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Letter to
Amiri
from Jamie Walker
Amiri,
I was absolutely outraged watching O'Reilly tonight on the show.
Although I applaud your efforts in responding honestly to his
questions, in giving him pure Common Sense, I couldn't help
but think how much of an asshole he was and how rude he
was. He didn't even let you finish speaking; it was obvious he
didn't really know 'who' you were; never read an Amiri Baraka
book in his entire life and then took one of your most famous
poems and tried to distort it. It's clear he knows nothing about
the Black Arts movement, the significance of the poem that
helped to fuel the movement, or in what way the poem was a
manifestation of the Black Aesthetic.
What
an idiot he was! And I noticed you kept saying, "Why
you keep talking about my poems from the 60s." It's obvious
that he also didn't pull the material himself. How very limited.
What the show proved was that he knows nothing about poetry, has
not read any poetry (and really none of yours or that of the
Black Arts movement), which therefore makes him illiterate. Even
a 7th grade English teacher knows the meaning behind that poem;
and I am talking about white people and white instructors
too.
It's
clear and absolutely obvious who his supporters and funders are
(other bigots) and that he must have had a lot of support in
actually going 'against' you on the show. What nonsense! I
thought and hoped you wouldn't shake his hand but thought it
only decent that you did, and really do commend you for standing
your ground.
What
is so ironic about the whole ordeal is that he attacked you for
writing about how the Bush administration and other countries
knew about the events that were going to take place on the World
Trade Center long in advance, and then he turns around and
interviews other people who are against the war in Iraq, and
thus Bush. None of which makes anyone un-patriotic.
I
think he was rude and inconsiderate and clearly did not do his
homework. Do any of them?
I just wanted to let you know that I watched and taped the show.
And those brothers and sisters who ain't got cable are emailing
me now, talking about "How can I get a copy?"
(laughing out loud) I am broke as hell, too!
No, really. Rudolph Lewis who is the creator of the ChickenBones
Journal website at http://www.nathanielturner.com
would like to know how he could get a copy of the transcript as
well. You deserve a long in-depth interview with someone who
really knows and understands your work and your contributions.
Have any black media tv personalities had you on TV yet about
the poem? Why haven't any black magazines did cover stories on
you? Black Issues Book Review hasn’t done anything --
Essence, Ebony, any of them. You should
really be on the cover. This is news. It affects not only us,
but absolutely everyone. Anyone who is human that has some
sense; and it affects those who ain't got no sense as well
because as a result they continue to remain ignorant and
unconscious.
This country is sickening. The Bush administration is sickening.
I am glad you have the guts and the skills to write about it and
to critique and deconstruct it all honestly.
I salute you! And the Ancestors from the Heavens do as well.
Peace and Light, Baraka.
POET-ON!!!!
:)
THEY BETTER PAY UP!!! PUT THE MONEY AND THE HEART WHERE IT IS
DUE SO THAT YOU CAN CONTINUE TO TEACH, SPEAK, AND SPREAD YOUR
PEACE ALL OVER THIS LAND.
I am sending you love and light.
Peace and Light,
Jamie Walker, Author
101 Ways Black Women Can Learn to Love Themselves
http://www.jamiewalker.org
P.S.
All of the above is unedited. I am sending as it is.
:) These are my feelings, straight up. Thanks for being such an
inspiration to me and my generation and those in the world over
for so many years. I love you. Give my love also to Amina and
Ras.
:) In
praise and support of Amiri Baraka
By
Jamie Walker
Especially
loved and enjoyed and appreciated yr write-up. Thank you. I was
patiently waiting a response from you and knew that it would
eventually come, even though so much nonsense is going on around
you (or trying to). I am glad that you are not letting this get
to you. You deserve very much the award that you have received
and, if it were up to me, you would have received it (and many
more) long ago. I especially liked this prophetic line:
"Well if being anti democratic were a good rationalization
for foreign invasions of countries then the United States better
watch out because the Florida coup, which tricked the American
people into accepting Bush as President is anything but
democratic."
I also appreciate this too because I and millions of others I am
sure feel the exact same way. I have been stressing this since
day one:
"And as for Saddam having "weapons of mass
destruction" (or mass diversion as some critics say) The US
has these weapons. So do Israel, South Africa, Germany, France,
Italy, England, Russia, and now China, India, Pakistan. How is
it the US and its allies (except the Chinese) can have such
weapons, but no one else can. The answer to that, of course, is
White Supremacy and Imperialism."
I'm sending you Peace and Light.
Absolutely excellent, well written speech, drawing upon years of
study, knowledge, research, common sense, and, above all, Truth!
Continue to write and publish, Baraka. POET-ON. Neither
McGreevey, the ADL, Asscraft, nor the 'counterfeit president,'
has got anything on you. They can't touch yr Beauty or yr Truth.
In fact, it is because of yr Beauty (yr words, yr poems, and yr
Truth) that they fear you because you, like many of our ancient
African ancestors have the power and potential to move and lead
millions; to cause us to re-think and especially to
"act"; you speak directly to the spiritual and
cultural needs of Black people (the masses, displaced throughout
the Diaspora) and this, of course, is a threat to capitalist and
colonialist/Imperialist forces.
But let not that stop a great poet from poeting, speaking,
breathing, living, or spreading the Truth.
POET-ON, Baraka. POET-ON. Your words ring loud and true and
clear, and it is well nigh past time that colonizing Others got
hip. As Sonia Sanchez once noted in a class that I was taking
with her this past Fall at Howard University:
"This is not a time for foolish talk. This is a time for
silence. We must think before we speak. Meditate. Contemplate.
Focus on our 'inner.' Who we really are. And what this world is
really about, finally. Because the enemy is not the Arabs. The
enemy is always the subtext, which is you....It's up to the
poets to give the terrorists new names. Because you know they
surely would have called Harriet Tubman a terrorist. And really,
one of the first terrorist attacks occurred right here, in this
country, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when they bombed 'Black Wall Street'..."
Was not the bombing of MOVE in Philadelphia a terrorist attack?
It is true, Baraka, as Sonia often mentions, we must
"maintain this earth." We must continue to write our
poetry and negotiate peace.
Just know that we, yr people, who are, in truth, a baddDDD
people, are here with you, praising and celebrating every
last word.
A luta continua,
Jamie Walker, Author :)
101 Ways Black Women Can Learn to Love Themselves: A Gift for Women
of All Ages
10/4/02
2:15am |
