Daughter of N.J. Poet, Friend, Killed

[wndycty]

Daughter of N.J. Poet, Friend, Killed

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

August 14, 2003
New Brunswick, N.J. - The daughter of New Jersey's deposed poet laureate Amiri Baraka and her friend have been shot to death, authorities said yesterday.
The bodies of Shani Baraka, 31, and Rayshon Holmes, 30, were discovered Tuesday night in the Piscataway home that Shani Baraka shared with her sister, said Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan.
Both were shot several times in the head and body, Kaplan said.
-snip-

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uspoet143413925aug14,0,3593085.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-print

[noiretextatique]

1. tragic

i hope they catch this guy soon. rip shani and rayshon.

[DUreader]

2. Any Jersey folks know more

this is so fucked up

[QuietStorm]

9. The original article on Amiri being deposed

was printed in newsday. That article is not there anymore, but here are some other articles on the issue:

_________

New Black Panthers ask mayor for $20,000

By Pamela Garretson, Daily Record

MORRISTOWN - During a news conference called to support deposed poet laureate Amiri Baraka, members of the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense said they would demand $20,000 from the mayor and town council to support the Million Youth March.

http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/articles/news4-Newblackpanthers.htm

__________

N.J. Senate Votes To Remove Controversial Poet Laureate

Jan 23, 2003 10:24 pm US/Eastern
TRENTON (AP) The state Senate on Thursday voted to remove Amiri Baraka, the state poet laureate who ignited controversy with a poem that implied Israel had advance knowledge of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

After a debate that lasted hours, legislators chose to take action on a bill to eliminate the position altogether. The measure still must pass the Assembly.

Current rules say the title cannot be rescinded and the governor and Legislature cannot fire Baraka, who has been poet laureate since July.

Baraka has faced criticism since reading his 60-stanza poem "Somebody Blew Up America" at a festival last summer.

http://kyw.com/Local%20News/local_story_023222632.html

Other articles:

http://www.observer.com/pages/story.asp?ID=6465

[DUreader]

15. Thanks, but I mean further info on the murder from local press

I appreciate the links , tho I am well aware of the Poetry by Gov't. fiasco

[QuietStorm]

18. seems all the news stories on the murder

are echoing each other right now.

[DUreader]

19. OK Thanks again , Q.S.

cheers

[wickerwoman]

26. Here's a link to the local paper:

http://www.thnt.com/thnt/story/0,21282,788107,00.html

It sounds like she was staying at her sister's house and the sister's ex-husband is a suspect.

[QuietStorm]

3. get out

I remember when this guy lost his poet laureate, just recently too. This is not a coincidence. Sorry this is not a coincidence.

[ikojo]

4. Wasn't the poet laureate of NJ deposed

because he was deemed "antisemitic?" I seem to recall a big hue and cry about one of his poems that allegedly blamed Israel for 9/11/01.

Could anyone elaborate why he was deposed? Was the antisemitism canard just a convenient reason to get rid of someone who upset the status quo?

[QuietStorm]

5. Last Paragragh

" Amiri Baraka's post as poet laureate was eliminated last month after he wrote a poem suggesting that Israel had advance knowledge of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "

I read an article back when he was deposed. They printed the poem in the article.

[BushNixon04]

8. he didnt "blame Israel"

he asked a question in a single line of a poem about the (not yet then) contradicted myth about how a bunch of Israeli WTC employees stayed home the day of the attacks. It was a question, not an accusation.

On edit:

Baraka wrote a response for Counterpunch, which can be found here:

http://www.counterpunch.org/baraka1007.html

[QuietStorm]

13. An assault on spoken word.

I read counterpunch regularly, but I missed this article. I just chalked up the depossession of Baraka and moved on. However, you interpret his poem, it did not surprise me it would get a backlash. Thanks for posting it.

[BushNixon04]

16. I always wondered

how the hell Baraka got the Laureate position in the 1st place -- the man is well-known for his incendiary politics. Strange decision on NJ's part politically.

[QuietStorm]

17. It is a shame really,

depending on a poet's, or a spoken word artist's, style, some stir it up consciously. They mirror society. That is their job. Some go a step further and try to offer solutions, rather than just mirroring it.

The poem to me was a collection of impressions that were left on the psyche of america that day. There were many. (As well as commenting on the corruption of power, etc.). I wonder if Baraka had been another culture and had written those same words, if it would have created that much of a stir? You know like if instead it was Brooke Shields who wrote the poem and read it outloud at a Princeton event, or Tom Cruise?

[noiretextatique]

12. in a word: YES

his poem was critical of the bushistas and others just like them....definitely punishement for upsetting the status quo. there are a few lines in the poem that some take issue with...repeating the "jews left the building" meme that was reported at the time, and proved to be false. however, the poem, in its entirety, is clearly a criticism of power fucking over the people.

[QuietStorm]

14. Passions are high

People are wary. Certain subjects tricky. Someone placed the poem below. You are correct regarding the main thrust of the poem.

[StrongBad]

6. Weird

I live in New Brunswick (go to school at Rutgers). I haven't heard anything about this incident but it sure did freak me out to know something like that happened in my neighborhood.

[CWebster]

7. DLC whore McGreevy

of all the decent Dems in Jersey this dimwit would be the governor who is responsible for blowing the Baraka issue out of proportion. The blabbering nitwit wins as many popularity contests as Grey Davis.

[StrongBad]

10. I don't care for him much either

He is murdering public higher education in this state.

In all fairness though, much of the state's budget crisis today can be traced to Christine Whitman's tenure as gov.

[Minstrel Boy]

11. "Somebody blew up America"

is the name of the poem. It can be read here:

http://www.amiribaraka.com/blew.html

Here's an excerpt:


Who fount Bin Laden, maybe they Satan
Who pay the CIA,
Who knew the bomb was gonna blow
Who know why the terrorists
Learned to fly in Florida, San Diego

Who know why Five Israelis was filming the explosion
And cracking they sides at the notion

Who need fossil fuel when the sun ain't goin' nowhere

[DemBones DemBones]

20. The poem mentions Israelis "cracking they sides" while "filming

the explosion" and repeats the "4000 Israelis stayed home" from the WTC story but also mentions Jews as victims more than once.

Who own your crib
Who rob and steal and cheat and murder
       and make lies the truth
Who call you uncouth

Who live in the biggest house
Who do the biggest crime
Who go on vacation anytime

Who killed the most niggers
Who killed the most Jews
Who killed the most Italians
Who killed the most Irish
Who killed the most Africans
Who killed the most Japanese
Who killed the most Latinos

 Who/Who/Who


It slams those in power as being reponsible for 9/11.

[Minstrel Boy]

22. and though Baraka was wrong about the 4,000

staying home, he was right about the five gleeful Israelis filming the attack. That's not an urban myth or an antisemitic canard. They were held for months and suspected of working for Israeli intelligence.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/DailyNews/2020_whitevan_020621.html

[0007]

21. Great poem

Is this why she was murdered?

Man! does the truth hurt, but the thing is there is aways one to take his place and that one will always be stronger
and better than the last.

WHO WHO WHO you have my blessings!

[Democrat2004]

23. so sad

my sympathy

[newyawker99]

32. Hi Democrat2004!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[qanda]

24. This is terrible...

I hope they catch whoever did it. My thoughts and prayers are with the family.

[hackwriter]

25. Somebody please tell me you're not blaming Jews for this....

eom

[alaine]

27. I think it is right-wing obfuscation.

The poem is clearly pointing it's finger at Bush and the right wing:

"Who do Tom Ass Clarence work for
Who doo doo come out the Colon's mouth.."

I just wonder if it is the right that wanted Baraka deposed and used the line about the 4000 people to get rid of him.

This man is a genius there is no doubt. I got the impression from the end of the poem that he was saying it was a greater force, the devil, but I don't know if that is too literal an interpretation. He seems to be going on about why we can't see something that is so obvious.

This poem is extremely critical of the BFEE and the whole european manifest destiny attitude, if I were to suspect anyone of foul play it would be white Christians who support Bush.

[noiretextatique]

28. only you mentioned this

the article states the police suspect her sister's estranged husband.

[latebloomer]

29. Yup, it kills me that only the "anti-semitic"

aspect is ever mentioned, when the poem is almost entirely about the evil corruption of the powers that be.

It's like they don't want anybody to realize what the poem is actually saying.

[cantwealljustgetalong]

30. Neighbors: Loud parties the norm at scene of crime...

PISCATAWAY -- Martin Lane used to be known as a quiet street, where grandparents often remained after their children moved away to raise families of their own.

Five years ago, Wanda Pasha moved in.

The daughter of New Jersey's deposed poet laureate Amiri Baraka, Pasha brought with her a party atmosphere punctuated by noisy guests, loud music and alcohol that disrupted the tranquility of this one-block street of middle-class residents.

"From the day they moved in, there's been nothing but trouble," said Betty Erlandsen, 59, a 30-year resident and Pasha's next-door neighbor.

At 15 Martin Lane, loud summer parties with trays of food and playful outbursts became a routine on the weekends, when at least 50 guests at a time crowded around the back yard's in-ground swimming pool, Erlandsen said.

The grandmother of seven described the parties as "wild" and "massive," during which guests lined the street with cars and discarded bottles of alcohol in her yard. The music was so loud at one bash two years ago that Erlandsen's china set rattled, she said.

Police officers, in response to neighbors' complaints, became regulars at the parties, which would last late into the night, Erlandsen said. A police sergeant could not confirm Wednesday night if officers responded to any complaints at the home.

...

http://www.c-n.com/news/c-n/story/0,2111,787938,00.html

[noiretextatique]

31. "But this summer, there were no disturbances, except for a new pit bull"

it seems things calmed down considerably once the sister wanda left. she, or rather her husband, seems to the main focus of the police investigation. apparently, for good reasons.