2011.wordpress.com/student-pages/black-arts-movement/

•http://www.poetryvisualized.com/poet/187/Dudley/

Sites Used