Rise of Black Man: The Influences of Malcolm X on Amiri Baraka

This paper attempts to discuss the impacts that Malcolm X, a revolutionary character in American Black nationalism, had on the famous black poet Imamu Amiri Baraka, previously known as LeRoi Jones. This study enables the scholars to trace the roots of American Black Arts movement and black nationality construction back to the ideologies and opinions of the Black Muslim leader, Malcolm X. This is done through a discussion of three proposed areas of influences, namely, Ideological, Life, and Artistic influences. ‘The Ideological Influence’ section is divided into two realms of ‘Religious Impact’ and ‘Social Impact’. ‘The Life Influence’ section shows the events of life and similar changes in the lifestyle of the two thinkers. And ‘The Artistic Influence’ deals with examples of some lines of Baraka’s poetry that demonstrate the effects of Malcolm X on him. In each part, a double procedure is used. One is to seek similarities between the different aspects of the two characters, and the other is to offer a discussion of the direct and indirect influences of Malcolm X on Amiri Baraka. This study demonstrated that there is a great impact on Amiri Baraka in three related areas originated from Malcolm X’s ideas and events of life. It can be suggested that while Malcolm X was an ideologue for black nationality, Amiri Baraka and his artist brethren were the important figures that spread the doctrines of Malcolm to both intellectual circles and ordinary men.

کلیدواژه ها:

Malcolm X ، Amiri Baraka ، Islam ، Black Nationalism ، Black Arts