Jayne Cortez was a poet, performance artist, activist, small press publisher, and teacher who was prominent in the Black Arts Movement. Cortez performed and recorded her poems, often accompanied by jazz music. Her work is noted for its vivid and surrealistic imagery, visceral sound, and political stances, which frequently addressed racism, sexism, and class.
Sally Jayne Richardson was born on an army base in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, in 1934. Her father served in the United States Army in both world wars and her mother was a secretary. As a child, Cortez moved with her family from Arizona to the mostly Black working-class neighborhood of Watts in Los Angeles, California, where she developed an appreciation for jazz and Latin music through listening to her parents' record collection. Initially more interested in acting and theatre, Cortez studied music, drama, and art at Manual Arts High School. She attended classes at Compton Junior College and studied drama at the Ebony Showcase in Los Angeles, before shifting her focus to writing. Early on in her artistic career, she adopted Cortez, the maiden name of her Filipino maternal grandmother, as her own surname.
Cortez was married to jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman from 1954 until 1964. The two had a son, the jazz drummer Denardo Coleman. During her marriage to Coleman, Cortez supported their family by working as a waitress, in several factories, and as an office assistant. In 1963 and 1964 Cortez participated in the civil rights movement by working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to register voters in Mississippi. In 1964 she founded the Watts Repertory Theater Company, where she gave her first public poetry reading, and went on to serve as its artistic director for several years.
Cortez moved to New York City in 1967 and began traveling widely, eventually performing around the world and throughout the United States with her band, the Firespitters. In 1972 Cortez established Bola Press, through which most of her twelve volumes of poetry were published. She also released many of her records on the label including, Unsubmissive Blues (1980), There It Is (1982), Maintain Control (1987), and Cheerful and Optimistic (1994). Celebrations and Solitude (1975) was released on Strata East Records and Taking the Blues Back Home (1996) was released on Harmolodic/Verve. Her poetry has been translated into numerous languages and included in many anthologies, journals, and magazines.
In 1975 Cortez married visual artist Melvin Edwards, who illustrated many of Cortez's books and record covers. The couple kept residences in New York City and in Dakar, Senegal.
Cortez taught at Rutgers University and other colleges around the United States. She was featured, alongside artists including Amiri Baraka, John Cage, and Allen Ginsberg, in the documentary film Poetry in Motion (1982). She was the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the American Book Award (1980), a National Endowment for the Arts grant (1987), the Fannie Lou Hamer Award (1994), and the Langston Hughes Medal (2001).
In 1991, together with Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo, Cortez co-founded the Organization of Women Writers of Africa (OWWA). Cortez served as the group's president for many years, and board members included Maya Angelou, Alexis De Veaux, and Rashidah Ismaili. OWWA held Yari Yari conferences and assisted with Slave Routes conferences from the 1990s to the 2000s.
Cortez died of heart failure in 2012.