The late Amiri Baraka was a poet, activist, playwright and educator whose poetry and writings gained him fame and criticism. The Newark, N.J. native was born October 7, 1934. Born Everett LeRoi Jones, Baraka graduated from Howard University and entered the Air Force in 1954, serving three years before being honorably discharged. He moved to New York where he became a part of the Beat poetry scene alongside his wife, Jewish writer Hettie Cohen. Together, the pair edited a progressive publication, “Yugen” and opened a publishing house for other like-minded writers. AmiriBaraka passed on January 9, 2014. He was 79. A posthumous collection of Baraka’s works, “S.O.S. Poems 1961-2013” featured unpublished poems and was released in 2015. (READ MORE)(SOURCE: BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM)
