The Black Arts Movement

1. The Black Arts Movement

2. Began in the 1960’s • Influenced by the social and political turmoil of racism • Stemmed from the Civil Rights Movement • Artists created work that aimed to explore African American culture and experience

3. The Black Arts Movement (BAM) gave African Americans a voice in literary world which had previously dominated by white culture. • Encouraged African Americans to create their own magazines, publishing houses, and journals. • Universities began to adapt African American studies programs.

4. Black Arts Movement sought to change how blacks were represented and portrayed in literature and the arts. • The Black Arts Movement was anchored in political change and the concept that the artist is a part of his or her community and their work should speak to the needs and aspirations of that community

5. Amiri Baraka • Considered the father of The Black Arts Movement • Poet, playwright, activist and lecturer Baraka influenced later poets to write from the contemporary African American experience. • His writings, which deal with the black experience, express the anger of black Americans and promote black culture with an intense devotion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cOSMGzdZf8

6. Gwendolyn Brooks • Born in Topeka, Kansas • Encountered racial prejudice throughout her schooling • Published her first poem at the age of 13 • Became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3kF6MGBjzk

7. References Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 1995. Web. 10 June 2012.