Black History Month-- Amiri Baraka

Born Everette Leroy Jones on October 7, 1934 in Newark, New Jersey, African American literary poet and advent conversationalist, Amiri Baraka's career has spanned almost 50 years. He has written numerous books of poetry on topics on black liberation, white racism, music and literature. His most notable work was "Music: the reflection of Jazz and Blues." In 1958, he married a Jewish women and poet, Hettie Jones. A famed quote from Baraka taken from an article he authored, " The Myth of a Negro Literature" he wrote," As long as black writers were obsessed with being an accepted middle class, they would never be able to speak their mind, and that would always lead to failure." Baraka felt that America only made room for white obfuscators, not black ones. In the early 1960's he wrote a controversial play called "Dutchman" in which a black man gets attacked by a white woman on a subway, which he received an Obie Award for best American Play. Later his works turned from revolutionary to controversial like the poem "Black Art", in which he expressed violence as a necessity to establish the Black World.

--"Let there be no love poems written / until love can exist freely and cleanly" and " we want a black poem and a black world" which was a cry on social injustices and racism during those times.

After the death of Malcolm X, Baraka stated that after the assassination of Malcolm X he found himself thinking "As a Black man married to a white woman, I began to feel estranged from her … How could someone be married to the enemy?" So he divorced Hettie and left her with their two mixed race daughters.

In the 1970's Amiri's political views turned from Black Nationalist to Communist, though he always showed favor toward communism in much of his writings such as "Declaration of Conscience" in which he fervently supported Fidel Castro's regime. He claimed the new Black Nationalists tarnished the movements ideals and work.

He taught at Columbia University and Stony Brook where he earned his title as professor emeritus of African Studies.

Though he was was an outspoken man during the Civil Rights movement and received a lot of positive attention and influence, he definitely had caused quite a stir for the Antisemitism, racism, homophobia, and sexism found in his works. Many argued that his self-righteousness and impulses toward separatism and Stalinist repression caused his literature to suffer. He died on January 9, 2014 due to diabetic complications.

America's New President

Time sure has flew since I have last been on here, and ALOT has changed. One being Donald Trump is now our nations President. And along with this impending onslaught we have Mike Pence as Vice President. My question for America is why? Why would a country that have up until recently, made better political strides, throw us 100 steps back?  I can offer a few obvious reasons. Our Nation is founded on racism and bigotry. Of less than half of America's population, 63 percent of his votes were white males and 53 white women. Our country seems to be under the impression that racism is no longer an issue. Well, seeing as Donald Trump is our 45th President I would beg to differ. His entire candidacy was a sad screaming match. Whenever called out by the the other candidates he would resort to bullying. Although some saw this as a red flag, Trumpets said he was "joking", or "he didn't really mean it". We sat back and watched as Trump made fun of a disabled journalist, make racist statements about minorities, victim blame rape survivors, make misogynist remarks, talk about grabbing a woman's pussy, etc,.. Still to his supporters, it was never really his fault, always a brush off the shoulder. To them he was their savior from what they considered a corrupt system. Donald Trump was going to Make America Great Again... But to what exactly? What part of our history does Trump and his supporters consider great? Historically speaking, this country had enslaved, discriminated against, and done even worse to a plethora of minority groups, women and the poor. Yet they still maintained a strong belief that those times were better. Taking the rights away of those whose predecessors have fought long and hard for their human rights will not not make this place great. It will however allow us to watch as the country buries it's self into a whole so deep, it will take generations to dig ourselves out. That is a disheartening fact...

Wow.. It's been a while. Still not a very popular page, surprising.... Well, I'm still going to post. Even if no one is going to read it. I'm doing this for me. This can be therapeutic.
      So. what have I been up since my last post. Well I've always been the woman with many ideas but no commitment. Let's take a step back into 2010, the year I graduted from highschool. That was going to be my big year. The year I ultimately changed my life. I had plans of moving away, attending a college in the south,  and getting a part-time job. I was excited and I bragged to all of my friends about my plans. But having a slight case of senioritis, my will to turn plan into action was slow, to say the least. I intended on applying to colleges, I intended on moving out of my mothers house and oh did I EVER INTEND to get a job, no matter how low the income was. Nay, I had nothing to show for that year. Absolutely nothing. To keep up appearances I told myself and others that I was on a journey of self-discovery. That I wanted to find out who I was and what I really wanted out life. How proud I was of myself for making up such a-what I thought was- deep lie. Slowly, reality had set in by the end of the year, and I had blown all my graduation money on frivolities, I set out job hunting. Who knew that job hunting could be so tedious and difficult. I mean really, you would objectively assume that finding a minimum wage job would be somewhat easy a task. OH NO my friend. Let's just say my hunt for a real job continued well in to 2011. By the end of the year I had finally found a job and was fairly proud of myself for assimilating as a member of a patriarchal soiety. Seriously speaking, I needed an income. Anyway this job continued well into early 2012, but do to the fact that I worried about my own safety on duty, I severed ties. And the hunting season came early that year. But I never got any game, get it? I made a funny... Time went on, and  the wicked witch was getting antsy, what with two adults , living in her house, without jobs. The threats came rolling in and before I knew it, she wanted us out the house. Fast forward five months, I'm finally out the house and going to school. Things are slow as of late, but I don't regret my decision in the least. I look at the glass as half full nowadays.