AMIRI BARAKA’S FINAL TRIBUTE, A EULOGY BY HIS SON RAS BARAKA, IS NOW AVAILABLE FROM BLACK CLASSIC PRESS.  Black Classic Press (BCP) announced today that A Black Fire!, Ras Baraka’s eulogy for his father, Amiri Baraka is now available in print and e-book formats. Ras Baraka delivered the eulogy as a final tribute at Symphony Hall in Newark on January 18, 2014. The eulogy closed the four-hour “home going celebration” for Amiri Baraka, the renowned literary figure and activist.

“We are excited to publish A Black Fire!,” says BCP Director Paul Coates. He continues, “Ras Baraka’s rhapsodizing tribute follows the tradition of his father, who was an extraordinary master of presenting eulogies as praise songs. Amiri Baraka honored the famous and well known, such as James Baldwin, and John Coltrane. He also honored lesser known individuals, including friends and relatives. One of Baraka’s more moving eulogies was for his daughter, Shani, who was tragically killed.”

“In that audience with three thousand other people,” says Coates, “I was transfixed. Ras’ delivery was a spiritual combination of poetic humor, sarcasm, irony, passion, and praise, bestowed rhythmically on his father, just as Amiri had done for so many others.” Coates continues: “He captured for all of us, the struggles and energy that his father represented to African Americans and people worldwide. His eulogy energized the room and seemed to make it ok that Baraka’s spirit had moved on. I knew in my heart that this dynamic praise song had to be published.”

The print edition of A Black Fire! is available from leading retail and online bookstores and directly from the press at www.blackclassicbooks.com for $5.95 (paperbound, 26 pages.) The e-book edition is available in Kindle format at Amazon.com for $2.99.

About Ras Baraka
Ras J. Baraka’s parents are the renowned poets Amina and the late Amiri Baraka. Ras is the father of three daughters. His latest published work is Black Girls Learn Love Hard, and is dedicated to the life of his late sister, Shani Baraka. He is running for Mayor of Newark in the 2014 election.

About Black Classic Press
Founded in 1978 by W. Paul Coates, Black Classic Press specializes in publishing vintage and contemporary popular and academic works by and about people of African descent. BCP is one of the oldest independently owned Black publishers in the United States. The press’ notable authors include Walter Mosley, Amiri Baraka, Walter Rodney, E. Ethelbert Miller, Dorothy Porter, John Henrik Clarke, George L. Jackson, and Bobby Seale.