Amiri Baraka, 1934-2014

Poet and political activist Amiri Baraka died earlier this month at 79. Mr Baraka was a founder of the black arts movement in the 1960s, in the context of the Civil Rights Movement.

Baraka "adopted a confrontational style for his poetry, drama, fiction and essays. With intent to create awareness about the concerns of African-Americans, his writings ... on one hand have been praised as a voice against oppression, on the other hand, have also incited controversies." (CNN)

His poem Somebody Blew Up America, about the 9/11 attack, was controversial indeed and cost him his position as New Jersey's poet laureate. (Read and listen more on this story)

Amiri Baraka gave a reading of his poetry in Huesca in 2009.

Full text of Somebody Blew Up America

For more information, read this New York Times article.

More poems by Amiri Baraka.