stop it” (“Postscript” 54). Baraka is also perhaps guilty of perpetuating what many regard
as an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that Israel, among other countries, knew
beforehand about the impending attack.
James E. McGreevey, New Jersey’s governor, asked him to step down—
ironically (McCullough and Broek). His request was ironic because he delayed his own
resignation that resulted from the discovery of his adulterous affair with an Israeli he had
previously appointed as a homeland security advisor and, with credentials similar to
Baraka’s, was both a published poet and a former officer in the Israeli Defense Forces
(Kocieniewski, Kohen). Ain’t that something? In any event, Baraka refused to move
aside. His exact response was “I will not apologize. I will not resign (“Postscript” 55).
The state constitution had no provision for removing him from the post, so instead the
New Jersey General Assembly abolished it (McCullough and Broek). Baraka persisted
and sued. However, in 2007, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
ruled that New Jersey officials were immune from his suit; later that year, the United
States Supreme Court declined to review the case (McCullough and Broek). It is
unfortunate that Amiri died a few months before his son Ras Baraka was elected Major
of Newark.
For the poem and his defense of it, Amiri Baraka was condemned by many and
championed by few.24 However, that response characterizes the general reaction about
anyone, the few, during that time who dared to question or speak critically of America.
When the poem first appeared it had, still has, the potential to be the Howl for this
generation. What’s most disturbing is not what the poem says or what was said about
the poem; it’s that as a whole, we care so little about the poem and the
context/controversy surrounding it. “Somebody Blew Up America” asks important
questions about the nature of the material of this world’s fabric. And we virtually ignored
it. The poem says “all night, all day if you listen, Like an Owl / Exploding in fire. We hear
the questions rise / In terrible flame like 0