an anthology of Afro-American writing edited by Amiri Baraka and Larry Neal BLACK CLASSIC PRESS Baltimore, MD CONTENTS Black Fire: A New Introduction xvii Note to the first paperback edition xxi Foreword xxiii BY AMEER BARAKA ESSAYS The Development of the Black Revolutionary Artist . BY JAMES T. STEWART 3 Reclaiming the Lost African Heritage BY JOHN HENREK CLARKE 11 African Responses to Malcolm X BY LESLIE ALEXANDER LACY 19 Revolutionary Nationalism and the Afro-American BY HASOLD CRUSE 39 The New Breed BY PETER LABRIE 64 Dynamite Growing Out of Their Skulls BY CALVIN C. HERNTON 78 Black Power—A Scientific Concept Whose Time Has Come BY JAMES BOGGS 105 Toward Black Liberation BY STOKELY CARMICHAEL 119 The Screens BY C. E. WILSON 133 Travels in the South: A Cold Night in Alabama BY WILLIAM MAHONEY 144 vii Contents The Tide Inside, It Rages! BY LINDSAY BARRETT 149 Not Just Whistling Dixie BY A. B. SPELLMAN *59 The Fellah, The Chosen Ones, The Guardian BY DAVID LLORENS 169 Brainwashing of Black Men's Minds BY NATHAN HARE 178 POETRY CHARLES ANDERSON Finger Pop'in 189 Prayer to the White Man's God 191 RICHARD W. THOMAS Amen 192 The Worker 193 Index to a black catharsis 194 Revolution!! 196 Jazzy vanity 197 TED WILSON Music of the Other World 198 Count Basie's 199 S, C, M, 200 JAMES T. STEWART Poem: A Piece 201 Announcement 202 Poem 2°3 CALVIN C. HERNTON Jitterbugging in the Streets 205 A Black Stick with a Ball of Cotton for a Head and a Running Machine for a Mouth 210 SUN-RA Saga of Resistance 212 "The Visitation" 213 Of the Cosmic-Blueprints 214 Would I for All That Were 215 Contents ix Nothing Is 216 To the Peoples of Earth 217 Tlie Image Reach 218 The Cosmic Age 219 LETHONIA GEE ^ By Glistening, Dancing Seas 221 Black Music Man 222 K. WILLIAM KGOSITSILE Ivory Masks in Orbit 224 The Awakening 227 Towards A Walk in the Sun 228 DAVID HENDERSON Neon Diaspora 230 Boston Road Blues 233 Keep On Pushing (Harlem Riots/Summer/1964) 239 A. B. Spellman The Beautiful Day #9 245 tomorrow the heroes 247 friends i am like you tied 248 SONIA SANCHEZ poem at thirty 250 summary 252 blues 254 to all sisters 255 Q. R. HAND Untitled poem 256 "I Wonder" 261 RON WELBURN Eulogy for Populations 262 First Essay on the Art of the U.S. 263 JOE GONCALVES Now the Time Is Ripe to Be 265 Sister Brother 266 The Way It Is 267 MARVIN E. JACKMON That Old Time Religion 268 Burn, Baby, Burn 269 X Contents JAMES DANNER The Singer 269 My Brother 271 AL FRASER To the "JFK" Quintet r 272 LANCE JEFFERS My Blackness Is the Beauty of This Land , 273 Black Soul of the Land 27; Man With a Furnace in His Hand 276 WALT DELEGALL Psalm for Sonny Rollins 278 Elegy for a Lady 280 WELTON SMITH malcolm 283 The Nigga Section 285 Interlude 287 Special Section for the Niggas on the Lower Eastside or: Invert the Divisor and Multiply « 287 Interlude 289 The Beast Section 290 LEROI JONES The World Is Full of Remarkable Things 292 Three Movements and a Coda ^ 294 Election Day (Newark, New Jersey) 296 Bludoo Baby, Want Money, And Alligator Got It To Give 299 Black Art 302 BARBARA SIMMONS Soul 304 LARRY NEAL The Baroness and the Black Musician 309 For Our Women 310 The Narrative of the Black Magicians 3x2 Malcolm X—An Autobiography 315 HART LEROI BIBBS Split Standard < •. 318 "Liberalissimo" 319 Dirge For J. A. Rogers 320 Contents xi ROLLAND SNELLINGS Sunrise!! 322 Mississippi Concerto 324 The Song of Fire 325 Earth 327 CAROL FREEMAN Christmas morning i 329 i saw them lynch 330 when my uncle willie saw 331 KIRK HALL song of torn 33*2 wig 334 impressions 335 illusions 336 EDWARD S. SPRIGGS We Waiting on You 337 For the TRUTH (because it is necessary) 339 Every Harlem Face is Afromanism Surviving 341 my beige mom 342 sassafras memories 343 HENRY DUMAS mosaic harlem 345 knock on wood 347 cuttin down to size 349 REGINALD LOCKETT This Poem for Black Women 351 Death of the Moonshine Supermen 352 Die Black Pervert 354 ODARO (BARBARA JONES, slave name) Alafia 356 S. E. ANDERSON Soul-Smiles 357 The Sound of Afroamerican History Chapt I 359 The Sound of Afroamerican History Chapt II 360 CLARENCE FRANKLIN < Death of Days and Nights of Life 361 j xii Contents \ Visions . Leaders . Shaky Leaders . Parasitical [ Leaders ... 362 ! Two Dreams (for m.l.k.'s one) 364 j JAY WRIGHT The End of Ethnic Dream 365 The Frightened Lover's Sleep 367 YUSUF RAHMAN Transcendental Blues 369 RUDY BEE GRAHAM A lynching for Skip James 374 Learning to Dance 377 LEFTY SIMS An Angels Prayer _ 379 : LEBERT BETHUNE j A Juju of My Own 381 j Harlem Freeze Frame 382 Blue Tanganyika 383 Bwagamoyo 384 YUSEF I MAN Show Me Lord Show Me 386 Love Your Enemy 387 NORMAN JORDAN Black Warrior 389 Sinner 390 The Sacrifice 391 STANLEY CROUCH Blackie Thinks of His Brothers 392 BLACKIE speaks on campus: a valentine for vachel lindsay 393 j FREDERICK J. BRYANT, JR. | Nothing Lovely As A Tree 396 j Black Orpheus 397 ! SAM CORNISH Promenade 398 Turk 399 CLARENCE REED The Invaders 400 My Brother and Me " 402 Contents xiii In a Harlem Storefront Church 403 Harlem '67 404 ALBERT E. HAYNES, JR. eclipse 406 LORENZO THOMAS Onion Bucket 410 Twelve Gates 411 GASTON NEAL Today 413 Personal Jihad 414 L. GOODWIN The Day A Dancer Learned to Sing of DreamLess Escapades 416 RAY JOHNSON Walking East on 125th Street (Spring 1959) 418 BOB BENNETT "It is time for action" 420 (Title) 423 AHMED LEGRAHAM ALHAMISI Uhuru 424 Pome. For Weird. Hearts. & All you mothers 428 D. L. GRAHAM the west ridge is menthol-cool 430 A Portrait of Johnny Doller 432 the clown 434 VICTOR HERNANDEZ CRUZ O.K. 436 white powder! 437 JACQUES WAKEFIELD "We exist living dead" 438 "... days prior to" 439 "Oh shit a riot!" 440 KUWASI BALAGON Children of the Cosmos 441 If You Love Them, Wouldn't You Like To See Them Better Off? 443 Untitle 445 xiv Contents BOBB HAMILTON "Brother Harlem Bedford Watts Tells Mr. Charlie Where Its At" 447 Poem To A Nigger Cop 452 FICTION Fon BY HENRY DUMAS 455 A Love Song for Seven Little Boys Called; Sam BY C. H. FULLER, JR. - 467 Not Your Singing, Dancing Spade BY JULIA FIELDS 479 That She Would Dance No More BY JEAN WHEELER SMITH 486 Life with Red Top BY RONALD L. FAIR 500 Sinner Man Where You Gonna Run To? BY LARRY NEAL 510 Ain't That a Groove BY CHARLIE COBB 5*9 DRAMA We Own The Night BY JIMMY GARRETT 527 Flowers For the Trashman BY MARVIN E. JACKMON 541 Black Ice BY CHARLES PATTERSON 559 Notes From a Savage God BY RONALD DRAYTON 566 Nocturne on the Rhine BY RONALD DRAYTON 570 Madheart BY LEROI JONES 574 Contents Prayer Meeting or The First Militant Minister BY BEN CALDWELL How Do You Do BY ED BULLINS The Leader BY JOSEPH WHITE The Suicide BY CAROL FREEMAN AN AFTERWORD And Shine Swam On BY LARRY NEAL CONTRIBUTORS .