Amiri Baraka, activist and former poet laureate of New Jersey, died on Thursday. He was 79-years-old.
Baraka, who famously wrote the in-depth history of music from the time of slavery to jazz and blues, 1963’s Blues People, was placed in intensive care at Beth Israel Medical Center last month for an unknown reason.
A spokesperson for his son’s mayoral campaign said the poet was improving in late December. But on Thursday, things took a turn for the worse.
“He fought a good fight. I was there the first night he went into the hospital,” said Newark City Council President Mildred Crump, a longtime friend of the Baraka family. “I was there when he was breathing on his own, I was there Sunday.”
Newark Mayor Luis Quintana said Baraka will be sorely missed.
“I went to visit him at the hospital about two weeks ago,” Quintana said by phone. “He was more than poet he was a leader in his own right. He’s going to be missed and our condolences go out to his family today.”
“We’re going to remember him always for his contributions to Newark, New Jersey and America,” Quintana said. “In this time of pain, the citizens of Newark and I are with him.”
Baraka’s official cause of death isn’t immediately clear, though he had long struggled with diabetes.
May he rest in peace. Our condolences to his loved ones.
SOURCE: NJ | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
