an anthology of Afro-American writing

edited by Amiri Baraka and Larry Neal

BLACK CLASSIC PRESS Baltimore, MD

CONTENTS

Black Fire: A New Introduction xvii Note to the first paperback edition xxi Foreword xxiii

BY AMEER BARAKA

ESSAYS

The Development of the Black Revolutionary Artist . BY JAMES T. STEWART 3

Reclaiming the Lost African Heritage BY JOHN HENREK CLARKE 11

African Responses to Malcolm X BY LESLIE ALEXANDER LACY 19

Revolutionary Nationalism and the Afro-American BY HASOLD CRUSE 39

The New Breed BY PETER LABRIE 64

Dynamite Growing Out of Their Skulls BY CALVIN C. HERNTON 78

Black Power—A Scientific Concept Whose Time Has Come BY JAMES BOGGS 105

Toward Black Liberation BY STOKELY CARMICHAEL 119

The Screens BY C. E. WILSON 133

Travels in the South: A Cold Night in Alabama BY WILLIAM MAHONEY 144

vii

The Tide Inside, It Rages! BY LINDSAY BARRETT

Not Just Whistling Dixie BY A. B. SPELLMAN

The Fellah, The Chosen Ones, The Guardian BY DAVID LLORENS

Brainwashing of Black Men's Minds BY NATHAN HARE

POETRY

CHARLES ANDERSON Finger Pop'in Prayer to the White Man's God

RICHARD W. THOMAS Amen The Worker Index to a black catharsis Revolution!! Jazzy vanity

TED WILSON Music of the Other World Count Basie's S, C, M,

JAMES T. STEWART Poem: A Piece Announcement Poem

CALVIN C. HERNTON Jitterbugging in the Streets A Black Stick with a Ball of Cotton for a Head and a

Running Machine for a Mouth SUN-RA

Saga of Resistance "The Visitation" Of the Cosmic-Blueprints Would I for All That Were

Contents

149

*59

169

178

189 191

192

193 194 196

197

198

199 200

201 202 2°3

205

210

212

213 214 215

Contents ix

Nothing Is 216 To the Peoples of Earth 217 Tlie Image Reach 218 The Cosmic Age 219

LETHONIA GEE ^ By Glistening, Dancing Seas 221 Black Music Man 222

K. WILLIAM KGOSITSILE Ivory Masks in Orbit 224 The Awakening 227 Towards A Walk in the Sun 228

DAVID HENDERSON Neon Diaspora 230 Boston Road Blues 233 Keep On Pushing (Harlem Riots/Summer/1964) 239

A. B. Spellman The Beautiful Day #9 245 tomorrow the heroes 247 friends i am like you tied 248

SONIA SANCHEZ poem at thirty 250 summary 252 blues 254 to all sisters 255

Q. R. HAND Untitled poem 256 "I Wonder" 261

RON WELBURN Eulogy for Populations 262 First Essay on the Art of the U.S. 263

JOE GONCALVES Now the Time Is Ripe to Be 265 Sister Brother 266 The Way It Is 267

MARVIN E. JACKMON That Old Time Religion 268 Burn, Baby, Burn 269

X Contents

JAMES DANNER The Singer 269 My Brother 271

AL FRASER To the "JFK" Quintet r 272

LANCE JEFFERS My Blackness Is the Beauty of This Land , 273 Black Soul of the Land 27; Man With a Furnace in His Hand 276

WALT DELEGALL Psalm for Sonny Rollins 278 Elegy for a Lady 280

WELTON SMITH malcolm 283

The Nigga Section 285 Interlude 287 Special Section for the Niggas on the Lower Eastside or:

Invert the Divisor and Multiply « 287 Interlude 289 The Beast Section 290

LEROI JONES The World Is Full of Remarkable Things 292 Three Movements and a Coda ^ 294 Election Day (Newark, New Jersey) 296 Bludoo Baby, Want Money, And Alligator Got It To Give 299 Black Art 302

BARBARA SIMMONS Soul 304

LARRY NEAL The Baroness and the Black Musician 309 For Our Women 310 The Narrative of the Black Magicians 3x2 Malcolm X—An Autobiography 315

HART LEROI BIBBS Split Standard < •. 318 "Liberalissimo" 319 Dirge For J. A. Rogers 320

Contents xi

ROLLAND SNELLINGS Sunrise!! 322 Mississippi Concerto 324 The Song of Fire 325

Earth 327

CAROL FREEMAN Christmas morning i 329 i saw them lynch 330 when my uncle willie saw 331

KIRK HALL song of torn 33*2

wig 334 impressions 335 illusions 336

EDWARD S. SPRIGGS We Waiting on You 337 For the TRUTH (because it is necessary) 339 Every Harlem Face is Afromanism Surviving 341 my beige mom 342 sassafras memories 343

HENRY DUMAS mosaic harlem 345 knock on wood 347 cuttin down to size 349

REGINALD LOCKETT This Poem for Black Women 351 Death of the Moonshine Supermen 352 Die Black Pervert 354

ODARO (BARBARA JONES, slave name)

Alafia 356

S. E. ANDERSON Soul-Smiles 357 The Sound of Afroamerican History Chapt I 359 The Sound of Afroamerican History Chapt II 360

CLARENCE FRANKLIN < Death of Days and Nights of Life 361

j xii Contents \ Visions . . . Leaders . . . Shaky Leaders . . . Parasitical [ L e a d e r s . . . 3 6 2 ! Two Dreams (for m.l.k.'s one) 364 j JAY WRIGHT

The End of Ethnic Dream 365 The Frightened Lover's Sleep 367

YUSUF RAHMAN Transcendental Blues 369

RUDY BEE GRAHAM A lynching for Skip James 374 Learning to Dance 377

LEFTY SIMS An Angels Prayer _ 379

: LEBERT BETHUNE j A Juju of My Own 381 j Harlem Freeze Frame 382

Blue Tanganyika 383 Bwagamoyo 384

YUSEF I MAN Show Me Lord Show Me 386 Love Your Enemy 387

NORMAN JORDAN Black Warrior 389 Sinner 390 The Sacrifice 391

STANLEY CROUCH Blackie Thinks of His Brothers 392 BLACKIE speaks on campus: a valentine for vachel lindsay 393

j FREDERICK J. BRYANT, JR. | Nothing Lovely As A Tree 396

j Black Orpheus 397 ! SAM CORNISH

Promenade 398 Turk 399

CLARENCE REED The Invaders 400 My Brother and Me " 402

Contents xiii

In a Harlem Storefront Church 403 Harlem '67 404

ALBERT E. HAYNES, JR. eclipse 406

LORENZO THOMAS Onion Bucket 410 Twelve Gates 411

GASTON NEAL Today 413 Personal Jihad 414

L. GOODWIN The Day A Dancer Learned to Sing of DreamLess Escapades 416

RAY JOHNSON Walking East on 125th Street (Spring 1959) 418

BOB BENNETT "It is time for action" 420 (Title) 423

AHMED LEGRAHAM ALHAMISI Uhuru 424 Pome. For Weird. Hearts. &

All you mothers 428 D. L. GRAHAM

the west ridge is menthol-cool 430 A Portrait of Johnny Doller 432 the clown 434

VICTOR HERNANDEZ CRUZ

O.K. 436 white powder! 437

JACQUES WAKEFIELD "We exist living dead" 438 " . . . . d a y s p r i o r t o " 4 3 9 "Oh shit a riot!" 440

KUWASI BALAGON

Children of the Cosmos 441 If You Love Them, Wouldn't You Like

To See Them Better Off? 443

Untitle 445

xiv BOBB HAMILTON

"Brother Harlem Bedford Watts Tells Mr. Charlie Where Its At"

Poem To A Nigger Cop

FICTION

Fon BY HENRY DUMAS

A Love Song for Seven Little Boys Called; Sam BY C. H. FULLER, JR.

Not Your Singing, Dancing Spade BY JULIA FIELDS

That She Would Dance No More BY JEAN WHEELER SMITH

Life with Red Top BY RONALD L. FAIR

Sinner Man Where You Gonna Run To? BY LARRY NEAL

Ain't That a Groove BY CHARLIE COBB

DRAMA

We Own The Night BY JIMMY GARRETT

Flowers For the Trashman BY MARVIN E. JACKMON

Black Ice BY CHARLES PATTERSON

Notes From a Savage God BY RONALD DRAYTON

Nocturne on the Rhine BY RONALD DRAYTON

Madheart BY LEROI JONES

Contents

447 452

455

- 467

479

486

500

510

5*9

527

541

559

566

570

574

Contents

Prayer Meeting or The First Militant Minister BY BEN CALDWELL

How Do You Do BY ED BULLINS

The Leader BY JOSEPH WHITE

The Suicide BY CAROL FREEMAN

AN AFTERWORD

And Shine Swam On BY LARRY NEAL

CONTRIBUTORS