BAM Affiliation The work of Amiri Baraka (formerly known as LeRoi Jones) has long inspired controversy. A founding member of the Black Arts Movement, and one of the most important forces in African-American theater, Baraka first performed at BAM on a double bill with jazz legend Sun Ra in 1969. His play Slave Ship was presented by the Chelsea Theater the following year. In 1971, he organized the highly influential three day festival New Black Poets in America, which took place in Newark, Harlem, and BAM.