Reader: Annie Ramirez
Respondent: Valerie Lawrence
Recorder: Vickie Baillio

Amiri Baraka, “Ka ‘Ba” UA 155-56.

    In a previous presentation by Phyllis Alexander it was discussed Amiri Baraka the poet was ever changing like the black culture in America, evolving even to the present.  His constant shift in political scene is a justification of this observation.  Baraka was born LeRoi Jones in Newark, New Jersery, but he transition after a five year stint in a beat period abandoning his given name and white culture.  He became Amiri Baraka, Baraka meaning “King”.  After the death of Malcolm X he detached himself from the white culture entirely including his white wife and in the next decade immersed himself in a Black Nationalist period. 

   The poem Ka’Ba is written in free verse and is rich in metaphors and symbolism.  As Dr. White has pointed out in previous discussion of this poem it becomes richer after multiple readings.  The words are simple, but are used as tools to create great meaning.    Baraka himself said,   “It is certainly the meanings of words that are most important, even if they are no longer consciously acknowledged, but merely, by their use, trip a familiar lever of social accord.”  In relation to our class objectives I feel the best to choose from are objective 1A and 1C.  Objective 1A being involuntary participation and 1C. alternative identities and literary strategies to gain voice and choice.  Ka ‘Ba also grazes Objective 3C African American alternative narrative: As Shellie Garza presentation’s also agreed “The Dream”, factors in setbacks, the need to rise again, and the quest for group dignity. 

 As I read the poem note Baraka use of color in reference to the position of the African American people.  All the elements combine: the colors, the scenery all collaborate to communicate the blight of the African American people. 

After poem is read…

Interpretation – See Blue Notes

   A pride in Black culture, a deconstruction of their negative image, and the hope of reinvention is encapsulated in “Ka ‘Ba” Amiri wrote in an essay, “"To understand that you are black in a society where black is an extreme liability is one thing, but to understand that it is the society that is lacking and impossibly deformed, and not yourself, isolates you even more." 

Question

With such an emphasis on the placement of blacks in society, do you think the use of the color gray in reference to chains a symbol of captivity and suppression is not only the fault of the whites but also the blacks; possibly for not understanding or fighting for the beauty of the culture and ignorance to their placement in a white world?

Annie began her presentation by providing background information on the poet, Amiri Baraka. She then cited objectives.

Obj. 1A: Minority, Involuntary participation-“We have been captured,/brothers.  And we labor…”

1C: Alternative identities and literary strategies to gain voice and choice.

Obj. 3: Contrast the American Dream: Factors in setbacks, the need to rise again and a quest for group dignity

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

·        Style-free verse and metaphorical references (winter-stage before rebirth)

·        Baraka uses color in reference to the position of the African-American people.  All the elements combine. The colors and the scenery all collaborate to communicate the plight of the African-American people. (black, white, and gray)

·        Chains-symbol of oppression –“captivity”

Themes:

·        Celebration of the Black culture

·        Destroy image of slavery

·        Reinvention of Black culture

Question-What does he mean by use of spells and sacred words? He wants to use magic to solve his problems. He wants to use old traditions and return to the old ways. Doesn’t want to use American ways.

Allusion to laws of physics in 1^st stanza. Speaker feels like he has to defy physical laws to overcome prejudice and his situation. To do this, he needs something supernatural-the sacred words (last stanza).

Flying Africans-aspect of dream story-rising above one’s situation.

Jerry: spells and magic-oral/spoken-taking that power onto themselves. But what are the words they will need.

Dr. White added that Equiano regarded European technology as magic.

A student commented that magic and spells by a white person deflates it significance.

Superstition empowers-speaker feels his people need something greater than what they have here.

Dominant culture refers to magic as superstition.

Dr. White commented that masks (in 3^rd stanza) also show up in the other poems. Masks are a common metaphor in African American poetry.

A student commented that the last 2 lines in stanza 1 depict a gulf they are trying to reach.

Question to class by Reader:  “With such an emphasis on blacks in society, do you think the use of the color gray in reference to chains a symbol of captivity and suppression is not only the fault of the whites but also the blacks; possibly for not understanding or fighting for the beauty of the culture or their ignorance to their placement in a white world?”  Respondent agreed with the reader.