ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ways in which Black Power politics inflects Kwame Kwei-Armah's writing approach and how Afrocentric ideology finds aesthetic representation in his works. It highlights in particular how Armah's plays interrogate the uniqueness of black British experiences but also speak to works by August Wilson, thus reiterating the depth of the political and cultural influence black America has had on Armah's identity. The mixture of American blues and African music traces in sound the movement of slaves from Africa to the United States. Armah's authorial voice is clearly of the opinion that black improvement lies in historical recuperation. For those that embrace it, such as Deli, there is hope for those that do not; there is despair, plainly demonstrated with Ashley's death at the end of Elmina's Kitchen. Armah's plays may document the black British experience to the Caribbean and Africa, however, they demonstrate the important impact of African American artists and popular culture on his experience.
