OK : Let's talk about Leroi Jones/Amiri Baraka . He is, as nearly as I can figure out,one of the least important people in our state; and I continue to be astonished anyone has taken the time ( and/or the requisite medications ) to actually read anything this self-described cultural icon has written !
Anybody in New Jersey with half a brain knows this gentleman was made "Poet Laureate" as a taxpayer-funded " thank you note" to Sharpe James : the REAL Black Power in North Jersey. Ol' Sharpe delivered the vote for Mc Greevey, as promised, and Mc Greevey had to deliver some sort of payback...or else !
We could go on and on about our ( unread ) Poet Laureate, and how nasty he is , but why give him the publicity ??
There is a " whole OTHER issue " worth exploring: NJ's State Police Director. Was he appointed because he is/was Sharpe James' " bagman " ??
hey there, gene. I'm from New Jersey also. This man Baraka is supposed to be our poet laureate. He was chosen by McGreevey in particular for his racial (racist) views. While he does not represent the most important thing about our state, he's emblematic of it. Let's see, we live in a state where: Boy Scouts are vilified as evil by the (NJ) Supreme Court, we switch candidates who are doing poorly, though it's against the law, the Supreme Court (of NJ) routinely makes law, rather than interprets it, even Republican congressmen see fit to force hospitals to perform abortions, we are on the verge of not having any auto insurer stay in the state, because insurance profits have been confiscated through state regulation, our water systems are so decrepit that we are always under water alert, we are told that we must allow bears to roam through our suburbs, our state is the gridlock capital of the world, etc. etc. I've lived here now for eight years. I'm not impressed.