Ras Baraka summons the ghost of "Bulworth" — and proves himself worthy
The Newark mayor's father, poet Amiri Baraka, co-wrote the 1998 cult classic movie "Bulworth"; now his son is living it
Mayor Ras Baraka is the closest thing we have to a genuinely inspiring political leader right now. On one level, he is simply standing up for the people of Newark. Dig a little deeper, though, and you see a man taking a stand for social justice in a way that counts.
If nothing else, I suspect his father would be proud. Amiri Baraka helped invent Bulworth.
Please allow me to explain.
Baraka’s dad is a memorable presence in “Bulworth.” As Warren Beatty’s Senator Jay Bulworth seems to politically self-immolate by saying politically incorrect truths all over California in his campaign for reelection, the acclaimed poet Amiri Baraka keeps inexplicably popping up.
“You got to be a spirit!” Baraka’s character, credited on IMDB as “Rastaman the Griot,” solemnly warns Bulworth. “You can't be no ghost.”
When I first saw “Bulworth,” it was as a VHS tape my parents rented from the local Blockbuster Video. I had no idea the 1998 political comedy would become a cult classic. All I knew at the time is that it was co-written and directed by its star, Beatty, who was at turns hilarious and cringe-inducing depicting a man in the throes of a mental and existential breakdown.
Though uncomfortable with Amiri Baraka’s long history of antisemitism, my parents respected Beatty, with my Mom telling me he had worked for the same liberal presidential candidate for whom she had volunteered as a college student in 1972, South Dakota Senator George McGovern. I was reminded of this near the movie’s end when, at a particularly shocking and emotional moment, tears appeared in my Mom’s eyes.
“That’s what it was like growing up in the ‘60s,” I remember her saying as she grasped for parallels between Bulworth’s ultimate fate and those of some of the political leaders she had followed a generation earlier.
Then Baraka began his final “ghost” monologue. Even as a relatively-uninformed teenager, I got emotional too. It wasn’t until I became interested in politics during the 2000 presidential election that I watched the movie with a more sophisticated eye. I then began reading more about Amiri Baraka’s politics — the good (awareness of systemic racism), the ugly (antisemitism) and the downright fascinating (his incredibly verbal dexterity as both polemicist and poet).
Fast forward to 2025. Baraka’s son, Ras Jua Baraka, has been mayor of Newark since 2014. Unlike Bulworth at the beginning of the movie, Baraka could never be described as an “old liberal wine trying to pour himself into a new conservative bottle.” He is running for governor of New Jersey on an unambiguously left-wing campaign of universal basic income (which I also support), baby bonds, reparations and protecting undocumented immigrants. Even as he calls for a “progressive overhaul” of the state, Baraka can point to an impressive record of accomplishment from his tenure as Newark’s mayor, from revitalizing the city’s economy to regaining control of the city’s schools.
If the fictional Bulworth’s political philosophy could be translated into real-world policies, I imagine they’d look an awful lot like what Baraka has achieved in Newark and proposed to do for the rest of his state. Take this dialogue snippet from the movie:
Obscenity? The rich is getting richer and richer and richer while the middle class is getting more poor/
Making billions and billions and billions of bucks/
Well my friend if you weren't already rich at the start well that situation just sucks/
Cause the richest motherfucker in five of us is getting ninety fucking eight percent of it/
And every other motherfucker in the world is left to wonder where the fuck we went with it/
Obscenity?/
I'm a Senator/
I gotta raise $10,000 a day every day I'm in Washington/
I ain't getting it in South Central/
I'm getting it in Beverly Hills/
So I'm voting for them in the Senate, the way they want me too!
Even if Baraka had not been arrested by ICE while standing up for the Constitution, he would still have the right to follow in the Baraka/Bulworth heritage.
But he did take that stand. At a time when millions of other Americans are cowering in fear at the feet of President Donald Trump, Mayor Baraka has fired up the opposition all over America.
By returning to that facility, he is displaying authentic physical courage. Bulworth did the same thing, perhaps unwittingly but nevertheless meaningfully in terms of his deeds, and it is inspiring to see this aspect of fiction play out in real life.
On a superficial level, of course, Baraka is just performing his job, as I mentioned in the beginning. This in theory should hardly be cause for celebration. Baraka correctly observed that Trump has no legal right to send ICE into Newark’s facilities without permission, and then acted out in his legitimate role as Newark’s mayor to advocate for his constituents.
When fighting for social justice, however, one must accept that even simple acts can have severe consequences. The perpetrators of injustice rely on ordinary citizens folding rather than standing up when faced with pushback. This tactic usually works because when you are bold, you expose yourself to danger.
Timid politicians shrinks in the face of that danger. Brave leaders acknowledge the danger but, if the stakes are sufficiently high, proceed anyway.
To paraphrase Baraka’s father, it’s the difference between being a spirit and being a ghost. Now we know for sure that Mayor Baraka is a spirit.
Back Seat Socialism
Column by Matthew Rozsa who is a professional journalist for more than 13 years. Currently he is writing a book for Beacon Press, "Neurosocialism," which argues that autistic people like the author struggle under capitalism, and explains how neurosocialism - the distinct anticapitalist perspective one develops by living as a neurodiverse individual - can be an important organizing principle for the left.
Twitter (X) @MatthewWRozsa