Life as a Black Man in America has been overwhelming for both authors. James Baldwin, a writer, poet and a playwright tells of his fathers death and the family life preceding his fathers death; John Edgar Wideman went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and currently is a English Professor at the University of Massachutes at Amherst. ... After the death of Baldwin father he began to ponder on the hatred his father had for White Americans. ... I do take note that African American Men have to deal with many dilemmas, social injustice, hatred, and discontent. ... Baldwin and Wideman literary works ...

• Word Count: 861
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, playwright, author, poet, activist, critic, and educator. ... Also with Diane di Prima he founded, in 1961 the American Theater for Poets, an experimental dramatic troupe which read the works of various poets and dramatist in local coffee houses. ... He was growing tired of the Bohemians, he joined the Beat generation because he regarded its members as spiritual outsiders who were against white middle - class America. ... He felt that the Black artist must express his American experience in forms that spring from his own unique culture and that his art must be eval...

• Word Count: 2297
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

Giovanni's Room told of a white American expatriate and his coming to terms with his homosexuality. ... First, in 1968, he published Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone as a bitter account of American racism. ... (Both of these recent events have increased African-American political awareness and unity.) ... Essentially, Baldwin is not particularly dramatic, but he can be extremely eloquent, compelling, and sometimes irritating as a playwright committed to his approach to life. ... While African-American anger is definitely a part of Blues for Mr. ...

• Word Count: 1677
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School