The Black Arts Movement was the creative companion to the Black Power Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Like the first renaissance centered in Harlem, it was a time of explosive and energetic artistic expression.

The revolutionary artwork of this era is rooted in the subtle and sublime work of Gwendolyn Brooks. Brooks broke ground as a gifted young novelist and poet. As a mature writer, she brought along young writers like Hakimahtabuti (Don Lee) and helped solidify African-American publishing efforts like Broadside Press and Third World Press.

Sandy Adell (Professor of Afro-American Studies, University of Wisconsin) says Brooks was well suited to nurture the movement because of her literary and community. "She was a one of America's great poets, the first Black person to ever win the Pulitzer Prize." In addition to her literary strengths, Adell points out that Brooks’ leadership is also due to her being a ‘True role model and a genuine person."

Professor Sandy Adell on Gwendolyn Brooks

Brooks dramatic reading

The potency of the Black Arts Movement is symbolized by founding author Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) whose plays, essays and poetry put a point of the fervor or the era. Before leading the Black Arts Movement, Baraka was part of the beat culture scene in New York's Greenwich Village. But the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, signaled a change in writer and for America. The anger and energy of black nationalism invigorated all aspects of art.

Amiri Baraka dramatic reading

Male writers like Baraka and Matabuti seemed to dominated the Black Arts Movement. But there were many African-American women writers who were less visible, but whose work is just as lasting. Among these women is Nikki Giovanni. Meshing motherhood with revolutionary writing, Giovanni often created poetry for young people like her poetry anthology ‘Ego Trippin.’

Giovanni dramatic reading

Alexs D. Pate was among the young black artists influenced by the Black Arts Movement. Pate’s work includes the award-winning novel, "Losing Absolom," and "Amistad," the companion novel to the Steven Spielberg film. Pate (University of Minnesota) points to the work of Giovanni, Baraka and the other writers of the Black Arts movement as a continuing source of inspiration. "I think that the Black Arts Movement is still present in me. That's where I learned about what good writing was. That's where I learned about what my responsibilities, what I would take on for myself as "purpose," as a Black writer."