Black Arts Movement

Black Arts Movement

Nikki Giovanni, a participant in the Black Arts Movement
Years active	1965–1975 (approx.)[1]
Location	United States
Major figures	Amiri Baraka[1] Audre Lorde[1] Dudley Randall[2] Gwendolyn Brooks[1] Haki R. Madhubuti[2] Hoyt W. Fuller[1] Ishmael Reed[2] Larry Neal[2] Maya Angelou[1] Nikki Giovanni[1] Rosa Guy[2] Sonia Sanchez[2]

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The Black Arts Movement (BAM) was an African-American-led art movement that was active during the 1960s and 1970s.^[3] Through activism and art, BAM created new cultural institutions and conveyed a message of black pride.^[4] The movement expanded from the accomplishments of artists of the Harlem Renaissance.

Famously referred to by Larry Neal as the "aesthetic and spiritual sister of Black Power",^[5] BAM applied these same political ideas to art and literature.^[6] and artists found new inspiration in their African heritage as a way to present the black experience in America. Artists such as Aaron Douglas, Hale Woodruff, and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller pioneered the movement with a distinctly modernist aesthetic.^[7] This style influenced the proliferation of African American art during the twentieth century.

The poet and playwright Amiri Baraka is widely recognized as the founder of BAM.^[8] In 1965, he established the Black Arts Repertory Theatre School (BART/S) in Harlem.^[9] Baraka's example inspired many others to create organizations across the United States.^[4] While many of these organizations were short-lived, their work has had a lasting influence. Some still exist, including the National Black Theatre, founded by Barabara Ann Teer in Harlem, New York.