Biography
Baraka was born Everett LeRoi Jones on October 7, 1934 in Newark, New Jersey; attended Rutgers University, 1951-52; BA, Howard University, 1954; MA in philosophy, Columbia University; MA in German literature, the New School for Social Research; founder and editor of Yugen magazine and Totem Press, 1958; instructor, New School for Social Research, 1961-64; associate professor, 1983-85, then professor of Afro-American studies at SUNY Stony Brook; founder and director, Black Arts Repertory Theatre, 1964-66, and director of Spirit House, a black community theater; co-founder and chairman of the Congress of African People; author of poetry, plays, novels, and essays including: Preface to a twenty volume suicide note (1961), Blues people: Negro music in white America (1963), Dutchman (1964), Home: social essays (1966), and Daggers and javelins: Essays, 1974-1979 (1984).
From the guide to the Imamu Amiri Baraka Papers, 1958-1966, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Dept. of Special Collections.)
