Remembering Amiri Baraka: A 90th Birthday Tribute PART ONE!

JOIN US AT SANKOFA PART ONE OF OUR 3 PART CELEBRATION IN HONOR OF AMIRI BARAKA! 

About Amiri Baraka 

Amiri Baraka was born Everett LeRoi Jones in Newark, New Jersey, on October 7, 1934. His father, Colt Jones, was a postal supervisor; Anna Lois Jones, his mother, was a social worker. He attended Rutgers University for two years, then transferred to Howard University, where in 1954 he earned his BA in English. He served in the Air Force from 1954 until 1957, then moved to the Lower East Side of Manhattan. There he joined a loose circle of Greenwich Village artists, musicians, and writers. The following year he married Hettie Cohen and began co-editing the avant-garde literary magazine Yugen with her. That year he also founded Totem Press, which first published works by Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and others.

He published his first volume of poetry, Preface to a Twenty-Volume Suicide Note, in 1961. From 1961 to 1963 he was co-editor, with Diane Di Prima, of The Floating Bear, a literary newsletter. His increasing mistrust of white society was reflected in two plays, The Slave and The Toilet, both written in 1962. Blues People: Negro Music in White America, which he wrote, and The Moderns: An Anthology of New Writing in America, which he edited and introduced, were both published in 1963. His reputation as a playwright was established with the production of Dutchman at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York on March 24, 1964. The controversial play subsequently won an Obie Award (for “best off-Broadway play”) and was made into a film.

In 1965, following the assassination of Malcolm X, Jones repudiated his former life and ended his marriage. He moved to Harlem, where he founded the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School. The company, which produced plays that were intended for a black audience, dissolved in a few months. He moved back to Newark and, in 1967, he married poet Sylvia Robinson (now known as Amina Baraka). That year he also founded the Spirit House Players, which produced, among other works, two of Baraka’s plays against police brutality: Police and Arm Yrself or Harm Yrself.

In 1968, Baraka co-edited Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing with Larry Neal and his play Home on the Range was performed as a benefit for the Black Panther Party. That same year he became a Muslim, changing his name to Imamu Amiri Baraka. He assumed leadership of his own Black Muslim organization, Kawaida. From 1968 to 1975, Baraka was chairman of the Committee for Unified Newark, a Black united front organization. In 1969, his Great Goodness of Life became part of the successful “Black Quartet” off-Broadway, and his play, Slave Ship, was widely reviewed. Baraka was a founder and chairman of the Congress of African People, a national Pan-Africanist organization with chapters in fifteen cities, and he was one of the chief organizers of the National Black Political Convention, which convened in Gary, Indiana in 1972 to organize a more unified political stance for African-Americans.

In 1974, Baraka adopted a Marxist Leninist philosophy and dropped the spiritual title “Imamu.” In 1983, he and Amina Baraka edited Confirmation: An Anthology of African-American Women, which won an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation, and, in 1987, they published The Music: Reflections on Jazz and Blues. The Autobiography of LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka was published in 1984.

Amiri Baraka’s numerous literary prizes and honors include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Rockefeller Foundation Award for Drama, the Langston Hughes Award from the City College of New York, and a lifetime achievement award from the Before Columbus Foundation.

He taught poetry at the New School for Social Research in New York, literature at the University of Buffalo, and drama at Columbia University. He also taught at San Francisco State University, Yale University and George Washington University. For two decades, Baraka was a professor of Africana Studies at the State University of New York in Stony Brook. He was co-director, with his wife, of Kimako’s Blues People, a community arts space, and died on January 9, 2014.

About Maria P. Jones

Maria received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Film Production from Howard University in 1988, studying under legendary professor, award winning independent filmmaker and Sankofa Books co-owner Haile Gerima. Maria also holds a Masters degree in Counseling Studies from Capella University.

Since her undergraduate days at Howard, she has nobly served as an arts educator and producer, engaging and empowering hundreds of youth over the years in video and television production, theater, and creative writing.

Maria was awarded the top DC Screenwriting Award from the DC Office of Motion Picture and Television Development for her screenplay: Missing Pieces.  She has worked as a producer on various video projects with Just Us Productions and other production companies; she continues to lend her creativity and production management skills to Chronicle Vision, LLC. a company that produces broadcast productions for organizations such as Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, The Association for the Study of African-American Life and History and Black Women for Positive Change.

Maria has actively served the Washington, DC community for over 25 years, volunteering in various capacities, including: President of Parents of Design & Production for the Duke Ellington School of the Arts; Board Member for Empower, DC for five years; Founding Director for Just Us Rites of Passage Program and currently Secretary & Founding Member of The Capstone Group, a non-profit organization, dedicated to supporting Howard University students, faculty, alumni and community members.

About Alvin "Skipper" Bailey

Alvin “Skipper” Bailey Jr. was born in Columbus, Ohio to educated working class parents. Skipper’s father Alvin Sr. was from Murry, Kentucky and graduated from Kentucky State University while mother Roslyn Hall hailing from Indianapolis, Indiana, graduated with an undergraduate degree from Indiana University, later obtaining a Master’s Degree from University of Chicago. Skipper attended Bishop Hartley High School and won a prestigious 4 year Rockefeller Scholarship to attend Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, graduating in 1972. In 1968, Skipper became a student organizer with the Black Student Union while studying at Ohio State University.  His first introduction to LeRoi Jones came when he read “Blues People”.  Although he did not understand all of the complexities of the book when he read it in high school, he was nevertheless fascinated by the bold literary voice of Leroi Jones;. Skipper and fellow Antioch classmate and compadre Bill Brower, had the pleasure to meet Jones in person in 1968 at the Second  Black Power Convention in 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when LeRoi Jones was beginning to transition to Immau Amiri Baraka. Other organizers like Sonny Carson, Ron Maulana Karenga and H Rap Brown were also in attendance.   Skipper came in contact with Baraka again for events such as the legendary National Black Political Convention held in Gary, Indiana in 1972. From there, he and Brower began following Baraka to many of his speaking engagements and revolutionary and cultural events. They found that he was always patient with them and other students as he encouraged them to read, think and analyze for themselves. As a mentor, Baraka had a huge life-changing impact on Skipper, largely shaping much of his philosophical outlook and revolutionary ethos. Throughout the years, Skipper developed an abiding friendship with Amiri Baraka, remaining in touch with him until he passed away in 2014.  As a  producer, filmmaker, real estate professional, Alvin “Skipper” Bailey is firmly rooted in the community; many deferring to him for advice and counsel. He has traveled extensively to countries in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas including Venezuela, Cuba and Brasil. Two of Skipper’s films, “Venezuela Rising” and “Under the Radar: Cuban Hip-Hop” can be viewed on YouTube. His most recent film “Making the Impossible Possible: The Return of Lulu Da Silva” is currently in post-production and expected to premiere sometime in 2025.

About Thomas J. Porter

Thomas J. Porter, Political Analyst, has held administrative and teaching positions at Ohio University, Antioch College, Howard University and Federal City College (now UDC). He has also served as Dean of African American Studies at Ohio University, Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Social Change in Atlanta, GA and as Director of the Antioch Graduate School of Education. Porter speaks often on social and public policy issues.

About Joseph Adams 

Joseph Stephen Adams, an American of African Descent, was born in Washington DC, at the family Health & Birth Center on Monday, October 7th at 10:48 PM.

Joseph was conveniently born on Nathaniel's and Sonia's only day off as owners of Goshen (vegan gourmet cafe in Union Market).  Currently, Joseph attends Lord Jesus Christ Acaddemy; he aspires to practice Civil Rights law and travel to the most beautiful countries in our world as often as possible. 

Joseph is a devout member of: Bible Way Temple, Children of the American Revolution (CAR), and Children's Chorous of Washington (CCW).  The afromentioned organizations are located in Washington, DC. Children of the American Revolution (CAR) evolved from the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Joseph's ancestor, Anthony Chavis, a free man of African descent, served as a Private in the infantry of the Continental Line of Virginia; thusly, enabling Joseph to become a CAR member. 

As a CAR member, Joseph is tasked with honoring veterans through participating in special events throughout the year that commemorate their service. Lastly, Joseph Stephen Adams enjoys fine food, playing piano, guitar, cello, reading, playing tennis/golf, participating in cubing competitions, playing chess and critiquing US Presidential debates. 

About Chance Mebane

Chance Mebane has just entered into the fourth grade at Reid Temple Christian Academy.  He enjoys playing with his friends, and has been African drumming for the last 5 years.  Chance has performed with the Oye Palaver Hut, Inc. at the Cameroonian Embassy, Capitol Hill Jazz  Day, and the Capitol Hill Community Foundation Awards Ceremony. He is honored by the opportunity to pay respect to Baba Amiri Baraka, who he considers a true revolutionary in the development of young black males.