Amiri Baraka (born Everett LeRoi Jones) is a well known African-American writer of fiction, drama, poetry, and music. Along with being a writer, Mr. Baraka is also a political activist and teacher who has given lectures throughout Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States. He was also, for a short time, a member of the United States Air Force. He has appeared in several films as well, usually playing himself.

Born in 1934, in Newark, New Jersey, Mr.Baraka was the son of a lift operator and a social worker. He attended Howard University but left without obtaining a degree and joined the USAF as a gunner. He achieved the rank of Sergeant before in 1957, after only three years of service, he was anonymously accused of being a communist. After an investigation, soviet writings were discovered and Mr. Baraka was promptly discharged from the military. Later that same year, Mr. Baraka got a job in a warehouse for music records which lead to his interest in Jazz. In the late fifties, he and his first wife, Hettie, founded Totem Press, which published Beat icons such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsburg.

In the early sixties, Mr. Baraka began his writing career with essays and poetry. In 1965, after the assassination of Malcolm X, he left his family and moved to Harlem. At this point he considered himself a “black cultural nationalist” and broke away from the Beats who were predominately white. In 1967, during the time when african names were emphasized, he changed his name to Imamu Amear Baraka. This roughly meant “Prince who is a spiritual leader and a blessing.” He eventually distanced himself from black nationalism and became a Marxist. In 1980, he declared himself an anti-Zionist.

For the rest of his life, he traveled around lecturing at different venues and wrote many works. These were generally perceived as controversial. Many of his works called for acts of violence to be carried out against those who were responsible for the unjust society. They were racist, homophobic, sexist, and violent. He was very open about his hatred of certain people groups, but nevertheless he was an inspiration to many and was placed on a list of the 100 greatest African-Americans. He served as Poet Laureate of New Jersey, contributed to AIDS research, and he received multiple honors during his life including an induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Amiri Baraka died January 9th, 2014 after complications caused by a surgery he had recently had.

(Sources):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiri_Baraka

http://www.amiribaraka.com/