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Newark, New Jersey may be a prototype city in the People's Republic of North American Africa.
It may hold answers to many questions raised or to be raised inPlato Negro's Republic, a work in progress. Of course, Newark is home ofAmiri Baraka, poet-playwright, activist, chief architect of the BlackArts Movement. More importantly for this discussion, Baraka has beendeeply involved in Newark politics, most recently his son Ras won a seaton the city council. But the father's organization was critical in theelection of Newark's first black mayor Kenneth Gibson back in the 60s.Since then, his children have not known a white mayor, although theblack mayors have been severely addicted to white supremacy, includingthe present mayor Cory Booker. In an effort to help the mayor and citycouncil recover from their addiction to white supremacy, Baraka gavethem copies of my book How to Recover from the Addiction WhiteSupremacy, Black Bird Press, Berkeley, 2007). He doubts they will followthe manual that calls for detox and recovery based on the 12-model.

Baraka recently admitted that perhaps he should have run for officerather than put in the Negroes, beginning with Gibson who had sold outbefore he took the oath of office. It is for this reason that PlatoNegro's Republic calls for men and women of high morals and spiritualconsciousness to be about the political business of the Republic ofNorth American African. How can we advance by repeatedly putting sick,corrupt Negroes in political office. It is an effort in futility. Atsome point we must transcend the black face and get to the black heartand soul. That must be our focus, yet we continue to get stuck onstupid, like children in pre-school learning their colors! Yes, Newarkis a black city and deserves a black mayor, yes, one that is not a blackwith a white heart! Let's get to the heart of the matter!

With Ras Baraka we know we have a child born with consciousness inhis DNA, so he is the model of the political personality needed in theRepublic. A few years ago he jumped into the race for mayor withoutinforming his father, and of course he lost. Nothing happens in Newarkwithout the consent and blessing of the godfather Amiri who was honoredwith a week long celebration of his 75th birthday last year. Rascontinued his political sojourn, building his organization until he wasfinally successful. Ras and his hip hop generation are a model of whatshall be needed in the Republic, whether it is a separate state orexists within the borders of these United Snakes. But it is not simplyabout age or youth, rather consciousness. Are you addicted to the whitesupremacy agenda, attracted to materialism, trinkets, gadgets, rocks,animal skins, plastic. Will you take a bribe, get set up with a woman.Let us pray for Ras, for as we look around the country, we seecorruption in the land, from the fall of Detroit's young Kwame to othercities where North American African political officials are either injail or under indictment for corruption. If I'm correct, all the blackmayors in Newark were either indicted and/or were found guilty ofcorruption and served time, including the last mayor, Sharp James. Whatshall be the fate of the young Cory Booker? Will he detox and recoverfrom the addiction to white supremacy? Maybe Councilman Ras will be ableto lend him a back bone!
--Marvin X
6/28/10

The following is an update on Newark by the Godfather himself:

A few weeks after Ras Baraka beat down Mayor Corey Booker’s candidate, Oscar James, Jr. by over 1000 votes to becomeSouth Ward Councilman, Darrin Sharif edged another Booker backedcandidate, Charles Bell, in a Central Ward run-off election, by 11votes! These election victories suggest significant changes in thefuture of Newarkpolitics.

The interesting twist in all this good news ,at least for people who want a city council out from underMayor Booker’s well advertised thumb, is that the local (Booker Backing)media, like the Star Ledger , and it’s channel 12 New Jersey News, havebarely mentioned these happenings, which are both stunning politicalupsets.

The reason why these races have been under covered and left relatively obscure, is that Booker’s handlerswant to continue to feed the image they have created ,with their“outside handler bias”, is that Corey Booker is invincible and “TheNext!” whatever they want him to be. The fact that two “chilly homeboys”(even though they are the sons Amiri and Amina Baraka and CarlSharif)could lay Booker’s champion low with much less money than thevaunted Booker Bux, has important, and for them, very embarrassinglessons. First that it is People that vote, not money, even though the“Extreme court” has seen fit to let the dogs out, by voting to removelimits on Corporate spending in elections, allowing the corpsestheoretically to dominate all elections they want. This , of course,makes any declarations of “Democracy quite false.

But despite this, which seems a capitalist (and perhaps racist tinged) reaction to Obama’s grass roots fueled victory,there are things yet that money can’t automatically buy. In bothBaraka’s and Sharif’s campaign, the priority was face to face doorknocking campaigning. While Booker bashed away with his money ball.Booker spent literally millions of dollars trying to stop Ras Baraka, bypresenting expensive ads on CNN every few hours. One with the stockstereotype middle class negress city council president saying “she likedRas Baraka” but how could he be a high school principal and Citycouncilman at the same time. Plus her candidate helped the crossingguards.

In Sharif’s race, Booker had his opponents literature pasted up all over the place. Although the Mayortold me in an earlier conversation when I called him to protest histhugs tearing down Ras’ signs, that they “were only tearing down illegalsigns”. (The ones without green cards?”) But to no avail, despite allthat money spent, and incidences of Booker people trying to vote morethan once (My wife and other co workers actually witnessed this at thepolling place where she was working…and the offender confessed).

At any rate, what it means is that Booker’s rubber stamp council is no more! The Emperor is standing on the second floor ofCity Hall naked as a jay bird. And his handlers, including the localmedia are still adjusting to that reality. Plus there might be more badnews the bare assed Mayor, this election breakthrough might free a fewother members of the City Council to begin to represent the people ofNewark not just Mayor Booker’s handlers.

- -Amiri Baraka