Personally, I think there should be something called Cultural Respect. Do you know what it would take for me to slap somone like Amiri Baraka? And in public? Come on, now! And why did it have to go down at the Harlem Book Fair? That's bad enuff, but for you to tweet and FB so people who weren't there will know? Maybe the name he ALLEGEDLY called you fits after all??!!
I'm refusing to use this author's name because she's a publicity hound, and I don't want to give her more than she's already garnered - but there's three things that really piss me off about this mess . . .
. . . and here's one.
She says that Baraka, who is in his late seventies, used the "b" word. So she slapped him.
Now, for those who think she's justified, let's flip the script. She calls Baraka a "Dirty N*gga." Is he, then, justified in slapping her? Think about it, folks!
Second thing . . .
Was the Harlem Book Fair the place for this too happen? One of the few annual events in Harlem that has been held year after year with no acts of violents committed by fools who don't know how to respect positivity?
Baraka was onstage doing his thing during a tribute to poet Louis Reyes Rivera. . . she got onstage because she said it was her allotted time. When told there was a mistake in booking, and the organizers of the Harlem Book Fair advised her that she'd have to wait until the event was officially over before her reading would start. However, she refused to get off stage and starting talking into the mike. Understand, this was not her audience . . . this was a group of people who had come out to see a poet being honored by other poets. The crowd got hostile, and choice names were thrown out at her. She says some came from Baraka, including the "b" word. So when security came to escort off stage, she turns and slaps Baraka.
This is wrong on SO many levels.
Third thing . . .
Man, why she wanna go on tweeting and FB'in this ish? My god, Baraka means so much to so many people, and for it to have happened in the first place, is just horrible! But for her to want to have it broadcasted? I'd always heard that she was an attention-grabbing media-hungry woman who would do anything to be in the spotlight.
This is the same woman who claims to have been Osama Bin-Laden's sex-slave. Not that something like that could have ever been proven.
She also claims that New York Times bestselling author Zane is jealous of her because she once had a relationship with Zane's husband. Zane's husband has never heard of her.
And any time anyone takes her to task for ANYTHING she claims it's a male conspiracy against her because she stands up for herself as a woman. Unfortunately, there are some women who see this as a rallying cry, and hold her up as an outspoken feminist.
It's a damn shame!
Damn!
I am sooooo late with this. I had no idea this happen. He deserved it, he doesn't get a pass because he writes poetry. If he's such an outstanding person why would he say such a thing? I am so sick of people given men a pass to disrespect women because they are rich/talented/successful
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