Baraka, Amiri | "SLAVE SHIP: A HISTORICAL PAGEANT"
"SLAVE SHIP: A HISTORICAL PAGEANT"
PRODUCTION REVIEWS
Clive Barnes (review date 22 November 1969)
SOURCE: A review of "Slave Ship," in The New York Times, November 22, 1969, p. 22.
[In the review below, Barnes outlines the political message of "Slave Ship," and praises Baraka's provocative delivery of his black militant outlook.]
LeRoi Jones's new play, "Slave Ship," … raises for a white critic somber and awful problems. It is a strong, strange play that once seen will never be forgotten. But to regard it simply as a work of art and to sidestep nimbly its implications would be nothing but dishonest.
This is a propaganda play. It is a black militant play. It is a racist play. It purports to counsel black revolution. It is a "get whitey" play. Its attitudes are ugly and prejudiced, and its airily total condemnation of the white American is as sick as a Ku Klux Klanner at a rally.
To an extent it is a...
[The entire page is 4176 words long]
Navigate
