Imamu Amiri Baraka biography
Profile
Imamu Amiri Baraka (formerly LeRoi Jones) was born on October 7, 1934 in Newark, New Jersey. He attended Rutgers and then Howard Universities and became a sergeant in the United States Air Force. After his writings led to a dishonorable discharge, Jones moved to Greenwich Village. He became involved in the Black Nationalist poetry and literature scenes and took the name Amiri Baraka after the assassination of Malcolm X. He has taught at several American universities.