Amiri Baraka dead at 79

Newark, N.J. poet and social activist Imamu Amear Baraka speaks during the Black Political Convention in Gary, Ind., March 12, 1972. (AP Photo/Julian C. Wilson)

Amiri Baraka (born Everett LeRoi Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), formerly known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays and music criticism. He was the author of numerous books of poetry and taught at a number of universities, including the State University of New York at Buffalo and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He received the PEN Open Book Award, formerly known as the Beyond Margins Award, in 2008 for Tales of the Out and the Gone.

Baraka's poetry and writing has attracted both extreme praise and condemnation. Within the African-American community, some compare him to James Baldwin and call Baraka one of the most respected and most widely published Black writers of his generation. Others have said his work is an expression of violence, misogyny, homophobia and racism. Baraka's brief tenure as Poet Laureate of New Jersey (2002–03), involved controversy over a public reading of his poem "Somebody Blew Up America?" and accusations of anti-semitism, and some negative attention from critics, and politicians...

Biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiri_Baraka

Story below by NewsOne

Amiri Baraka, former poet laureate of New Jersey and an icon in American literature, has died, according to The Star-Ledger. He was 79-years-old.

The literary legend was hospitalized at Beth Israel Medical Center last month for an undisclosed illness. And while Baraka has a history of battling diabetes, the cause of his death was not disclosed.

Newark Mayor Luis Quintana said Baraka expressed his condolences.

“I went to visit him at the hospital about two weeks ago,” Quintana said by phone. “He was more than poet he was a leader in his own right. He’s going to be missed and our condolences go out to his family today.”

Mildred Crump, Newark City Council President and a longtime friend of the Baraka family, said the world lost a literary giant.

“Not only has New Jersey, but the United States of America, has lost a great human being. He was a legend in his own lifetime,” Crump told The Ledger. “It is such a loss, such a great loss.”