Inspirational speaker draws large crowd

A packed crowd met writer Amiri Baraka at the Trotter House last night, where students filed in to hear him speak on politics, literature and history.

The turnout was so strong that Black Student Union members scrambled to find chairs, and many people ended up sitting in the hallway and on the stairs. Wearing a gray sweater that matched his hair, the revolutionary and author walked slowly, with an aura that seemed slightly grandfatherly.

But as soon as Baraka began speaking, there was no doubt that audience members were listening intently to a black revolutionary and a powerful speaker.

"What America needs is to be freed from imperialism," Baraka said. "People are always talking about terrorists, but the worst terrorists we have are over here."

EMILY NATHAN/Daily Writer Amiri Baraka spoke about politics, literature and history to a packed crowd at the Trotter House last night.

Baraka then explained his position on government and the arts. He stressed the self-study of authors that are not normally studied in school. Baraka stated that there was "a pimple's worth" of American studies, women's studies and African American studies departments on most campuses, although there are many large English departments.

"When you graduate, you won't know anything about America," Baraka said. "Even American literature by black people and white people is still considered a subsection of literature."

Baraka advised black students not to wait for opportunities to come to them, but to practice self-reliance, self-determination and self-defense. He attributed this idea to writer W.B. DuBois, who he quoted often throughout the speech.

"I keep quoting DuBois, hoping you'll read him," Baraka said.

He mentioned early in the speech the unfairness of the class system, pointing out the salaries of Nike's CEO and the $60-million settlement fee paid to a former Disney executive.

"All of us in this room will not make $60 million in our lifetimes together," Baraka said. He also used humor to illustrate his points, adding that "some of you may (make $60 million), but we need to watch out for you because you're probably the enemy."

Later in his speech, Baraka yelled to the audience while discussing the place of poor people in society.

"It is not right that your child can get an education and mine can't; that you can eat and I can't," Baraka said.

Audience members responded enthusiastically to Baraka's speech.

"He's been an inspiration to me. This has been a very powerful experience," said Tamera, an LSA junior who did not want her last name used.

Baraka advised black and working-class students to not waste their time while in college by concentrating on University-imposed subjects.

He told them not to worry about being the first African American to succeed in traditionally white-dominated areas, but to go back to their communities and figure out how to improve conditions.

Throughout the entire speech, Baraka promoted the idea of a revolution. He paralleled the difference between the United States' two-party system to Europe's multiparty system, and said that Bob Dole and President Clinton are virtually interchangeable in a "winner take all" system.

"I am a communist and a socialist. I believe that everything belongs to everybody," Baraka said. He added that he believed in self-determination and democracy and stressed that students should learn all they can from revolutionaries around the world.

"You can't make change until you practice change," he said.

LSA sophomore LaDawna Reynolds said she went to listen to Baraka speak because she was curious about his message.

"I'm here because I think it's going to be a very interesting experience, and I'm interested in what he's going to say," Reynolds said.

Throughout the speech, Baraka promoted non-traditional reading. He told students to read great authors such as DuBois, Herman Melville and Frederick Douglass.

He also encouraged students to read the slave narratives, works from the Harlem Renaissance and revolutionary writings from the '50s and '60s, saying these works compared well to Shakespeare's.

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