Live performances: Amiri Baraka reads at Furious Flower in 1994 and 2004
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These clips from the Furious Flower archives show Amiri Baraka reading in his signature musical style, taking political topics head on. The first poem, “I Am” (also known as “Blues March”) was recorded at the first Furious Flower Poetry Conference, Furious Flower: A Revolution in African American Poetry. Baraka’s performance of “Somebody Blew Up America” was recorded ten years later in 2004, at the second conference, Furious Flower: Regenerating the Black Poetic Tradition, which was dedicated to him and his close ally in the Black Arts Movement, Sonia Sanchez. This second visit to the JMU campus was somewhat controversial, but he was welcomed and applauded as one of the great American poets.
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