NJ Poet Laureate Amiri Baraka and 'Get Your War On' creator David Rees at Powerhouse Books in Brooklyn

Hello all! I was hangin' out at my favorite political humour site, Get Your War On , and was dismayed to discover that, as of 20th January 2009, there would be no more new Get Your War On cartoons. Creator David Rees explains, very sensibly, that the online comic megaforce was a direct reaction to Former President Bush's War On Terror. Now that Barack Obama has officially ascended to the United States Presidency (Thank Gawd!!!), he can move on and do something else (if anyone has any ideas, please let David know immediately as he's getting those funny looks from his wife and parents now). I was elated to find, however, that David Rees would be making an appearance at Powerhouse Books in D.U.M.B.O. Brooklyn, so I resolved that I should go and have some last laughs with the man himself. If you are not familiar with the comic, here's a little taste of how Rees kicked it all off in 2001:

Brilliant!

During his reading (which consisted of David showing transparencies of GYWO on an overhead projector and commentating...he's HI-LARIOUS!), David decided that since GYWO was at its end, he would say goodbye to his touring material, too. He was giving the transparencies away! And at the book signing afterward, he signed not only my book, but also the transparency that I scavenged off the floor. He even did a little patriotic illustration! I had two actually, but one he really loved and asked if he could keep for himself. As an artist, I was feelin' that, so I acquiesced...Here's my signed sh*t!

So, when i got to Powerhouse, I discovered that David Rees wasn't the only one speaking/reading. At first, I was a little irritated (i.e. Great! How many people will I have to suffer through before I can Get My War On?!)...until I realised that the other speaker was (drum roll please!) Amiri Baraka!!! For those of you that don't know, I grew up in a small suburb about 20 minutes south of Boston where most of the black people I knew were related to me. That is to say, to call Blacks a minority would be euphemistic at best. From age ten through most of high school, there was me and one other black girl in my class. We were seated alphabetically, so we were always on opposite sides of the classroom (I'm a W., she was a D.). And yet, without fail, teachers would constantly call me by her name, or her by mine...we don't even look kind of alike, y'all! I spent my youth and adolescence reading every black author I could get my hands on (I just had to know that 1. I wasn't the only black person on the planet, and 2. not only were there others, but a lot of them came from worse places than I and managed to make an escape). From about age 12 or 13, Amiri Baraka was at the top of the list. I had the priveledge of hearing him speak during my freshman year of arts college in Los Angeles. I was floored to be able to be in the same room with this legend again. And to have such a good seat this time! YAY!

So anyhoo...I was inspired and in awe and laughed so hard my stomach hurt! Here's a couple of snippets of Amiri Baraka during the Q & A session after the readings. Please keep in mind that this was shot on my crappy cell phone video. He's amazing nonetheless. He's like Yoda! He talks in circles but every word is brilliant! Love him. Love him. Love him. And he signed my book, too! This cat is 399% Jedi mind tricks!





And for a little more fun, here's a taste of the few animated Get Your War On comics from David Rees. Priceless! Please keep in mind that there is some VERY strong language and may not be appropriate for overhearing at your desk at work:



see you next time!