The legacy of the Last Poets is an essential Black Arts Movement contribution, part of the African diaspora oral tradition that includes storytelling, the blues, jazz singing, spoken word, and rap. These influential performance poets and musicians emerged from the civil rights movement and black nationalism and their work has had a significant impact on hip-hop. Gifted Last Poets member Umar Bin Hassan, like Gil Scott-Heron, shares the troubled life of many artists—substance abuse, failed parenthood—yet he survives.
