Dutchman and The Slave : LeRoi Jones 1964 [ Amiri Baraka , Paperback ]

Description

First Paperback Edition of Early Plays “Dutchman” and “The Slave”By LeRoi Jones aka Amiri Baraka

 

Jones, LeRoi. Dutchman and The Slave. William Morrow & Company – Apollo Editions. New York. 1964. First Paperback Edition.

First paperback edition of two of the earliest plays by prominent African American writer and activist LeRoi Jones, later known as Amiri Baraka (1934 – 2014), printed the same year they were first performed, and one year after his first book Blues People on African American music. The play Dutchman, (LeRoi Jones’ first professionally produced play) is recognized as an allegory for race relations in the period and was the winner of the Obie Award for Best American Play in Off-Broadway theater  in 1964.

The founder of the Black Arts Repertory Theatre and School and leading figure in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, which sought to create a new cultural identity for African Americans through literature, theater, and the arts, Jones took on the name Amiri Baraka following his conversion to Islam and adopting more radical politics inspired by the assassination of Malcolm X in early 1965, as well as Jones’ relationship with Kwanzaa creator Maulana Ron Karenga.

88pp. Perfect bound in glossy wraps. Wear to corners and spine ends. Top fore corner creased. Minor soiling back wrap bottom edge. Text block toned. Minor creases to some pages up to pg 13. Very good.

 

If you liked this book, you may also enjoy this book on The African-American Holiday of Kwanzaa by its creator Maulana Ron Karenga. You may also enjoy this early issue of the underground Rama Pipien with writings from Black Panther leader Huey Newton and others.