Amiri Baraka, formerly LeRoi Jones, became known as one of the most militant, anti-white black nationalists of the 1960s Black Power movement. In this study, the author takes us from his early immersion in the New York scene through the most dynamic period in the life of this controversial figure.

Amiri Baraka, formerly LeRoi Jones, became known as one of the most militant, anti-white black nationalists of the 1960s Black Power movement. An advocate of Black cultural nationalism, Baraka supported the rejection of all things white and western. He helped found and direct the influential Black Arts movement which sought to move black writers away from western aesthetic sensibilities and toward a more complete embrace of the black world. Except perhaps for James Baldwin, no single figure has had more of an impact on black intellectual and artistic life since the early 1960s. In this comprehensive study, the first to interweave Baraka's art and political activities, Jerry Watts takes us from his early immersion in the New York scene through the most dynamic period in the life and work of this controversial figure.