Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka (1934–2014) was an award-winning writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism, and a revolutionary political activist who lectured on cultural and political issues extensively in the USA, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe. His accolades include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Langston Hughes Medal from the City College of New York, the Rockefeller Foundation Award for Drama, a PEN Open Book Award, induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Before Columbus Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.