Revolutionary poet, playwright, and activist Amiri Baraka is recognized as the founder of the Black Arts Movement, a literary period that began in Harlem in the 1960s and forever changed the look, sound, and feel of American poetry. Baraka (formerly LeRoi Jones) helped to empower African American artists to establish publishing houses, journals, and university ethnic studies programs. His books continue to spark intense political and aesthetic controversy while receiving tremendous critical acclaim.