Amiri and Amina Baraka

Amiri and Amina Baraka
Originally uploaded by triciawang.

Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn

Amiri and Amina Baraka are the first people I saw perform when I moved to Brooklyn - He signed my copy of his poem book. It was at the Bowery Poetry Club and it was post 9-11 and has just written that inflammatory poem that pissed everyone off and resulted in NJ stripping him of his Poet Laurete status. I don't agree with all his statements - especially those about Jewish people - but he aptly catpures a lot of the anger that people have with the system and makes a lot of great points about society and government - his antics are a bit old school but you still gotta give it to him speaking up still.