Amiri Baraka Biography

Fast Facts

• Received the PEN Open Book Award for his writings in "Tales of the Out and the Gone․"
• Won the 2002 Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award
• In 2002, he was named the Poet Laureate of New Jersey
• Studied at Rutgers University, Howard University, Columbia University and the New School for Social Research
• Before becoming involved in poetry, he started out working in a warehouse for music records
• Contributed to The Roots song "Something in the Way of Things (In Town)․"
• Reached the rank of sergeant while serving in the U․S․ Air Force