"Ka'Ba" by Amiri Baraka

Page 155 in Unsettling America

Reader: Sheri' Lowe

Respondent: Shellie Garza

Recorder: Katherine Stokes

Biographical Information: Amiri Baraka was born with the name LeRoi Jones in Newark, New Jersey. A picture is shown to the class of him. He went to Howard University and also joined the Air Force. His present residence is Greenwich Village. His wife, Amina Baraka is also a poet and she is found in Unsettling America on page 348. Dr. White mentions that Baraka translates to mean King.

Confusion: Sheri' Lowe E Mails Dr. White in reference to the poem "Ka'Ba" and he shares the following information. The title "Ka'Ba" means the black stone at the center of the Muslim pilgrimage site at Mecca.

Objective 5: To study the influence of minority writers and speakers on literature, literacy and language.

5a. To discover the power of poetry and fiction to help "others" hear the minority voice and vicariously shae the minority experience.

Objective 3c. African American alternative narrative: "The Dream". ("The Dream" resembles but is not identical to "The American Dream". Whereas the American Dream emphasizes immediate individual success, " the Dream" factors in setbackds, the need to rise again, and a quest for group dignity.)

Interpretation: After several reads, the poem "Ka'Ba" seems to have different meanings. At first, it appears to be an apartment complex courtyard in the first stanza. After re-reading, this is much more global than just inner community. Baraka is a black nationalist. Baraka is expressing his thoughts about the plight of the black man. The black man had so many obstacles in the path of freedom. Baraka seems to want to rebel in the form of destruction. He mentions, ..."We need magic/now we need the spells, to raise up/ return, destroy, and create...." Perhaps Baraka wants a new "fresh start" so that everyone could be on the same playing field.

Questions: Did anyone read this more than once? Did anyone think this could take place in an apartment courtyard?

Dr. White mentions that the poem becomes richer after multiple readings.

Discussion:

Karen stated that the poem could have been written from a prison. She references the lines..."in a place/full of winters, when what we want is sun."

Shellie mentions that it appears he is trying to draw from within himself. Sheri' mentions the beginning of creation and Baraka wanting to go back home to change history.

Student mentions ancestral religions and the call for ancestors for strength. Also, the movie Amistad is mentioned and paralleled to the poem.

Dr. White mentions that in African culture, some believe that the dead do not really die. Another student mentions the chants used to bring forth aid from the ancestors or those who have a past. A student mentions Jihad and the fighting for religious rights. Also, a student speaks about the Muslim culture from her own personal experience. The quote read by William Harris concerning interview with Baraka, "According to the black poet, contemporary politics proved that the barrel of a gun was the best voting machine: a dead honkie the most effective protest vote". Sheri' reads objective 5a. Shellie compares the poem to objective 3 and the American Dream. Dr. White mentions about trying to heal all wounds, p. 155 line 8

"... and sometimes fail to walk the air." He states that this is an allusion to the Flying Africans. Legend has it that Africans of the past could fly.