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Punked

By Amiri Baraka

When Sharpe James pulled out of Newark’s Mayoral race, a lacerated Amiri Baraka offered up a rhymed response to the news.

WHAT ABOUT THIS, PILGRIMS?

Say, for instance, somebody heard, and the Star Ledger half dropped the infamous “word” that Sharpe James had been meeting w/ the Bugger all along? (Somebody tell us that’s Wrong!) And that they had agreed, to greed, not what the people need! And that James Even met with Carl Sharif. Now Booker’s boy, another Thief, to decide on how to pull a Newark Peoplecide. So that all of us who trusted one or the other wd see all distinctions smother, under the rule of the Demorats and Real Public Coons. So Sharpe Grown Dull wd wait till the last minute to pull out, Elecoitus Interuptus, and the people wd be sacrificed like Rice , you know that aint nice.
And what the two parties said, no democracy, conspiracy instead. Let the Gory
Be the May Whore on the Real Public Coon side, and we Dim Rats will be the
Low Yall !Gonzo mens, And to make sure this deal will endure, each a.m. will Publisher of the Ledger and the lad who carries Rhodesia colonialism even into the Bricks
Meet to play golf and sharpen up they tricks. Yeh, it do make you sick. But Truth
Do make Fiction a punk!

Baraka’s favorite candidate in Newark all along was his son Ras and he just sent out this dispatch on the state of play there.

RAS BARAKA FOR COUNCILMAN AT LARGE
THE STRUGGLE CONTNUES!

NEWARK RUN OFF ELECTION - TUES, JUN 13, 2006

Corey Booker takes office as Mayor of Newark on July 1st, 2006. He beat State Senator Ron Rice, one of Sharpe James’ Deputy Mayors by over 20,000 votes. What made Rice’ campaign flawed from the start was the fact that Mayor James waited until the last day to announce that he wasn’t running for re-election, leaving Rice a month to pull together a team and a campaign with little money.

Elected with Booker were his “team mates” in the North and East wards, Anibal Ramos and Augusto Amador. There are run-offs in the West ward, between Ron Rice, Jr (a member of the Booker team, whose father was on the opposing “Home Team”) and Mamie Bridgeforth of the “Home Team”. In the South ward, there is a runoff between Sharpe James’ son L. Sharpe James and Oscar James 2, the son of onetime Sharpe James organizer Oscar James. These races are important since they will spell out just how much power Booker will have to push his agenda through a city council that can be supportive or opposing.

The most important election will be for Councilman-at-Large. In the general election there were 12 candidates, now there are 8 involved in a run-off election because none of the candidates got 50% plus one of the total vote. Although two of Booker’s team finished one and two in the general election, Ras Baraka, an incumbent councilman-at-large for the last five months, elected by the council to serve out the remainder of deceased Councilman Donald Tucker’s seat because Baraka had the next highest vote count after the four elected in 2002, in a stunning showing, finished third in the overall voting, beating one of Booker’s team and at the top of the “Home Team” slate, beating the other nine candidates. Ras Baraka actually beat the “Home Team” mayoral candidate, Ron Rice by 4000 votes. Ras Baraka, in his tenure in office over the last five months, passed a resolution having the city of Newark, oppose the inclusion of Haliburton in any of the New Orleans reconstruction. He also called for a moratorium on the high priced housing being built in Newark, which denies access to most of the city’s people, until there can be some public assessment of how new housing development should proceed.

Ras also set up a Commission on Violence, which met last month for the first time, which brought together working people, ministers, social workers, educators, politicians to study analyze and recommend methods to curb the hideous street violence in the city.

With the prospect of a Newark City Council dominated by Corey Booker and the North and East ward power brokers, Ras Baraka stands as the only candidate from Newark’s Grass Roots. Ras has fought for the last twelve years to make an impact on Newark politics. For the last four as Deputy Mayor as well as Vice Principal of Weequahic high school, the largest high school in Newark.

Tuesday, June 13, is coming! Ras needs your support. He needs volunteers and MONEY! Send checks to Committee to Elect Ras Baraka, Box 1207, NJ 07101.

From May, 2006

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