The Black Arts Movement (BAM) occurred during the mid 1960s to 1975. The activist and writer, Leroi Jones, also known as Amiri Baraka, founded the movement in Harlem after the assassination of Malcolm X. Jones also established the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School (BARTS) as an outlet for BAM. The movement was considered the artistic sector of the Black Power Movement. In an essay concerning the Black Arts Movement, Larry Neal stated that the literary movement was the “Aesthetic and Spiritual Sister of Black Power”. It was also considered one of the most influential movements to African American literature due to its ability to inspire blacks to write. Overall, BAM inspired the creation of Black Publishing Companies, theaters, journals, magazines and institutions. The main critiques of the controversial movement by scholars were that it was sexist, homophobic and racially exclusive.
During BAM, the 2nd Wave of the Women’s Movement, the Women’s Liberation Movement was taking place. However, Black Feminism became an important political statement conveyed by the women of the Black Arts Movement. Popular topics of these women were race and economic status, sexism, class oppression and racism. The spirit of the movement was not only to express creativity but also to stabilize the black community.
