Amiri Baraka To Be Remembered With ‘Day Of Unity’ In Newark

NEWARK, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of a Patch Newark community member. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

On Saturday, Oct. 7 – in observation of the 89th birth anniversary of Amiri Baraka – the Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery of the City of Newark, the Brick City Peace Collective, Newark Happening, The Yard and the National Black Political Convention will present “On The Road To The Convention-A Day of Unity.”

The event – organized to capture the spirit of unity of the legendary Gary Convention of 1972 – will be a mini conference consisting of three panel discussions on important contemporary issues. It will take place at Science Park High School, 260 Norfolk Street, Newark from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The first panel, “Reimagining Public Safety-Stop Police Brutality,” a discussion seeking to bridge protest and against police brutality and community-based violence intervention efforts, will take place at 10 a.m. Among the participants for that panel will be AT Mitchell of Manup Inc NYC and czar of the new Gun Violence Task Force of the City of New York, Zellie Imani of Black Lives Matter Paterson, Kyleesha Wingfield-Hill of the Brick City Peace Collective, Minister Abdul Haqq Muhammad of Newark’s Muhammad’s Mosque 25, Daamin X of the Newark Community Street Team, Rick Robinson of the Newark chapter of the NAACP and the Newark Civilian Complaint Review Board, Amber Sherman of Black Lives Matter Memphis and Keesha Eure, Director of Newark’s groundbreaking Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery.

The second panel, “Hip Hop at 50 And the Arts” – a look at hip hop, its impact on the arts and its social and political maturity – will take place at noon. Among the participants for that panel will be hip hop artist and West Ward Councilman Dupre Kelly, hip hop artist and anti-violence activist Mysonne Linen of Until Freedom, Marcus Reeves, the author of “Somebody Scream,” Ceelea Graham of the MAPSO Freedom School, and Al-Tariq Best, founder, director and lead producer of The Hubb.

The third panel, “The Struggle For A True Education Continues,” will take place at 2 p.m. Among the participants will be nationally acclaimed educator Baruti Kafele, popularly known as “Principal Kafele,” the former executive director of the Amistad Commission professor Stephanie James Harris, activist-educator professor Leah Owens, activist-educator Bashir Muhammad Ptah Akinyele, MAPSO Freedom School founder and Howard Zinn scholar TJ Whitaker, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. The special guest performer will be Penelope, with music from DJ Rhino.

ABOUT AMIRI BARAKA

Amiri Baraka was born on October 7, 1934. He was one of the most prolific authors and theorists of the 20th century in the Black Radical Tradition. Considered the Father of The Black Arts Movement, his revolutionary organizing was central to ending Newark’s municipal apartheid and electing the first African American mayor Ken Gibson in 1970. He was central to the organization of Newark’s often forgotten Black And Puerto Rican Convention and to the organization of the legendary National Black Political Convention in Gary Indiana in 1972. With the dangerous ongoing attack on Women’s Rights, Voting and Civil Rights, organizers are presenting actions like these to foster united voter mobilization efforts and support for progressive policy efforts to combat the efforts to rollback key Women’s Rights and Civil Rights.

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