The Screamers by Amiri Baraka
"The Screamers" by Amiri Baraka is a narrative set in a Newark nightclub, where a diverse crowd, primarily African American, eagerly anticipates a performance by musician Lynn Hope and his band. The story explores the social dynamics and class distinctions within the audience, with the narrator categorizing attendees into two groups based on their social status and background. As the performance unfolds, the music serves as both a backdrop for social interactions and a catalyst for deeper reflections on identity and cultural expression.
The narrator grapples with his middle-class identity and the expectations he carries, particularly in the context of potential romantic encounters. This self-awareness leads to a broader commentary on African American culture, particularly through the lens of jazz and the "honkers" – saxophonists known for their distinctive style. The narrative culminates in a spontaneous march led by Hope, which reflects a communal and cultural assertion of identity. However, this peaceful expression is met with police resistance, highlighting the tensions between artistic expression and societal conflict. Ultimately, the story captures the complexities of race, class, and community in a pivotal moment of cultural engagement.
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The Screamers by Amiri Baraka
First published: 1967
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: The 1960's
Locale: Newark, New Jersey
Principal Characters:
The narrator Lynn Hope , a jazz saxophonist
The Story
The narrator and other patrons are in a Newark nightclub, waiting for Lynn Hope and his musicians to begin playing. Most of the crowd are African Americans whom the narrator divides into two groups: "our camp," which includes those who have had some success, such as being light-skinned or lucky enough to have mothers who were social workers and fathers who were mail carriers, and "those niggers" of the lower class, who work in coin-operated laundries and beauty parlors. Lynn Hope and his men appeal to both groups, although the former cannot quite believe in the musician's greasy hipness.
When the musicians begin, their music becomes a backdrop for the men's efforts to meet women. The narrator wonders who he will get. His expectation that he will end up with a light-skinned girl who has fallen on bad times, or a disgraced white girl, illustrates his self-consciousness about his own middle-class status, and he muses that a wino's daughter would see him as part of that America that is oppressing her.
The narrator's essay on African American saxophonists as "honkers" defines the honk as "a repeated rhythmic figure, a screamed riff, pushed in its insistence past music." His recounting of the great "honkers" leads to a description of Big Jay, who "had set a social form for the poor," and whose earlier performance in the club has set the challenge for Lynn Hope to follow.
Hope tries to meet the challenge inside the club, but when he gets his riff, the crowd pushes him until he leaves the hall, marching at the head of the crowd into Belmont Avenue, stopping traffic with this secret communal expression and gathering an even larger crowd as he proceeds.
The march is peaceful until the police arrive with paddy wagons and fire hoses. They are met by the "Biggers," who are ready for a violent confrontation. The musicians, the narrator, and others in the crowd who are not ready for this kind of action, "broke our different ways, to save whatever it was each of us thought we loved."
Bibliography
Benston, Kimberly W. Baraka: The Renegade and the Mask. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1976.
Benston, Kimberly, W., ed. Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones): A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1978.
Brown, Lloyd W. Amiri Baraka. Boston: Twayne, 1980.
Fox, Robert Elliot. "LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka: A Scripture of Rhythms." In Conscientious Sorcerors: The Black Postmodernist Fiction of LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, Ishmael Reed, and Samuel R. Delany. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987.
Harris, William J. The Poetry and Poetics of Amiri Baraka: The Jazz Aesthetic. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1986.
Hudson, Theodore R. From LeRoi Jones to Amiri Baraka: The Literary Works. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1973.
Lacey, Henry C. To Raise, Destroy, and Create: The Poetry, Drama, and Fiction of Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones). Troy, N.Y.: Whitston, 1981.
Watts, Jerry G. Amiri Baraka: The Politics and Art of a Black Intellectual. New York: New York University Press, 2001.
Woodard, Komozi. A Nation Within a Nation: Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and Black Power Politics. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999.