The father of the Black Arts Movement is Amiri Baraka. He got this name because he wrote so many essays, poems, and plays about racial issues in Harlem. In the time there was a lot of racial injustice of African Americans civil rights. Baraka’s most known piece that he has written is his poem called “Black Art.” His works such as “Black Art” and many others have been centered around the lack of civil rights for black people. Baraka works can be interpreted in so many ways because it incites the readers to analyze his work as they read. Signifying one of many important movements in literary history, the Black Arts Era drove Baraka to write the poem “Black Art” which implores other black authors to write literature that addresses the racial unjust
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The poems need to be something you should stand for. This poem is about the racial injustice in Harlem that not many authors address in their literature. His poem is the epitome of the Black Arts Movement because his poem is telling the audience to wake up from their sleep and see what is going on around you. In his poem, he writes in a very aggressive and polemical way, so his point can get across to his readers. Baraka says, “Poems are bullshit unless they are teeth or trees or lemons piled on a step,” (703) this quote shows how he feels about poems. Baraka wants to emphasize to the readers and various authors that if their work is not polemical and focused around a political change for black people then there is no reason for it to be written. Having a work of literature that does not invoke black civil rights means that the literature is a waste of time. The “Black Art” poem displays topics that normally would not be talked about in a poem, and implores more authors to do the same, so people can be more aware of what is going on in …show more content…
He used his literature to catch the attention of readers, so they can understand why political change is needed for the black community. Baraka’s poem shows the change that he wants in Harlem by having an aggressive writing style. He signifies through literature the importance of civil rights for black people. His solution to this problem was to write all literature to help the cause of lacking rights for black people, and he showed it through his
The poems need to be something you should stand for. This poem is about the racial injustice in Harlem that not many authors address in their literature. His poem is the epitome of the Black Arts Movement because his poem is telling the audience to wake up from their sleep and see what is going on around you. In his poem, he writes in a very aggressive and polemical way, so his point can get across to his readers. Baraka says, “Poems are bullshit unless they are teeth or trees or lemons piled on a step,” (703) this quote shows how he feels about poems. Baraka wants to emphasize to the readers and various authors that if their work is not polemical and focused around a political change for black people then there is no reason for it to be written. Having a work of literature that does not invoke black civil rights means that the literature is a waste of time. The “Black Art” poem displays topics that normally would not be talked about in a poem, and implores more authors to do the same, so people can be more aware of what is going on in …show more content…
He used his literature to catch the attention of readers, so they can understand why political change is needed for the black community. Baraka’s poem shows the change that he wants in Harlem by having an aggressive writing style. He signifies through literature the importance of civil rights for black people. His solution to this problem was to write all literature to help the cause of lacking rights for black people, and he showed it through his