World Class Poetry Blog

Amiri Baraka: Radical Poet, Radical Voice of Black America
14 December 2007, the poet @ 11:29 pm

When former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey sought to relieve New Jersey poet laureate Amiri Baraka from his appointed position the governor found there was no legal precedent for doing so. He then asked that the position be discontinued, and it was. So what did Amiri Baraka do that McGreevey wanted him gone? He wrote a poem.

The event occurred directly after September 11, 2001. Amiri Baraka, then the New Jersey poet laureate, wrote a controversial poem titled “Somebody Blew Up America.” In the poem he decried racism in America and blamed the nation Israel for the attack on America. A protest led to a huge controversy and Baraka ended up without a post.

Baraka has never been a stranger to controversy. Since the 1960s and his involvement with the Beats he had been a controversial figure. As he grew older, he grew more controversial.

Baraka’s life started in Newark, New Jersey as Everett LeRoi Jones. He changed his name in the late 1960s after converting to the Muslim faith and Marxist political affiliation. He has been a very popular voice in American poetics since then and his controversy has only led to that popularity. You can learn more about Amiri Baraka and his poetry at World Class Poetry.

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