Saturday, November 8, 2014

What do the allusions and symbolic names in Baraka's "Somebody Blew Up America" refer to?

[Poetry speaks to different people in different ways.
These are my opinions.]


Amiri Baraka's
"Somebody Blew Up America" is a powerful piece of writing that asks us how we can
delineate between the terrorists of 9-11, and others tyrants—or those who terrorize
legally as opposed to those who openly break the
law.


Many allusions are used. Baraka refers to the Civil
Rights Movement of the 1960s, and the events associated with a black man's wish to be
free and equal—he recalls the 16th Street Baptist Church, in
Birmingham, Alabama, that was blown up—killing four little girls
inside.



At
about 10:22...twenty-six children were walking into the basement...to prepare for
the sermon entitled “The Love That Forgives,” when the bomb
exploded.



Baraka alludes to
slavery: who owned the first plantation—the man that abused, raped and lynched black
slaves? Who bought the slaves and who sold them? He speaks of great men who have been
killed, and asks, who did it?


readability="7">

Who killed Malcolm, Kennedy & his Brother

Who killed Dr King…Are they linked to the murder of
Lincoln?



Baraka also
remembers Medgar Evers, the Jews, the Scottsboro Boys, the poisoned blankets given to
the Indians, and "The Trail of Tears."  Baraka wonders who supported Hitler or Chiang
kai Chek? Who believed Jeffrey Dalmer "wasn't insane?" Who has poisoned, who has
invaded, who has blown up, or overthrown? Who knew the Twin Towers were to be bombed?
Who knew why the pilots were trained in Florida and California? Baraka
asks...



Who
killed Rosa Luxembourg, Liebneckt


Who murdered the
Rosenbergs


And all the good people
iced,


tortured, assassinated,
vanished...



Who has committed
the greatest number of crimes against specific cultures? If we knew, would
that be the most important answer?


The
allusions and the symbolic names draw the reader's attention to the question people seem
to want to answer—who is more evil? Can we ever
know
? Was it was bin Laden or Hitler? Would knowing (if possible) mean
anything, when it continues to happen throughout the world? Or is the worst thing not
the who, but that we are unable to stop
them?


Baraka then draws our attention to the quintessential
forces people very often associate with the battle of good vs
evil.



Who 
the Beast in Revelations 
Who  666 
Who decide 
Jesus get
crucified


Who is the ruler of Hell? 
Who is the
most powerful


Who you know ever 
Seen
God?


But everybody seen 
The
Devil



Baraka attempts to show
that all things and all people are separated
into one of two categories: good
or evil. I feel he is saying that
there are no "in-betweens." There is a constant struggle between the less powerful and
the more powerful. Who decides who is who?


Baraka asks
questions, but he rarely uses question marks. Is this because he
doesn't expect anyone to answer? What can anyone say? He brings to our attention the
dark history of nations around the world beyond and before bin
Laden.


Osama bin Laden's name may the contemporary world's
favorite villain, but what makes him or any other, the worst? The
author draws our attention to many terrorists, now and in the past. Perhaps he does not
believe there are answers to be had, but simply wants to remind us of the futility of
laying blame, and remind us that people are good or bad: we should stop trying to figure
out who is the most awful, and work harder to stop these kinds of
crimes.

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