24 Facts About Jayne Cortez

Jayne Cortez was an African-American poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist whose voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic and dynamic innovations in lyricism and visceral sound.

Jayne Cortez's writing is part of the canon of the Black Arts Movement.

Jayne Cortez was married to jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman from 1954 to 1964, and their son is jazz drummer Denardo Coleman.

In 1975, Cortez married painter, sculptor, and printmaker Melvin Edwards, and they lived in Dakar, Senegal, and New York City.

Jayne Cortez was born Sallie Jayne Richardson on the Army base at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, on May 10,1934.

Jayne Cortez's father was a career soldier who served in both world wars; her mother was a secretary.

Jayne Cortez is the second-born of three children with an older sister and a younger brother.

Young Jayne Cortez Richardson reveled in the jazz and Latin recordings that her parents collected.

Jayne Cortez studied art, music and drama in high school.

Jayne Cortez took the surname Cortez, the maiden name of her Filipino maternal grandmother, early in her artistic career.

In 1954, Jayne Cortez married jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman when she was 18 years old.

In 1964, Jayne Cortez divorced Coleman and founded the Watts Repertory Theater Company, of which she served as artistic director until 1970.

From 1977 to 1983, Jayne Cortez was an English teacher for Rutgers University.

Jayne Cortez presented her work and ideas at universities, museums, and festivals in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, the Caribbean and the United States.

Jayne Cortez's poems have been translated into 28 languages and widely published in anthologies, journals and magazines, including Postmodern American Poetry, Daughters of Africa, Poems for the Millennium, Mother Jones, and The Jazz Poetry Anthology.

Jayne Cortez's work appeared in her publications as well as on some of her album covers.

Jayne Cortez died of heart failure in Manhattan, New York, on December 28,2012, aged 78.

The musicians with whom Jayne Cortez aligned herself reflected the sociopolitical and cultural elements to which she attached the greatest importance.

Jayne Cortez became transformed by the sounds of Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and no-nonsense vocalist Dinah Washington, whose visceral approach to self-expression clearly encouraged the poet not to pull any punches.

Jayne Cortez, who respected the memory of independent performing artist Josephine Baker, preferred to name inspirations rather than influences, especially when discussing writers.

Jayne Cortez's words were usually written, chanted, and spoken in rhythmic repetition that resembled the intricate, tactile language of African and Caribbean drumming.

Jayne Cortez appeared on screen in the films Women in Jazz and Poetry in Motion by Ron Mann.

Jayne Cortez directed Yari Yari: Black Women Writers and the Future, which documented panels, readings and performances held during that conference.

Jayne Cortez was organizer of "Slave Routes: The Long Memory" and "Yari Yari Pamberi: Black Women Writers Dissecting Globalization", both international conferences held at New York University.