"Somebody blew up America" by Baraka

Blackwatch · #1 10-03-2002, 10:32 AM

Amiri Baraka is be labelled an anti-semite by the Anti Defamation League because of this poem, in which he suggests that Israel, along with others, knew about 9-11. I find it strange that they claim anti-semitism because someone is critical of Israel. Baraka was on CNN last night and he stated that Israel and Judaism are two different things. Also, Connie Chung (who was interviewing him) starts in on him about suggesting that Israel knew about 9-11, but he told her that FBI agents are suing people because they knew and did nothing and they are blaming it on a breakdown in intelligence. Read the poem and tell us what you think, because I have a theory about this whole war on terrorism and Iraq that I would love to discuss, if people are interested.

http://diversity.uoregon.edu/SomebodyBlewUpAmerica.htm

Blackwatch!!!!!!

Senusret I · #2 10-03-2002, 11:07 AM

The above was my favorite line in the poem.

As an MFA student, the poem was hot. The form was tight, and it was vivid and thought provoking.

I said the same thing on a listserv that I'm on: Amiri Baraka is a crotchety old man who can say what he wants to because he has earned it. If New Jersey didn't want someone controversial to be poet laureate, then they shouldn'ta picked Baraka.

What's problematic about him and a lot of other artists is that people want artists to be activists. . .I think that Baraka thinks that his role is that of "poet" and as such a messenger of some sort. I do think that Baraka's most important duty is to be a poet. It's up to the rest of us to learn, discuss, and change society as a result.

I don't really have anything to say about the war yet. . .

Professor · #3 10-03-2002, 07:52 PM

I'm know I'm off base here but Ms. Rice is a member of Delta. I thought I read on some other avenue that she is a member of one of the other GLO.

ZTAMich · #4 10-04-2002, 11:25 AM

sorry to invad your board...

Just last week I was in NJ for a poetry festival and Baraka was there and read the poem. It was the first time I ever heard it and wow was it awesome to be there now that all this is being said about it. Poetry is personal and I don't think he should be punished for using the medium for what it's for.

lovelyivy84 · #5 10-04-2002, 02:32 PM

I thought that it was fairly obvious that Israeli = Jew in this poem- 400 Israelis missed work that day?

Come on!

On the other hand, I have nothing but respect for Amirir Baraka, the man is a brilliant artist and can say whateva he want.

CrimsonTide4 · #6 10-07-2002, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Professor
I'm know I'm off base here but Ms. Rice is a member of Delta

CONDOLEEZA RICE is NOT a member of DELTA SIGMA THETA SORORITY, Inc.

Senusret I · #7 10-07-2002, 08:37 PM

but she still a skeeza....

lol, just had to throw that back in there.

Steeltrap · #8 10-08-2002, 11:47 AM

Sorry, I just can't get with the New Jersey state government on this one. Baraka, fka LeRoi Jones, has a history -- he's been a prominent poet since the late 1950s, when he was a beat of sorts before he took the radical route.

If they didn't want such a "controversial" figure as your state poet laureate, they shouldn't have picked him. The history is there; they should have done their research.

Blackwatch · #9 10-08-2002, 03:38 PM

Amiri Baraka is being attacked as anti-semetic because he criticizes the politics of Israel and proposes critiques of American foreign policy and the purpose behind Zionism. Do not get it twisted, Zionism is not about religious freedom, it is about a friendly state for America in the Middle East. In 2000, The Council on Foreign Relations (http://www.cfr.org) published a task force report that stated that the foreign policy of the US and other allied countries towards Iraq should lessen the sanctions on oil exports, and try to limit the power of Saddam Hussein by reducing his weapons of mass destruction (WMD) ability. Thus the UN inspections should increase. The CFR is a group of power statesmen so to speak (check the membership and international board of directors on the website), who's opinions weigh heavily on the minds of world leaders (I do not want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but Dick Cheney and Collin Powell have served on the CFR and Dick Cheney was with them during 2000, when this report was filed).
Everytime someone is critical of Israel, they are immediatley labelled anti-semtic by the anti-defamation league of B'nai B'rnth. It seems that the anti-semite tag most certain gets the wrath of the whole PC police. All the while Israel is nothing more than a friendly "51st" state for the US in the Middle East. The politics of Israel should not be confused with the religion of Judaism.
Think about it, certain oil companies had been desiring that a pipeline from oil field in the former Soviet Union be constructed to run through Afghanistan to the Red Sea, but the Taliban refused. After 9-11, the Taliban is gone, still no Ben-Laden, and now the new Afghani government is welcoming the pipeline. Now oil companies (Dick Cheney is the CEO of Haliburton Energy Corp.) want more oil from Iraq without giving Hussein profits and therefore more power, so now we have to war with Iraq. It is not an accident that these pleas for "Protecting Democracy" arise quickest when we talk about the Middle East. There are Human rights violations all over the world (Rwanda, North Korea, China, and in Saudi Arabia for years) and we don't try to take out their governments. In the Middle East, there is Oil, and all of the sudden it seems like democracy is most threatened there? With these things in mind, it doesn't seem to be a far stretch to think that someone in the Bush administration could have known the intellignce info that was gathered about the terrorist attacks and ignored it, so that they could take advantage of the country's sentiments and make these changes to gain more oil.
Be critical, be observant, and be prayerful in these times. Stand Tall Brother Baraka.
Blackwatch!!!!!!

PrettyKitty · #10 10-11-2002, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Professor
I'm know I'm off base here but Ms. Rice is a member of Delta. I thought I read on some other avenue that she is a member of one of the other GLO.

She is a member of Alpha Chi Omega and from what I heard, a very happy and active alumna...fyi

PrettyKitty · #11 10-11-2002, 01:34 PM

I was able to read the poem from the link that was given. But I agree, they should not have picked him if they didn't want a controversial figure. Also, I believe in free speech so, imo he has a right to write what he feels.

Senusret I · #12 10-22-2002, 09:43 AM

Somebody in my MFA program sent me the below message related to the poem:

You Can’t Fire Poetry!

In a climate where dissent and diversity are already menaced, the attempt to silence New Jersey poet laureate Amiri Baraka must not be allowed to succeed, or to further damage the right to write, speak and think openly. New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey exceeds the limits of his office by asking Baraka to resign his position as poet laureate of the state only days after his appointment because of controversial lines in a poem read at a poetry festival. The governor did not appoint Baraka to the laureateship and so has no legal capacity to fire him. Baraka was selected by New Jersey arts and humanities councils that do not have a process for firing laureates. But the issue is larger than the legalities of due or undue process. The question is whether one of the nation’s most brilliant and necessary voices can be muzzled by gubernatorial directive. The governor must learn: except in despotic regimes, you can’t fire poetry. If dissent is suppressed in America, the world will have lost even the hope of democracy. When poetry is silenced anywhere, the soul of the world dies a little. That death makes any "getting and spending" bilious and pointless.

Clyde Taylor, Professor
New York University

Manthia Diawara, Professor
New York University

St.Clair Bourne, Filmmaker