Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, who is currently running for governor of New Jersey, is getting some high-profile exposure. Superstar singer Beyoncé just launched the Cowboy Carter tour, and the show features a video of Baraka reading one of his poems.
In the video that plays at the beginning of Beyoncé’s performance, footage of Baraka reading his composition, “I Want To Hear An American Poem,” mixed with various footage of Black people and Black life, the White House and other American political iconography…