Toni Cade Bambara

Tradition is an integral aspect of preserving any culture and tying communities together. One of Toni Cade Bambara’s greatest contributions to the African American community was her emphasis on preserving tradition, particularly through language and folk-lore. Her political activism is interspersed in her writings as she speaks out for the plight of black women and social justice. In her short story, ‘Gorilla, My Love,’ Bambaras use of a very specific dialect of language speaks to preserving the black speech and storytelling forms of the past. She writes extensively about her little brother, Baby Jason, that, “he is my blood brother and understands that we must stick together or be forever lost, what with grown-ups playin change-up and turnin you round every which way so bad. And don’t even say they sorry.” This proclamation of a need to stick together echoes a larger message to other members of the Black Arts Movement and also, perhaps, to the genders.

Haki Madhubuti

Madhubuti made great contributions to the Black Arts Movement not only through his own writings, but also through his commitment to publishing the works of fellow black authors in his community. Similarly to Ishmael Reed, Madhubuti eventually strayed from a direct con African American struggles in America to a more broader topic that concerned the predicaments of people of color internationally. In the poem ‘Killing Memory’ he writes a long litany of injustices in countries such as El Salvador, South Africa, Lebanon, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan which are not unlike the struggles African Americans face in the United States. I particularly admire Madhubuti’s efforts to awaken his readerships to the broad scope of social issues facing minorities and people of color around the world. I see his writing as a sort of call to action by way of awareness.

Eldridge Cleaver

Eldridge Cleaver writes a fierce and suggestive social commentary of his time. In his essay ‘From Soul on Ice,’ Cleaver illustrates the strange phenomenon of black oppression, under the light of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. It seems even After the desegregation of schools in America, Cleaver writes, “no wonder that many ‘innocent people,’ the manipulated and the stimulated, some of whom were game for a reasonable amount of mystery and even adventure, had their minds scrambled. These observers were not equipped to either feel or know that a radical break, a revolutionary leap out of their sight, had taken place in the secret parts of this nation's soul.” He likens the game-changing decision of desegregation to a sort of salvation for America which white americans are too brainwashed to even recognize. Similarly to other writers of the movement, Cleaver references musicians and other writers and artists of the African American community to illustrate his messages. He beautifully likens desegregation and steps taken towards equality to the countries salvation.

Nikki Giovanni

Similarly to other members of the Black Arts Movement, Nikki Giovanni felt there was by necessity a strong connection between poetry and music. Her poems are very moving, sincere and intimate. The very personal experiences that Giovanni shares seem to resonate, however, with a much larger communal experience of life for African Americans.
“I wanted to write a poem that rhymes but revolution doesn’t lend itself to be-bopping,” Giovanni writes in ‘For Saundra.’ She expresses the need for free form and innovation both in her language and in her style. The revolution she refers to seems to be all encompassing. It is a revolution of prose, or music, of social structures and norms. Like many of the other writers in the Black Arts Movement, Giovanni manages to bring all of these seamlessly together in her works. The musicality of her prose is striking and original.

Ishmael Reed

Unlike many of the other authors in our readings, Ishmael Reed expresses skepticism and criticism and for the Black Arts Movement. His biggest qualm with the movement seems to be that it is ‘mono-cultural.’ This sort of criticism is a great expression of the sort of ideals and views that Reed sought to put forth with his writings for the African American Community, challenging it to a more international approach of expression. He often uses parody in an effort to defamiliarize the cultural assumptions that have come to be taken for granted within the community, thereby forcing his readers to question the norms of the time. “Introducing the Black Caligula, who performs a strip tease of the psyche,” Reed writes. This line seems emblematic of precisely what his particular style seeks to accomplish.

Sonia Sanchez

Sonia Sanchez is unique amongst the Norton writers, in her allegiance to a yet unborn movement of black feminism. Her writing takes criticism of the rhetoric that seemed to closely associate itself with black liberation during the Black Arts Movement. Her ability to incorporate her own intimate experiences of life with a larger cultural perspective is unique and inspiring. Her deeply personal accounts of childhood manage to reflect a much bigger picture of the misogyny that is at play both within and without the african american community. Sanchez’s words appear to shape an evolving vision of an equal place for women in life and in arts in the advancement of African American civil rights.

“..i want to tell
you about me
about nights on a
brown couch when
i wrapped my
bones in lint and
refused to move.
no one touches
me anymore.
father do not
send me out
among strangers.
you you black man..”

Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka was one of the central figures who spearheaded the Black Arts Movement. Something I found particularly remarkable about this author is his ability to embrace personal and social change and transformation. There is something about his writing that mirrors his ever-evolving consciousness and ideas. I have a great deal of respect and admiration for his willingness to stray from his own previously expressed ideas or perceptions and express his evolution boldly, without fear of criticism from more rigid minds. Barakas open-minded and revolutionary style of prose is admirable in its ability to both confront the past and to use its old tools to give shape to a fresh vision for the future.