One of the best perks that comes with being an English major is being exposed to awesome works and amazing writers. This week, my class read Amiri Baraka, and I just don’t understand how I’ve been able to live without his work, you know?
(Courtesy of Poetry Foundation)
Quick background: Baraka was born with the name LeRoi Jones, but he then changed it to Amiri Baraka, after the death of Malcolm X. He was a writer, poet, teacher, and a political activist. He founded the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School, which started the Black Arts Movements, back in the 1960s. He died in 2014.
Some of his works we read were In Town, Jungle Jim, Somebody Blew Up America, and Dutchman. They’re all great; however, as I was going through these I came across one of his other works that caught my attention- Why is We Americans (Excerpt).
First things first, his style. This man can write. This man can perform! Just that opening, “What I want is me. For real. I want me and myself. And what that is is what I be and what I see and feel and who is me in the what it is, is who it is, and when it me its what is be…” Just how he puts together his words together just to portray just his state of mind about to go off, really. It’s so insane! If you watch him recite other poems, he always is accompanied by a saxophone with a jazz, blues tune to go along with him. In this poem, he doesn’t, but he does the beat himself- maintaining true to his style and form. His word choice, the rhymes, his flow, his emotion, his anger- “ALL THAT, ALL THAT, ALL THAT!” He’s a writing genius! A lot of this, spoken-word poetry, is the stem or the roots of hip-hop and rap, which is why Baraka was well-known in the hip-hop community.
Now, the content. Baraka is known for the anger and controversy in his works. One of the main topics he hits is the oppression of the African American by the White America. In this poem, however, he touched on, not only the black community but the Minority community as a whole. Essentially, he’s listing everything this community has the right to but is denied. Most importantly, he’s demanding respect. Minority communities are often referred to as not being American- ‘immigrants’, but in reality, WE ALL ARE AMERICAN. He makes reference to the land being taken away from Native Americans, North Mexico.
He’s just so unapologetic and I live for it! My tastes are very singular (in my Christian Grey voice). I love everything about it! What intrigues me more to it, is the fact that it’s so relevant. Granted, oppression has been an ongoing problem, it seems like since the election, it got louder. I just wonder what Baraka would do if he was still alive, now?