The Black Arts Movement in Chicago—

Andrew Peart, Eric Powell & Gerónimo Sarmiento Cruz, Editors, Preface

This special feature gathers documents from, and critical assessments of, the history and legacies of the Black Arts Movement (BAM) in Chicago. It makes no pretense to being comprehensive, or even representative, of BAM as a whole. Rather, we hope that it marks a beginning: of further dialogue; of the recovery of important texts and under-recognized figures; of continued celebration of and critical assessment of the richness and importance of BAM in Chicago, nationally, and internationally.

This project began with a recognition that BAM in Chicago was a movement of extraordinary breadth and variety in aesthetic disciplines, in forms and genres, and in notions of what literature and art can and should do; that its deep history in the city’s rich traditions of African American cultural production has been matched by its long legacy in local creative communities up to the present; and that its builders, often unsung people at the grassroots, produced a wide array of stories, texts, and other documents awaiting their rightful place in the record. We learned that BAM in Chicago was more than the aesthetic or cultural arm of the revolutionary political movement with which it was often linked, and that it didn’t end with the 1960s and 70s. We hope this feature contributes to discussions of the movement’s complexity and long-lasting reverberations. We also hope it helps further broad-based efforts to preserve the histories and highlight the legacies of BAM in Chicago—and elsewhere. Because BAM as a national and international movement drew its vitality from the community level, there are a lot of local traditions out there. This publication adds to the call for researchers to help preserve and celebrate the writers and artists whose archives are in their cities, neighborhoods, and communities.

That effort must be a community effort. Count Chicago Review in as a platform for continuing the work toward a greater published record of the movement. We hope that if readers discover what they believe to be major omissions in this feature, they will see Chicago Review as a potential outlet to rectify such oversights and shortcomings. Our letters section, our website, and the pages of the print journal will be open to carry on what we hope is the beginning of an important and ongoing conversation.

Web companion

Angela Jackson, Angels and Tricksters: Looking Back on the Black Arts Movement and Measuring Its Impact Now

David Lionel Smith, People You Need to Know

Andrew Peart, “And the translations began again”: Spiritual Exercises of Carolyn M. Rodgers 

Abdul Alkalimat, How OBAC Was Born: A Personal Memoir

Abdul Alkalimat, The Poetic Genius of Amus Mor 

Amus Mor, When Saxes Were King; Kiss of Creation; The Coming of John

Haki R. Madhubuti & Lasana D. Kazembe, A New Music Screaming in the Sun: Haki R. Madhubuti and the Nationalization/Internationalization of Chicago’s BAM

Haki R. Madhubuti, But He Was Cool or: he even stopped for green lights; The B Network; Claiming Language, Claiming Art

Thulani Davis, Thoughts Returned from Exile on Black Case Vol. I & II

Joseph Jarman, from Black Case, Volume I & II: Return from Exile

Harmony Holiday, In Memory of His Seasons: Some Notes on Joseph Jarman and Our Terribleness

Kino Nishikawa, Reframing Blackness: The Installation Aesthetic of In Our Terribleness

John H. Bracey Jr., Reflections on Art and Politics During the Era of Civil Rights and Black Liberation

Ayana Contreras, To Be Free: The Intergenerational Spirit of Black Chicago’s Creative Scene

Africa & Maggie Brown, Introductory Notes on the Texts of Oscar Brown Jr. 

Oscar Brown Jr., My Mission Is to Shine a Light on the World; Gang Gone Good; from Oscar Brown Jr.’s Memoir of Opportunity Please Knock: Working with the Blackstone Rangers; Grace of God; Music: The Liberating Force

Garin Cycholl, “a contract with/distance”: The Epic Shape of Sterling Plumpp’s Blues Lyric

Sterling Plumpp, Poet; Ritual; Language; Celebration

Reginald Gibbons, Remarks on the Passing of Cyrus Colter 

Cyrus Colter, After the Ball, Letter to Helen R. Houston

David Grundy, “everything that you do”: On the Poetry of Cecil Taylor 

Marguerite L. Harrold, Growing Up in Chicago House Music

Thabiti Lewis, Making A Documentary About Chicago and the Black Arts Movement: A Collaborative Effort

Accompanied by an extensive visual portfolio that presents posters, photos, and manuscripts of the Black Arts Movement.

Poetry—

avery r. young, from skyscraper(s) & erything

Valerie Hsiung, from Outside Voices, Please

Daniel Woody, Black in America

Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Pegasus; Darkness

Cole Swensen, Garden of Ghosts; Birds

Aaron Coleman, Anthrophotograph; Collision Test Fool

Cai Qijiao, translated by Edward Morin, Dennis Ding & Fang Dai, A New Spring; A Poem that Wrote Itself

Yadollah Royai, translated by Kaveh Bassiri, Desert Stone; Forugh Farrokhzad’s Stone; Al-Razi’s Stone; Closed Umbrellas 

Huang Fan, translated by Margaret Ross, Blanket; Hat; Spoons; Nanjing Night Song

Marguerite L. Harrold, War Diary; Tea & Crumpets; For the Elder at the Velvet Lounge; Apprentice 

Tyrone Williams, Imperfect Angel

Fiction—

Anthony Reed, Listenings 

Reggie Scott Young, Overcomed

Memoirs from Former Editors and Staff—

Edward Morin, With Ray and Rosenthal at Chicago Review

Reviews—

Tyrone Williams on Dawn Lundy Martin, Harmony Holiday, and Duriel E. Harris

Jose-Luis Moctezuma on Nikki Wallschlaeger

Harris Feinsod on Angela Jackson

Marissa Fenley on Manual Cinema

Bo McMillan on Andrew J. Diamond

Brandon Truett on Michael Ondaatje

Maria Dikcis on Evie Shockley

Kirsten Ihns on Samiya Bashir

Letterbox—

Joshua Pollock, On the Infrarrealistas Issue and José Vicente Anaya