Amiri Baraka on Election 2008
Amiri Baraka is the author of over 40 books of essays, poems, drama, and music history. Baraka is considered by many to be a living icon of the Black Arts Movement which exploded onto the 1960’s scene, throwing down the cultural gauntlet and pushing Negroes to become black.
Baraka was selected as New Jersey’s state poet laureate in 2002 but was asked to resign a few months later amid charges of anti-Semitism in his poem about the 9/11 attack, “Somebody Blew Up America”. Baraka vehemently denied being anti-Semitic and refused to resign; in response, the New Jersey State legislature voted to eliminate the poet laureate post. Despite a recent refusal by the Supreme Court to hear his appeal, Baraka maintains that he is still the poet laureate of New Jersey and continues to give readings here and abroad.
I sat down with Amiri Baraka after his presentation for ACT Roxbury at Hibernian Hall (which is quickly becoming a culture & arts mecca in Boston) to get his impressions on Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy.
