Amiri Baraka, gone ten years today yet still here

A transcription of a speech he gave on choices

… And I know they fill you with bourgeois ideology from early in the morning to late at night. I know that every day they fill you with the ideology and the world view of the ruling class. Why? Because you’re gonna be part of the ruling class? No. But so you will be willing to fight to the death to support this system. Most of you, even those who come from working class backgrounds or oppressed nationality backgrounds, when you come to this college what they hope that you will become, between the two great classes in society between the bourgeoisie who owns the means of production and the great masses who sell their labor there is another class, the one on the middle, that’s the class you’re being prepared to enter, the middle class. What you’re supposed to be is functionaries. You’re supposed to explain to people why capitalism is here to stay why it is profound. You’re supposed to explain to the people why metaphysics is all abiding and there is no answer to any question because everything is unknown and cannot be solved besides beyond and above out there in space. That’s what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to explain to people why the system they’re in cannot. be changed ever, because it’s too profound for them to understand. That’s what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to serve as functionaries for the ruling class. I say supposed to because obviously you don’t have to do that. You can make a choice.