Amiri Baraka Rhetoric

Tupac Shakur—reputable singer, songwriter, and poet—discusses his assessment over the dominance of hate in his poem, “When Ure Heart Turns Cold”. Shakur’s purpose is to expose how hate has converted his life and affected his emotions. He adopts a pessimistic tone in order for his immature audience to avoid his faults. In order to create an influential poem, Shakur relies on his pessimistic tone, use of pathos, and style to influence and strengthen his poem.

The Black Arts movement refers to a period of “furious flowering” of African American creativity beginning in the mid-1960’s and continuing through much of the 1970’s (Perceptions of Black). Linked both chronologically and ideologically with the Black Power Movement, The BAM recognized the idea of two cultural Americas: one black and one white. The BAM pressed for the creation of a distinctive Black Aesthetic in which black artists created for black audiences. The movement saw artistic production as the key to revising Black American’s perceptions of themselves, thus the Black Aesthetic was believed to be an integral component of the economic, political, and cultural empowerment of the Black

Throughout A Letter From Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. reveals many challenges facing the African American community regarding criticism and racism and that the ultimate goal is to bring equality to America. He provides not only his own option, but reasons to support his thoughts. By finding the ethos, pathos, and logos in the letter, it is clear that this is written so that the form, influences the content of the piece. He wrote this in an honest, logical, and peaceful manner, but wanted to get his point across in a non-violent way in hopes to change people’s views on racism.

Race is not merely a group of people with same identity, origin and physical characters but it is an issue that involves emotions, opinions and rights. In America, people were and are recognized mainly on the basis of their skin color. This could be best witnessed in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He introduces his arguments against injustice. He provides the reason for being in Birmingham by saying that, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (__). His thesis awakes the desire to have equal rights for the blacks. Dr. King uses various rhetorical devises such as allusion, ethos, and pathos that appeals emotionally, socially, morally and makes the text relatable and important because his text responds

The 1960s was a time when skin color was crucial, hate was inevitable, and where actions and words were uniform. Although accused of being an outsider, Martin Luther King Jr. was able to demonstrate his strengths and powerful influence even while confined in the walls of the Birmingham jail. The racial issues were addressed through his compelling and impassioned letter in reply to the eight prominent Alabama clergymen. Even during a time of racial injustice, King was able to establish many rhetorical strategies throughout his piece, specifically throughout paragraphs 45-50. Establishing logos and utilizing diction and syntax, are the three essential aspects that Martin Luther King Jr. used in order to portray the true message to the reader.

Yusef Komunyakaa, famous African American poet of today, grew up at the very edge of the Civil Rights movements. Born in 1947 in Bouglasa, Louisiana, he witnessed firsthand the racial segregation and discrimination of the time. As a child, he loved to read, yet he was barred from the public library due to his race (Blumberg). In addition to this personal experience of discrimination, he likely observed and was aware of the purpose of the Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968) and the resurgence of black rage from political writers of the time, such as Amiri Baraka. He may not have been aware at the time that this black rage and polemical writing was the source of the Black Arts Movement (1960-1975).

All agreed the words Baraka used were harsh, but that is the essence of writing in this era. Any words, illustrations, and depictions can be used to describe the feelings of Black Power. His words, "Fuck poems that are useful" summed up that the black community was not looking for false hopes but for reality. This poem had a very powerful effect on the black community who related to the desire of Black Art (Bader). His poems contained an unconventional syntaxes, different poetic rhythms, and dark urban dialect creating interesting poems that illustrated the movement he helped create. Baraka was the first to illustrate this movement in such a vulgar but amazing way. He described the type of writing that Black people

Assata Shakur was , and still is, well known for participating in black empowerment. After her political asylum in Cuba, Assata Shakur has kept a blog to enforce her beliefs on police brutality and racial issues. During this time, people were still fighting for equal civil rights for the African American community. To be more specific, it was the Black Power Movement. Assata Shakur was writing this speech to encourage and persuade others to fight for the Black Power Movement through any means necessary. Also, at the time the Vietnam War was going on so there was already a lot on America’s plate. By applying a wide range of rhetorical devices, Shakur uses her position as a Black Liberation Army leader to motivate African Americans to fight for the Black Power Movement.

In his book, he explains his philosophical system and claim on blacks, and whites, to understand that racism and race are interlaced in American history and can never be destroyed without understanding that “race matters” in everything that is considered “American.” In my understanding, slavery no longer exists in America, but black people have not been released from slavery entirely. The Boys of Baraka In the boys of Baraka, it is very hard for young boys to focus on school because of the area in which they live is full of drugs and violence.

"The Negro wants to be everything but himself… He wants to integrate with the white man, but he cannot integrate with himself or with his own kind. The Negro wants to lose his identity because he does not know his own identity." (Black Nationalism 1962 Elijah Muhammad). In the 1950’s the races were divided, black people were disadvantaged in education, work, voting and other opportunities. However one man had a dream, Martin Luther King took a stand against racism and the Civil Rights Movement was born. A fight for equality to change the future for all people. Good morning, I am Stefanie Clark and I am here to discuss how art, such as literature, has influenced progression of the ideologies of the Civil Rights Movement.

The book is overflowing with powerful images of black art from photographs to paintings to cover the story of black Americans. The book begins with the history and imagery of slavery through the Civil War and liberation, then traces the cultural influences of the civil rights movement, the black power period, and ends with the hip hop era. Through each period, the writer offers historical context for the artistic expressions and examines how more current sensibility shaped remembrances of historical occurrence. She explores the ways that context and historical interpretation influence the artist's perspective and is subject to great difference over time. Although most of the art that were presented after mid twentieth century. it reflect a broader historical period as black

In 1971 at the start of Nixon’s war on drugs, before the 0000s crack epidemic; before the advent of political tactics used to demonstrify ghetto neighborhoods succeeded in bastardizing its urban youth, Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five recorded what is considered one of the greatest urban narratives of his time. In his rap “The Message Pt. 2” Flash described the daily occurrences and harsh realities of his ghetto life in vivid detail. Now 45 years later in the midst of black lives matter, at a place in America where black lives must be affirmed through hashtags and protest, many are upset that the American art people have come to rely on, to tell the stories and narrate the experiences of being poor and black, only exist to valorize the crime, money, drugs and sex that come from being poor.

This poem covers the prevalent themes of racism and the terroristic acts his people has faced his for years. Dudley Randall’s works have been affected by multiple events even if they weren’t

Much of American Literature written in the 1900’s detail the experiences of race within America, being that slavery had only recently been abolished. Society in no way viewed African American’s as equal to white American’s. At this time, blacks were forced to fight to be viewed as a full person, worthy of basic human rights. Nella Larson’s Passing, and Amiri Baraka’s The Dutchman, both call attention to the racial tensions in a post Civil War America, by exposing the manipulation of the endemic racism within our culture, and the effect that it has on the way the African American community interacts within itself through the use of an extended metaphor.

In “On the Pulse of Morning”, Angelou uses visual imagery and symbolism to argue that people must learn from the past to eliminate racial injustice in society today. The vivid descriptions found in the poem evoke feelings of injustice through the emotionally painful pictures that they paint. Americans as a whole are described in the poem to have “crouched too long in / The bruising darkness, [...] / Face down in ignorance” (“On the Pulse of Morning” 15-18). The speaker of the poem insinuates that “humans have been hiding, [...] afraid of what they might learn” from history (“On the Pulse of Morning”, 1998, 3: 276). The bestial visual of a person “crouching” takes away the humanity of the subjects, and the description of “bruising darkness” calls to mind the dark times of slavery over a hundred years prior. The image evokes a feeling that Americans have made terrible mistakes in the past that have not yet been corrected. They have committed terrible, animalistic acts in the blackened cover of history. These people refuse to look up and accept what has been done. The shadows of slavery and the pain caused by it are still ubiquitous in modern society, and if humans do not stop hiding from the truth, they cannot right the wrongs that have been committed. In order for the ignorance to end, people must accept the continuing prevalence of injustice. Not only does Angelou use detailed descriptions, but her use of symbolism allows the reader to see the injustice in society through