|
|
|
|
|
The
Green Party of New Jersey GREENS DENOUNCE MOVES TO OUST BARAKA |
| For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 Contact: Joe Fortunato, Green Party of New Jersey State Chair, 973-744-5958, josephfortunato@comcast.net Ted Glick, Green Party of New Jersey State Coordinator, 973-338-9214, glickforsenate2002@yahoo.com GREENS DENOUNCE MOVES TO OUST BARAKA AS POET LAUREATE; BLAST HYPOCRISY OF MCGREEVEY AND CODEY The Green Party of New Jersey today denounced the campaign spearheaded by the Anti-Defamation League and backed by NJ Governor James McGreevey and State Senator Richard Codey to remove poet and activist Amiri Baraka from the his position as NJ's official poet laureate for his creation of a poem, "Somebody Blew Up America." "Although Amiri Baraka has been highly critical of the Green Party and our electoral strategy, an issue of principle is clearly presented in this case, and we offer our support to Mr. Baraka in the efforts to defeat this political attack against him," said Joseph Fortunato - Chairman of the Green Party of New Jersey. "Baraka should not resign and the State of New Jersey should cease its efforts to remove and humiliate him. The issue is the right of a poet to be a poet, to be able to speak and to write freely, without fear of State reprisal. The attack against Mr. Baraka is politically motivated by those who are afraid to have his anti-imperialist views--especially his denunciation of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territiories--become a part of the national political conversation." Fortunato went on to state, "Anyone who reads or hears 'Somebody Blew Up America' in its entirety will clearly understand that the poem in essence denounces racism, imperialism, anti-Semitism and genocide. We need not defend all of Mr. Baraka's apparent political analysis as contained in the poem, and indeed we do not, to recognize that the attack against him is an attempted political lynching." Fortunato also blasted the hypocrisy of Gov. McGreevey and State Sen. Richard Codey, two of the most vocal advocates of Baraka's ouster. "These two Democratic Party leaders were silent about removal from office when the police chief of Keansburg, acting in his official capacity, was caught making racist comments over his police radio about Black people. The Chief recently voluntarily retired from his position with Keansburg without fanfare. Yet the Governor and this leading State Senator go after a well-respected artist, a leading 'Beat' poet and one of the founders of the Black Arts movement in our State, because they are getting pressure from those who support Israel uncritically and who seek to perpetuate the political myth that to be critical of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is to be anti-Semitic. The hypocrisy is transparent." There will be a scheduled vote on the bills to oust Amiri Baraka from his appointed position and to eliminate the Poet Laureate NJ position altogether during the 2:00 PM Legislative Session today. |
Contact the webmaster: webmaster@gpnj.org