poetrywriter
07-01-2003, 09:42 PM
N.J. Lawmakers Vote to End Poet Laureate
By TOM BELL
Associated Press Writer
July 1, 2003, 5:08 PM EDT
TRENTON, N.J. -- State lawmakers voted Tuesday to eliminate the position of poet laureate of New Jersey -- an effort that began after Amiri Baraka wrote a poem suggesting Israel had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The Assembly approved a bill Tuesday that passed the Senate in January. Gov. James E. McGreevey, who cut off the $10,000 annual stipend that goes to the poet laureate after Baraka refused to resign, intends to sign the bill, according to a spokesman.
Abolishing the position was the only way to remove Baraka because the governor and Legislature cannot fire the poet laureate.
Baraka was criticized after reading his 60-stanza poem "Somebody Blew Up America" at a festival last summer. It included the lines: "Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed/Who told 4,000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers to stay home that day?/Why did Sharon stay away?"
After Tuesday's vote, Baraka said he would sue the state for violating his First Amendment rights and for slander.
"Very few of those people have even read that poem," Baraka said. "I can't have a differing opinion about a foreign state?"
He was named poet laureate last July.
Democratic Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, a sponsor of the bill, said Baraka stepped over the line.
"Baraka certainly has the right to write his poetry," she said. "But Baraka used the position as a jumping off point for his own political motives. All under the umbrella of his position as New Jersey's poet laureate."
Democratic Assemblyman William Payne disagreed, arguing that while Baraka's views should be condemned, the position of poet laureate should not be abolished.
"This legislation flies in the face of New Jersey being an enlightened state," Payne said. "This is a position that is very, very valuable."
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These assholes obviously don't have the first clue as to who Amiri Baraka is or what he writes. The majority of the poetry he has written has been political. This, along with the budget they just passed that makes deep cuts in allocations for higher education and the arts, simply proves that New Jersey does indeed suck.
By TOM BELL
Associated Press Writer
July 1, 2003, 5:08 PM EDT
TRENTON, N.J. -- State lawmakers voted Tuesday to eliminate the position of poet laureate of New Jersey -- an effort that began after Amiri Baraka wrote a poem suggesting Israel had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The Assembly approved a bill Tuesday that passed the Senate in January. Gov. James E. McGreevey, who cut off the $10,000 annual stipend that goes to the poet laureate after Baraka refused to resign, intends to sign the bill, according to a spokesman.
Abolishing the position was the only way to remove Baraka because the governor and Legislature cannot fire the poet laureate.
Baraka was criticized after reading his 60-stanza poem "Somebody Blew Up America" at a festival last summer. It included the lines: "Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed/Who told 4,000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers to stay home that day?/Why did Sharon stay away?"
After Tuesday's vote, Baraka said he would sue the state for violating his First Amendment rights and for slander.
"Very few of those people have even read that poem," Baraka said. "I can't have a differing opinion about a foreign state?"
He was named poet laureate last July.
Democratic Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, a sponsor of the bill, said Baraka stepped over the line.
"Baraka certainly has the right to write his poetry," she said. "But Baraka used the position as a jumping off point for his own political motives. All under the umbrella of his position as New Jersey's poet laureate."
Democratic Assemblyman William Payne disagreed, arguing that while Baraka's views should be condemned, the position of poet laureate should not be abolished.
"This legislation flies in the face of New Jersey being an enlightened state," Payne said. "This is a position that is very, very valuable."
_____________
These assholes obviously don't have the first clue as to who Amiri Baraka is or what he writes. The majority of the poetry he has written has been political. This, along with the budget they just passed that makes deep cuts in allocations for higher education and the arts, simply proves that New Jersey does indeed suck.