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Amiri Baraka

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Poet

The Resume

    (October 7, 1934-January 9, 2014)
    Born in Newark, New Jersey
    Birth name was Everett LeRoi Jones
    Began writing as LeRoi Jones
    Wrote the poetry collections 'Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note' (1961), 'Black Magic' (1969), 'It's Nation Time' (1970), 'Hard Facts' (1975), 'Poetry for the Advanced' (1979), 'Funk Lore: New Poems' (1996) and 'Somebody Blew Up America' (2001)
    Also wrote 'Blues People' (1963), 'The Dutchman and the Slave' (1964), 'Four Black Revolutionary Plays' (1969), 'Raise Race Rays Raize: Essays Since 1965' (1971), 'Daggers and Javelins: Essays 1974-1979' (1984) and 'The Music: Reflections on Jazz and Blues' (1987)

Why he might be annoying:

    His first wife, Hettie, wrote a memoir claiming he physically abused her and their children.
    He was sentenced to community service following a fight with his second wife, Amina.
    He became a Marxist in the 70s.
    Several of his poems were denounced as anti-Semitic and homophobic.
    He said, 'We must eliminate the white man before we can draw a free breath on this planet.'
    After being denied tenure by Rutgers (1990), he called the tenure committee 'Ivy League Goebbels' and 'powerful Klansmen.'
    After 9/11, he wrote a poem claiming George W. Bush and Israel were behind the attacks.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He founded Totem Press (1958), which published works by Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.
    His play 'Dutchman' won an Obie as best off-Broadway drama (1964).
    He won an American Book Award (1989).
    He appeared in the Warren Beatty film 'Bulworth.'
    His 31-year-old daughter Shani was murdered (2003).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 150 Votes: 65.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 18 Votes: 94.44% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 59 Votes: 52.54% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 28 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 273 Votes: 64.84% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 50 Votes: 58.00% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 17 Votes: 64.71% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 117 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 129 Votes: 65.89% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 1040 Votes: 81.15% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 218 Votes: 78.90% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 1705 Votes: 74.96% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 1030 Votes: 74.76% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 880 Votes: 78.98% Annoying