Obama File 112 Amiri Baraka Hearts Barack Obama

Obama File 111 here

Amiri Baraka loves Barack Obama.

Amiri Baraka is a self proclaimed communist. Baraka once led the Revolutionary Communist League (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist). In more recent years he has been a little closer to more orthodox Marxists such as the Communist Party USA and Democratic Socialists of America. His wife, Amina Baraka, has been, in recent years, a member of the Communist Party USA.

Amiri and Amina Baraka were both involved in the June 1998 founding conference of the Black Radical Congress in Chicago.

Attendees at the conference included future Obama "Green Jobs Czar" Van Jones, member of Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement and a "9/11 Truther"; future Progressives for Obama founder Bill Fletcher, Jr. (Democratic Socialists of America and Freedom Road Socialist Organization); Obama's then pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright; and future Obama Black Advisory Council member, Cornel West (Democratic Socialists of America).

Rev. Wright and Cornel West spoke at the conference session entitled "Faith as a Weapon: Spirituality and the Role of the Church In The Radical Movement".

Baraka has written at least two poems dedicated to his idol - "Ode to Obama" and "Obama Poem".

On July 21 2008 Amiri Baraka prepared a statement "Amiri Baraka challenges Black radicals to "do something" about "The Parade of Anti-Obama Rascals", for circulation at the upcoming Black Radical Congress meeting in St. Louis Missouri.

Baraka urged his comrades to support Obama, rather than the more openly  radical, but completely  futile candidacy of former Congresswoman and "9/11 Truther" Cynthia McKinney.

I mention all this because it is criminal for these people claiming to be radical or intellectual to oppose or refuse to support Obama. I hope we don't have to hear about "the lesser of two evils" from people whose foolish mirror worship wd have us elect the worst of two evils.''

For those who claim radical by supporting McKinney or, brain forbid, the Nadir of fake liberalism, we shoud have little sympathy. As much as I have admired Cynthia McKinney, to pose her candidacy as an alternative to Obama is at best empty idealism, at worst nearly as dangerous as when the Nader used the same windy egotism to help elect Bush.''


The people who are supporting McKinney must know that that is an empty gesture. But too often such people are so pocked with self congratulatory idealism, that they care little or understand little about politics (i.e. the gaining maintaining and use of power) but want only to pronounce, to themselves mostly, how progressive or radical or even revolutionary they are.''


Faced with the obvious that McKinney cannot actually do anything by running but put out lines a solid left bloc should put out anyway, their pre-joinder is that Obama will be running as a candidate of an imperialist party, or Imperialism will not let Obama do anything different or progressive…that he will do the same things any democrat would do and that the Democrats are using Obama to draw young people to the Democratic party. Also that there is a sector of the bourgeoisie supports Obama to put a new face on the U.S. as alternative to the Devil face Bush has projected as the American image.''


Some of these things I agree with, but before qualifying that let me say that no amount of solipsistic fist pounding about "radical principles" will change this society as much as the election of Barack Obama will as president of the US. Not to understand this is to have few clues about the history of this country, its people, or the history of the Black struggle in the US. It is also to be completely at odds with the masses of the Afro-American people, let us say with the masses of black and colored people internationally. How people who claim to lead the people but who time after time tail them so badly must be understood. It is because they confuse elitism with class consciousness...''

Even the dumbest things Obama has said re: Cuba and the soft shoe for Israel must be seen as the cost of realpolitik, that is he is not running for president of the NAACP and not to understand that those are the stances that must be taken in the present political context, even though we hold out to support what he said about initiating talks with the Cubans, the Palestinians . After years of Washington stupidity and slavish support for the Miami Gusanos and Israeli imperialism, there is in Obama's raising of talks with the U.S. Bourgeois enemies something that must be understood as the potential path for new initiative. It is the duty of a left progressive radical bloc to be loud and regular in our demands for the changes Obama has alluded to in his campaign. We must take up these issues and push collectively, as a Bloc, or he will be pushed inexorably to the right.''


Obama has addressed the Israeli lobby and the Gusano (anti Cuba) lobby. But where is the Black left and general progressive, radical and revolutionary lobby? That is the real job we need to address. We must bring something to the table. It is time for the left to really make some kind of Left Bloc to support Obama...''

Clearly Amiri Baraka knew a lot more about Barack Obama in 2008, than did most of the millions of voters who elected him.

In June 2009, Amiri Baraka gave an interview to Russia Today, in which he confirmed his commitment to communism.

Baraka praises Obama's "tacit nationalization" of much of the auto industry and also supported Obama's moves towards a "people's democracy" - Marxist code for socialism.

Amiri Baraka remains one of America's most committed Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries.

He still supports Barack Obama, when some other leftists have deserted the U.S. president. Why?

Obama File 113 here