I was lucky to have seen Amiri Baraka read many times. And I’m honored to have spoken to him a couple of times as well. Baraka’s art and criticism is/was sui generis. I was always impressed by his intelligence, his blistering wit, his commitment to radical politics. And I will always remember having heard him read his provocative poem, “Somebody Blew Up America,” and of encountering him at the Brooklyn Museum’s Jean-Michel Basquiat retrospective, the familiar stack of newspapers bulging from under his arm, the sad, weary way he shook his head at some of the paintings. And if you’ve ever heard me talk about this infernal country’s two-party oligarchy, you’ve probably heard me say something I first heard Baraka say: “Right wing, left wing: same bird!”
Reblogged this on Gently Read Literature and commented:
Amiri Baraka was one of America’s greatest poets and political voices.