Sunday praise: Giving thanks for Amiri Baraka

Amiri Baraka and Saul Williams

In yet more evidence of God fulfilling dreams that you didn’t even know you had, last night saw the realisation of a latent desire to be in the company of great men who have contributed significantly to our world and our lives today. 

Last night I had the privilege to spend time with legendary poet, playwright and activist, Amiri Baraka formerly known as LeRoi Jones. 

I was honoured to be able to see Baraka perform with legend-in-the-making Saul Williams at the Black Power of Speech event at KAAI Theater as part of the brilliant Spoken World Festival. I even dared to hope that I may be able to get my book signed, which would have been good enough. Watching Baraka, age 77, interacting with Williams, 39, was a lesson in contemporary black history and intergenerational dialogue and taught us all just how much we can learn from our elders and wisers. 

To be able to sit down with the great man over a beer (his) and in the collected good company of old friends and a new one was an education and a privilege. Baraka spoke to us about his life and times and expanded on some of the topics he’d raised in his performance and during his conversation with Williams and Flemish journalist, Frank Albers.

He spoke about how he was kicked out of the US Air Force and thrown in prison for one of his poems; about how he and African-Americans in the civil rights era looked up to African leaders back in the day but now there’s no one left to look up to; and about how African-Americans need to learn to be more sophisticated in their critiques of the first black president (although he's not feeling Tavis Smiley and Cornel West at all!). 

He told us how, in the Sixties, he empowered his New York community by sending out buses loaded with books, art and music to make culture accessible and engender pride in culture; his experiences of speaking his truth around the world and performing his poetry to diverse and, on rare occasions, hostile audiences; and his run-ins with the establishment even to this day.It was a revelation and a pleasure and we talked long in to the night, eventually leaving the theatre at just after one in the morning. The show officially finished at ten forty-five. 

I’m often asked why I don’t go into politics given that the political interests me. My reply is always that I’d like to contribute to changing the world and engaging in the political discourse in ways that are more natural to me. Last night, Baraka and Williams reinforced for me that my way is through words, written and spoken. Not that I was in any doubt but they served as a timely and powerful reminder. The event also reminded me - us - that living in Brussels has its benefits. The opportunity to get close to renowned international artists is definitely one of its lesser known advantages.

I thank God for the opportunity to engage in conversation with someone who has lived a life and did something with potent it and I pray that I take from this encounter the lesson I was meant to take. I pray that there are many more opportunities to learn from the wisdom of elders.

Read Somebody Blew Up America, the poem that got Baraka fired from his Poet Laureate position in New Jersey after 9/11.