If you’re not steeped in jazz history, you may not realize how mind-boggling it is that Ras Baraka is the mayor of Newark, New Jersey. I live close to Newark, so I see him on the local news fairly regularly -- the city is struggling pretty badly with COVID-19. And he seems like a decent guy working hard for his city. But he’s the son of Amiri Baraka! I can’t figure out how you grow up with one of America’s most important poets, but just as importantly, a guy who was a hard-line Marxist for decades, and whose wife remains a committed member of the Communist Party USA (full disclosure: Amina Baraka released an album in 2017, and my wife designed the cover), as your father, and decide to run for mayor.