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ARTheat
Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) speaks
By HENRY HURST
Special to the NNPA
NEWARK, N.J. (NNPA)
— “Boy, you then ruined my
day!” said great poet and essay
ist Amiri Baraka, annoyed by
my late arrival; he welcomed
me to his home. An elder and
goliu'ml revolutionary of the
lack community, Barakass life
exemplifies the journey for
black consciousness. Although
he recently celebrated his 70th
birthday on Oct. 7, Baraka
continues to travel the country,
lecturing and stimulating
thought with the same zeal of a
young bohemian in Greenwich
Village.
Born Everett Leßoi Jones,
Baraka was one of the founders
of the Black Arts Movement of
the ‘6os in Harlem. Manifested
by performances in the Black
Arts Repertory Theater, the
Tricks & treats at
Ghosts and goblins of all
ages, %ather ‘round as part
two of the annual Tricks &
Treats at the South Carolina
State Museum is held, Sat
urday, Oct. 30 with magic,
treats, fun chills and more.
As a part of the Hal
loween f}e)stivitics, museum
guests can walk throuih
‘Frankenstein’s Lab” in the
first floor orientation room.
The exhibit, which can be
seen until October 31, fea
tures the monster from
Mary Shelley’s classic novel.
“It is said that Shelley cre
ated her famous tale during
an extremely rainy vacation
in the Swiss Alps,” says Julia
The coming of age
film ‘Carry Me Home’
NEW YORK, - Set in
upstate New York, Carry
Me Home shows the strug
gles of a young §irl Frowing
up on an apple farm in
1947. Directed by Jace
Alexander (Ally Mcßeal,
Law and Orderg' and writ
ten by Christopher Fay, the
film stars Penelope Ann
Miller, Kevin Anderson,
David Alan Basche, Jane
Alexander and Ashley Rose
Orr.
Growing up is hard
enough Por anyone, but
Carrie (ASHLgY ROSE
ORR) also has to deal with
the death of her father, who
died in World War 11. She
would much rather climb
trees and play tricks on the
mentally challenged farm
hand (KEVIN ANDER
SON), than wear a dress or
act like a young lady. Car
rie also strugg%es with let
ting Eo of the past when her
mother (Penelope Ann
Miller) starts dating a new
man ( David Alan gasche %
In the end, she realizes that
life will never be the same as
it was when her father was
alive and that everyone
deserves to be treated with
respect, even if they are dif
ferent.
Carry Me Home is a Sat
urday Pictures and Soup
Kitcfi'cn Films Production.
The film is executive pro
movement sought to establish a
black aesthetic in America.
Written by Baraka in 1963,
Dutchman was the culmination
of his growing racial conscious
ness, and won Obie award,
among others, for Best Off-
Broadway Play. Baraka’s critics
categorize his life into eras, such
as Third-World Marxist and so
on, but Baraka explains that it's
not that simple.
“Well, you know, nothing is
ever as formally separated as it
can be on the page,” Baraka
said. “But I guess it suggests
some kind of development,
some kind of change, you
know. There are always differ
ent elements that are happen
ing while they're describing one
thing, :
“I had got kicked out of col
lege and I got kicked out the
Air Force. So I came to the vil
lage thinking that that's where
Hill, director of programs,
events and services. “To
occupy themselves during
the torrent, Shelley’s
neighbor, poet Lord
Byron, suggested his trav
el companions have a
competition writing ghost
stories. Shelley’s story
was an immediate success
among the group.”
From 10 a.m.-4 p.m.,
guests can try their iand
at the “Creepy Crawl”
scavenger hunt. In order
to receive a treat, visitors
will need to find the cor
rect items they are look
ing for.
At noon and 3 p.m.,
duced by Matthew Hansen,
ilroduced by Anna Ryan
ansen and Sean Hewitt,
and the screenplay is writ
ten by Christopher Fay.
The film is part of Show
time Networis’ new inde
pendent film initiative, in
which the network works
with established specialty
Froducers and directors to
ully-finance and produce
low budget films targeted
for theatrical premiere.
Throughout its history,
Showtime Networks has
been and continues to be a
supporter of independent
films. In the past, a num
ber of films co-developed,
co-produced and/or co
financed by the network
have been successful in
gaining theatrical release
prior to their Showtime
remiere, most notably The
ilouse Of Mirth; Maya
Angelou’s directorial debut
Down In The Delta and the
Oscar®-winning film Gods
and Monsters. 3thcr Show
time films such as Inside,
Blind Faith and Losing
Chase, to name a few, have
received theatrical distribu
tion after their Showtime
premiere.
Showtime Networks Inc.
(SNI), which is a wholly
owned subsidiary of Via
com Inc., owns the premi
um television networks
AUGUSTA FOCUS
the real intellectual kind of cap
ital was, because those years |
was in the Air Force, I was real
ly studying. At night, I was a
librarian. So, when I came to
the village, I was trying to really
find out exacdy what 1 did
know. But, as I lived there and
became aware of the contradic
tions there ... 1960, I went to
Cuba ... met Fidel, Robert
Williams, and, you know, got
close up on the whole revolu
tionary movement. | came
back and met Malcolm about a
month, two months, before he
was killed. And so my mind
was changing according to
what was happening in the
world. So then I began to get
nationalistic when Malcolm
was killed. I got out of the vil
lage. The death of Malcolm
made me kind of self-critical in
terms of what I could be doing
Tim Sonefelt will present.
a magic show, but watch
out; he may just require
assistance from an audi
ence member. Plus, the
day will feature face-
Eainting designs of all
inds by Melinda
Spencer.
Arl] dun. ged 2.p.m.
at the Best Friend stage,
Dance Creations of West
Columbia will present a
performance of “Night
mare,” a dance that will
help anyone get in the
mood for Halloween.
Guest will want to
stick around for more
treats when the museum
Showtime®, The Movie
Channel (tm) and FLIX®,
as well as the multiplex
channels Showtime®
Too(tm), Showtime ®
Showcase, Showtime
Extreme ®, Showtime
Beyond ®, Showtime Next
®, Showtime Women ®,
Showtime Familyzone ®
and TMC xtra. SNI also
offers Showtime HDTV®,
SHOWTIME® ON
DEMAND(tm) and THE
MOVIE CHANNEL ON
DEMAND(tm). SNI oper
ates and manages the pre
mium television network
SUNDANCE CHAN
NEL®, which is owned by
SNI, Robert Redford and
Universal Studios. All SNI
feeds provide enhanced
sound using Dolby Digital
5.1. SNI markets and dis
tributes sports and enter
tainment events for exhibi
tion to subscribers on a pay
ger-view basis through
howtime® PPV. Addi
tionally, the advertiser-sup
gortedy television network
O w7l I-M &
EXTREMER® is available in
Spain through a joint ven
ture with N?edia Park and
the advertiser-supported
television network S}?IOW
TIME is available in Turkey
through a joint venture
with UK-Lascd Zone
Vision.
Music, Literature, Theatre,
Books, TV, Dance, Film
with my life, and how I could
be in the village fooling around
and people that I really
admired, like Malcolm X, were
being murdered?”
In 1961, Baraka published
his first volume of poetry, Pref
ace to a 20-Volume Suicide
Note. Baraka’s most controver
sial poem, however, came
much later in his career. In
October 2001, Baraka wrote
Somebody Blew Up America,
which prompted national con
troversy that escalated to such a
level that he was dismissed as
the poet laureate of New Jersey.
With some saying that the
piece is “anti-Semitic,” Baraka,
breaking down his own work,
contended otherwise.
“They should read it, that
would help!” Baraka said. “It
talks mostly about people
whove been terrorized, black
the State Museum
celebrates its 16th birth
day. The birthday party
lasts until the end of the
day, when (what else?)
birthday cake will be
served.
“This annual holiday
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people and people around the
world. It even mentions the
Jews being terrorized with the
Holocaust, the Rosenbergs and
people like that. My critics,
who are supporters of Israel,
they don't even support Ameri
can Jews. What they dont like
is the fact that I raised the ques
tion about who told 4,000
Israeli workers at the Twin
Towers to stay home that day.
Now they smear that and say
Jews. I didnt say Jews! Jews died
with us up in the World Trade
Center!”
The latest hardship in Bara
kas life stems from the murder
of his daughter, Shani Baraka,
and her friend, Rayshon
Holmes. Their murderers
have yet to be apprehended.
Baraka and his wife, Amini,
reside in Newark with their
event offers Halloween
family fun that can be
enjoyed in a secure envi
ronment,” says Hill.
And 00, It's net a
trick—visitors who come
in costume that day will
04 FOCUS SE
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£ 04 F 250 MARLEY DAVIDSON 4X4
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October 21, 2004
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Amiri Baraka
other children.
To read Somebody Blew
Up America and other newly
released poems and essays by
Baraka, go to www.amirib
araka.com. Log onto
www.afro.com to read the
full interview with Amiri
Baraka.
receive $1 off regular
museum admission.
For more information,
call (803) 898-4902.
We'll see you at the
museum for a spook-tac
ular celebration!
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