Yearning for Freedom

Abstract

ABSTRACT:They could be any couple. The man appears to be talking or resting. The woman wears a furrowed brow, her face illuminated and surrounded by shadow. The title gives them away: they are Amina and Amiri Baraka, the celebrated poets and political activists, captured on film by Ming Smith. To mention the Barakas is to summon seismic political and cultural forces, but here they are simply two lovers, perhaps recuperating after a long day.