Larry Neal
Larry Neal was an influential American writer, educator, and key figure in the Black Arts Movement, born on September 5, 1937, in Atlanta, Georgia. Raised in Philadelphia, he pursued education at Catholic schools and later graduated from Lincoln University, followed by earning a Master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Neal's literary career took off in 1964 when he became the arts editor for Liberator magazine, connecting with prominent figures in literature and the arts. He played a vital role in establishing the Black Arts Repertory Theater in Harlem, although it had a brief existence.
Neal's work focused on defining black aesthetics and celebrated the richness of the black experience, incorporating elements from folklore, music, and literature. He co-edited the significant anthology "Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing," which showcased the voices of various writers and activists. His poetry, particularly in "Black Boogaloo: Notes on Black Liberation," conveyed complex themes of identity and resilience. A professor at several universities, Neal's impact extended into arts administration and activism through his roles with the Black Panther Party and the D.C. Commission on the Arts. He passed away on January 6, 1981, at the age of 43, leaving a legacy as a powerful advocate for black culture and artistic expression.
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Larry Neal
Author
- Born: September 5, 1937
- Birthplace: Atlanta, Georgia
- Died: January 6, 1981
- Place of death: Hamilton, New York
Biography
Larry Neal, son of Woodie and Maggie Neal, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 5, 1937, and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother converted to Catholicism so that her five sons could attend quality private schools. His father instilled in them a sense of the importance of self- reliance and practicality.
Neal graduated from the Roman Catholic High School in 1956 and in 1961 from Pennsylvania’s prominent Lincoln University, a mostly black, at the time all-male, college. He then earned an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. His background in history, English, and folklore earned him a creative writing award in 1961 and, in 1971, a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1964, he moved to New York City, marrying a chemist, Evelyn Roberts, in 1965 and adopting a son, Avatar, in 1971.
Neal’s direct involvement in the Black Nationalist Movement came in 1964 when he was hired as arts editor of its literary voice, Liberator magazine, and conducted interviews with noted writers, artists, and musicians. He helped create the Black Arts Repertory Theater in Harlem. The theater shut down after three months, but the idea lived on with similar projects starting all over the country.
Neal became increasingly aware of the vast difference between three approaches to aesthetics: mainstream aesthetics, the appreciation of and expectations for artistic expression, and black aesthetics. In fact, he was instrumental in both defining and developing the latter in what became known as the Black Arts Movement. In an interview, Neal explained that, to him, black art was everything in the black experience, the slang, music, folklore, literature, street songs, as well as paintings and sculpture. Black art had its origins in Africa, found its way through the songs of slaves, the words of such leaders as Malcolm X, the instruments of the jazz players. That this definition did not fit in with that of the more structured mainstream culture suited him just fine. He believed that the black arts should be by blacks for blacks. He did not see the works of this period as ones of protest against white culture but as affirmation of black culture.
In 1968, with coeditor Amiri Baraka, Neal published a major work that further defined the movement: Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing. Including works by well- known writers, social critics, and activists, the book met with a mixed response that further differentiated the aesthetics of the two races.
In his 1969 collection Black Boogaloo: Notes on Black Liberation, Neal included one poem, “Love Song in Middle Passage,” that distinguished appearance from reality by expressing the way in which racist white symbols could be put to good use in conveying black awareness. He wrote: “We must become stone-cold killers,/panther spirits, invisible men,/night specters: your uncle tom teeth brightly grin/or scratch your sleepin’ steppin’ fetchit head;/while thrusting the blade into the beast heart.” With this poem, bad became good, dark became light, and Stepin Fetchit, the quintessential slow-witted-black Hollywood version of the Negro, would carry a warning with him. Uncle Tom, with all his “whiteness,” might one day lash out.
Neal taught at several major universities. He was a writer-in- residence at Wesleyan College from 1969 to 1970 and a professor at Yale from 1970 to 1975. From 1976 to 1978, he was the executive director of the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the education director of the Black Panther Party, and active in the Revolutionary Action Movement.
In 1965, Neal was gunned down by a political opponent. He recovered but died at age forty-three, on January 6, 1981, of a heart attack.