Amiri Baraka was born on October 7, 1934, in Newark, New Jersey. His original name was not Amiri Baraka, his birth name was Everett LeRoi Jones. He originally wrote under the name LeRoi Jones His name got changed to Amiri Baraka when he converted to Islam, it then first became Imamu Amiri Baraka then he altered it. He had studied at Rutgers, Columbia, and at Howard University. He never got an degree. During his life he served 3 years in the U.S Air Force as a gunner. He later on continued his studies at Columbia University. When he got older he taught a number of Universities, including the State University of New York at Buffalo. In 1956, when Baraka was only twenty years old he started his career as a writer, a activist, and advocate of black culture and political power. In 1958 he founded the Totem Press. When he was in Harlem he established the Black Arts Repertory Theatre. During Baraka's career as a writer he had many works. First he started out as a play writer. His first work was called "A Good Girl Is Hard To Find", which came out in 1958. In the year 1964 Amiri had 4 more plays produced: "The Baptism", "The Toilet", "The Slave" and "The Dutchman". The play The Dutchman received the Off Broadway award for best American play of the 1963-64. It was made into a movie in 1966, Anthony Harvey directed it, and starring was Shirley Knight, Al Freeman JR. .
Other plays that Baraka wrote was, in 1965 he wrote "Experimental Death Unit #1" and "Jello". In 1966 "Black Mass" was written. In 1967 he wrote "Great Goodness of Life", "Madheart", "Arm Yourself of Harm Yourself", "Black Spring", "Slave Ship". In 1968 "Home on the Range" and "Police" was written. In 1969 "the Death of Malcolm X", "Four Black Revolutionary Plays" and "Insurrection" was written. In 1970 he wrote "Dloodrites and Juniies are full of shit". In 1971 he wrote "A Fable". In 1972 he wrote "Ba-Ra-Ka". In 1973 he wrote "Columbia, The Gem of the Ocean" and "A most recent killing" In 1974 "The New Ark's Moverin" was written.
