Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones)

Abstract

Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) has been cited by many critics as the creator of and foremost writer in the new black arts movement, and he is acknowledged by many other black artists as their inspiration or model. Despite his importance and the comparatively large body of materials published about Baraka, very few critical and scholarly works of stature have yet appeared. The relative absence of thorough and accurate scholarship has exacerbated the difficulties of producing appreciative yet objective criticism of works often published in ephemeral outlets and written by an author whose fame frequently interferes with lucid appraisal.