Amiri Baraka, also known as LeRoi Jones, was an American author of provocative works that assiduously presented the experiences of Black Americans in a white-dominated society. He is often referred to as the “Godfather” of the Black Arts Movement. His books include Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note (1961) and The Autobiography of LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka (1984). He taught at Columbia, Yale, and SUNY Stony Brook, where he was emeritus professor of Africana studies.