When talking about African American Literature and Poetry the origins of which reach back to the days of slavery in the United States the past has shaped the future.
Similar to social and political change American African Literature and Poetry has ridden on the waves of movements. The most recent movement of significance in Black America was the Black Arts Movement during the mid sixties through the mid seventies. The movement invoked controversial and revolutionary views along with bringing attention to African American artists and their work. The residue effects of this movement remain in today's literary world.
The Black Arts Movement started roughly in the mid 1960's. The organization was a loosely structured network of African American artists and intellectuals closely allied with the Black Power movement and in fact, many considered BAM the cultural arm of the Black power movement. For the sake of brevity lets focus on Blacks Arts Literature although the movement had a profound affect on drama namely performance poetry and music these being best suited for use in rallies and demonstrations in support of Black Nationalism.
One of the key leaders of the Black Arts Movement was Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) an outspoken Playwright, poet, author and activist who formed the Black Arts Repertory Theater/School (BARTS) and published numerous written works. Baraka held strong Black Nationalist views of which he abandoned at end of the movement in the mid seventies.
Other well-known African American writers and poets like that of Baraka surfaced out BAM, Gwendolyn Brooks, Toni Morrison, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Ishmael Reed, Nzotake Shange and June Jordan along with the notable works by Alex Haley, Eldridge Cleveland and Angela Davis. Many of these artists like Baraka abandoned their Black Nationalist views over time. There are also some African American authors who were affected by BAM in a negative way namely Alice Walker and Shirley Anne Williams who did not agree with nationalist views that BAM artists held. The success or failure of the Black Arts Movement is not relevant but what is more important to the student and admirer of African American Literature and Poetry are the imprints and contributions left in African American Literature and Poetry by its artist and their work.
I am not a prophet so I will not try to predict the future of African American Literature. Perhaps the recent success of Contemporary fiction, Romance Fiction, Hip Hop genre or the emergence of a cyber drum like the one ran by Kalamu ya Salaam, Poet, writer and activist or even the establishment of African American publishing houses could provide a glimpse of the direction of African American Literature and poetry in the future.
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