Media Alert
Spelman Hosts Conversations With Black Arts Movement Poets
On October 28, 2005, the English Department of Spelman College will present Sonia Sanchez and Amiri Baraka in Conversations with Black Arts Movement Poets at 7 p.m. in Sisters Chapel. The program is one of a two-part series that will underscore the importance of the cultural renaissance of the 1960s and 1970s known as the Black Arts Movement (BAM). Through the bold and innovative voices of Baraka and Sanchez, as well as many others, BAM challenged African-American literary traditions, influenced poets and literary movements abroad, and made significant contributions to American literature and culture.
Joining Ms. Sanchez and Mr. Baraka in an intergenerational dialogue will be Mr. Michael Simanga, director of the Southwest Arts Center, and Ms. Charla Johnson, a 2005 Spelman graduate. The free-ranging conversation will reveal the poets’ perspectives on BAM’s legacy, and their insights and present concerns about the role of the artist and the function of art in society. They will also discuss their roles as cultural activists and elders and mentors to the emerging generation of hip-hop artists and spoken word poets. The event is free and open to the public.
In part two of the series, Haki Madhubuti and Nikki Giovanni will engage in conversation in March 2006. In addition, the poets will give performances and workshops at local high schools and community centers during their two-day visits.
This program is supported by the Georgia Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and through appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly.
Both Baraka and Sanchez, widely recognized as parent-figures within the Black Arts Movement, have published prolifically, taught at major universities, and won numerous literary honors—including Mr. Baraka’s election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and Ms. Sanchez’s receipt of the Poetry Society of America’s Robert Frost Medal. Mr. Baraka has published over 20 books of poetry—most recently, the controversial “Somebody Blew Up America and Other Poems”—as well as several books of criticism, drama, short fiction and a novel. His play “Dutchman” won an Obie Award and was made into a film; other awards include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation Award for Drama, a PEN/Faulkner Award, the Langston Hughes Award from the City College of New York, and a lifetime achievement award from the Before Columbus Foundation. He is professor of Africana studies at the State University of New York in Stony Brook. He also directs, with his wife Amina, Kimako’s Blues People, a community arts center in Newark.
Ms. Sanchez has published more than 16 books of poetry, edited two poetry anthologies, and is contributing editor to the Journal of African Studies and The Black Schlolar. She has been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and has received the Lucretia Mott Award, the Outstanding Arts Award from the Pennsylvania Coalition of 100 Black Women, a Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Humanities, the Langston Hughes Award, and the American Book Award. She was the first presidential fellow at Temple University, where she also held the Laura Carnell Chair in English.
###
Spelman College:
Founded in 1881, Spelman College is the only historically Black college in
the nation to be included on the U.S. News and World Report's list of top
75 "Best Liberal Arts Colleges — Undergraduate," 2005. Located in Atlanta,
Ga., this private, historically Black women's college boasts outstanding
alumnae, including Children's Defense Fund Founder Marian Wright Edelman;
U.S. Foreign Service Director General Ruth Davis; authors Tina McElroy Ansa and
Pearl Cleage and actress LaTanya Richardson. More than 83 percent of the
full-time faculty members have Ph.D.s or other terminal degrees and the
student-faculty ratio is 12:1. Annually, nearly one-third of Spelman
students receive degrees in the sciences. The students number more than
2,186 and represent 43 states and 34 foreign countries. For more
information regarding Spelman College, visit: www.spelman.edu.
