As a student at James Madison University in 1994, Brandon Brod helped put on "Furious Flower," a multiday conference on the campus that celebrates black poets and their poetry.

Revolutionary poet Amiri Baraka attended the conference, giving a fiery presentation that drew a standing ovation, James Madison University English professor and conference coordinator Joanne Gabbin recalled.

Baraka, 70, is coming back to JMU when the conference is held in September. Since his last appearance, however, Baraka has stirred more controversy than usual with a poem about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

So now, Brod, who lives in Santa Barbara, Calif., is protesting Baraka's invitation. The JMU graduate has sent his concerns to President Linwood Rose, who has not responded to a message left by the Daily News-Record at his office, and his former teacher.

Brod says the poet, who he calls anti-semitic, has no place at the conference.

But, said Gabbin: "This man's charge of anti-Semitism is way off."

Different Views

Brod, 29, who works in the judicial affairs office at the University of California at Santa Barbara, said he respects his former teacher, but is concerned about his alma mater's image if Baraka is allowed to speak.

"JMU embarrasses itself by honoring such a man at such a prestigious conference," Brod said.

"I would fight, and even give my life, for his right to speak, however offensive what he has to say may be.

"However, that does not mean JMU must give him a forum to spread hatred, racism, and anti-Semitism. Would JMU invite David Duke to speak?"

Brod is most offended by Baraka's poem, "Somebody Blew Up America," which asks why 4,000 Jews did not show up for work at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

The poem also asks what Israel's prime minister might have known before the attacks because of a canceled appearance in New York City.

According to the Jewish Anti-Defamation League Web site, Baraka, a converted Muslim, wrote the poem in response to the terrorist attacks. The poem, according to the league, repeats an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that blames Jews and Israel for the attacks.

The poem generated immediate reaction.

New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey signed into law a bill abolishing the New Jersey State Poet Laureate position, which Baraka held at the time. The action stripped him of the poet laureate status.

But Baraka, who couldn't be reached to comment on this story, refused to give up the title.

True Meaning

In a speech in October 2002 following publication of the poem, Baraka said the Anti-Defamation League was trying to defame him. "The trashy propoganda," he said on his Web site, "is characteristic of right-wing zealots who are interested only in slander and character assassination of independent thinkers everywhere."

The underlying theme to the poem, he said, is how blacks have suffered from "domestic terrorism" in the United States. He offered to publicly debate the poem, line by line.

Gabbin, a literary critic, says the poem raises questions. "It is a poem that is anti-racism, anti-imperialism, anti-oppression," she said.

The seven-page poem, she said, should be judged on its entirety and not on a few lines.

Long Career

Controversy is not new for Baraka, who was born in Newark, N.J., and became a major literary figure.

Baraka's career began in 1961, according to a Web site devoted to Baraka. A year later, he wrote two plays that reflected hostility and mistrust of whites.

After the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, he moved to Harlem, where he founded the Black Arts Repertory Theatre/School. The company produced plays that were often anti-white and intended for a black audience.

He moved back to Newark, and in 1967 he married black poet Sylvia Robinson.

In 1968, he continued his literary pursuits and became a Muslim, changing his name to Imamu Amiri Baraka. "Imamu" means "spiritual leader." He assumed leadership of his own black Muslim organization.

In 1974, Baraka adopted a Marxist Leninist philosophy and dropped the spiritual title. His and wife's literary careers continued to blossom as they continued publishing and garnered numerous awards.

"He is one of the architects of the black arts movement," Gabbin said.

Raising Consciousness

Along the way, Baraka's works have included references to raping white women. Brod and Gabbin both attribute the use of these metaphors to the times of the 1960s and early 1970s when they were written.

"Baraka has been writing this way since the 1960s," Gabbin said. "These are poems that are metaphors. These poets didn't go out and cut anybody's throats," she said. The poetry of the period, she said, sought freedom and liberation.

Poetry is a way of telling society to deal with oppression, and Baraka's poetry, Gabbin said, has been controversial but has also raised consciousness. "That's what poets do," she said.

Literary License

Even the poem about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks shows that Baraka has remained in the vanguard of society, Gabbin said. "The man is deconstructing history and putting it back together to come up with answers by asking questions," she said.

Baraka's literary credentials not withstanding, Brod, who is not Jewish, finds him "really hateful" and is offended by "Who Blew Up America" and the inference that Jews knew of the attacks in advance. "The implication of that to me is pretty ugly," he said.

But Gabbin denies that the poem makes that implication. "I don't think it points to any group. The attack is on the -isms that prompted something like this," she said of the terrorist attacks.

Contact Jeff Mellott at 574-6290 or jmellott@dnronline.com

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