Essay on Explication of Poem for Black Boys

Language is a remarkable thing. It can convey every thought, feeling, and emotion with perfect accuracy. Almost exclusively, language has taken awkward, unfit animals out of nature and made them rulers over the earth and many of its elements. When used well, it has the power to change an individual's view of the world, make someone believe they have seen something they have not, and even more astonishingly, look inside one's self and see what exists. If language is mixed with the tempo of music, something new arises; poetry is born. When words and ideas are set to a beat, they can far more subtly convey concepts that would otherwise need to be explicitly stated and the poem can be appreciated more as a whole,

During the time this poem was written, racism and prejudice towards African Americans was prevalent and habituated to whites. From the first stanza alone, the tone is already set as uncharitable and

Frost further points out that the stretch of woods being viewed is very rural. This is made possible by the reference to the location between the woods and frozen lake. In closing the final sentence of the second stanza Frost reiterates the fact that this occurs on “the darkest evening of the year” stating the darkness of the mood.

Johnson depicts the Negro in Harlem as a peculiar people. She says, “Why urge ahead your supercilious feet? /Scorn will efface each footprint that you make.” She continues on to say, “Your shoulders towering high above the throng, /Your head thrown back in right, barbaric song/Palm trees and mangoes stretched before your eyes, /Let others toil and sweat for labor’s sake, /And wring from grasping hands their meed of gold. and (stanzas 6-8), (p1372).

Racial prejudice often creates a division between the racists and their victims, and thus results in isolation and alienation of the victimized racial group. During the Harlem Renaissance, discrimination and oppression against African Americans was still prevalent, despite the 1920s being a time of expression of African culture. This juxtaposing concept is analyzed through Claude McKay’s poem “The White City”, which explores the perception of an African American speaker, presumably McKay himself, who longs to be a part of the White City, while retaining a deep, inner hatred of the city. Although McKay initially demonstrates his endearment and attachment toward the city through visual imagery, he directly juxtaposes it by expressing his hatred with tenacious, despicable diction. This juxtaposition not only serves to represent the struggle of being an African American in a white supremacist city but also displays McKay’s paradox of appreciating the “White City” while feeling detached from it.

Amongst the judgmental stares of the audience that has bestowed an image of pathetic vulnerability upon the dancer, the poem’s speaker emerges to provide a portrait of the dancer that is much less lascivious, acknowledging that “Her voice was like the sound of blended flutes / Blown by black players upon a picnic day” (3-4). The sudden juxtaposition of a “picnic day” vis-a-vis a crowded night-club highlights the speakers attempt to remove the sexualized image of the dancer with the intent of identifying her noble power as a member of the black community. The elegance of the dancer, recognized by her soft voice, is affirmed by the speaker’s specific mention of “black players,” displaying black heritage as containing multi-faceted artistic potential. While the poem begins with a dehumanizing portrayal of the dancer, the speaker successfully reformulates the identity of the dancer into a component of a larger black tradition.

African American men struggled throughout their lifetime with being looked down on and shunned by American. Whether it was getting a job or simply walking down the street, blacks were constantly abused and degraded just for the color of their skin.” Blindfolded, I could no longer control my motions. I had no dignity, I stumbled about like a baby or a drunken man” (184). This quote left an imagery of slavery in the story. The control the white men had over the blindfolded black men illustrated the power whites had during slavery. Because of the predicament, the boys had no choice but to obey the white individuals because of the sense of fear they installed in them. In the fighters’ mind, they were slaves to the whites no matter how far the nation has progressed from

Poets have written love poems for centuries with the first said to be around 1000BC. But what is love? It is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘ to have attachment to and affection for’. However, after studying various love poems, I have found that love is portrayed in many different ways. It can be possessive, hateful and pure and the fact that William Shakespeare said ‘The course of true love never did run smooth’ suggests that love is more complicated than a simple dictionary definition.

The brutal white men the even go as far as to make sure the character doesn’t put the two races on the same figurative pedestal, by fraternizing the young man by asking “you sure that about equality was a mistake?”. A second example of how white brutality is characterized and portrayed is in Claude McKay’s poem If we must die. The speaker describes the African-American people as hogs and the brutal white people of the time as vicious dogs, and in line 4, pleads for them not to begin “making their mock at [their] accursed lot” describing how horrible and miserable African-Americans of the time were. He then goes to capture the triumph and die fighting spirit in line 10, “Though far outnumbered let us show us brave.” Yet another example, representing the hardened abuse from white communities is Countee Cullen's short poem Incident. In the lines 5-8, the speaker shows that there was no mercy among white people, even to the young by saying “Now I was eight and very small/ And he was no whit bigger/ And so I smiled, but poked out/ His tongue and called me ‘Nigger’.” Aside from showing white brutality towards innocent children, the speaker also captures the long term effects of this abuse in lines 9-12 of the poem, “I saw the whole of Baltimore/ From May until December/Of all the things that happened there/That’s all that I remember.” This shows that though much can happen throughout someone’s life, the verbal and physical abuse and mocking from one group to

“Nikki-Rosa” by Nikki Giovanni exemplifies how Blacks are looked upon within American society. White critics have a tendency to stereotype Blacks thinking they are all struggling and unhappy; however not every African-American is dealing with that or feels that way. What was interpreted from the poem “Nikki-Rosa” is that money does not equal happiness, understanding the socioeconomic class in American society, family bonds, and understanding someone’s life living in their shoes. This poem consists of thirty lines with no rhyming scheme and eliminates the usage of any punctuations which makes it sound like a run-on thought. “Black” is the only word capitalized throughout the entire poem which emphasizes the pride the writer has for being a Black person.

Cullen utilizes imagery throughout the poem, to illuminate the racism African Americans endured and impact racism carries. The speaker in the poem is an eight year old in Baltimore. In the first stanza, Cullen describes the child as “heart-filled, head-filled with glee.” This image portrays the speaker as innocent and joyful. Then the speaker notices a boy staring at him, the speaker believes there’s little difference between them, that the kid “was no whit bigger.” The speaker gets a rude awakening after the boy “poked out his tongue.” A seemingly playful meaningless gesture is met with the boy calling the speaker “N****r.” Cullen contrasts these two experiences because it depicts how racism comes out of nowhere and effects those you wouldn’t expect. The last stanza, the speaker “saw the whole Baltimore. The image of seeing is not just visual, but a metaphor for the loss of innocence where the speaker now is exposed to the hate. Cullen masterfully uses imagery so that readers understand the incredible impact that words have, especially when used for hate.

Under the line, "I've been a victim" the speaker says, "The Belgians cut off my hands in the Congo. / They lynch me still in Mississippi." These lines demonstrate that obviously the speaker is symbolic of the black race, and is not just one person. However, the author wrote them as if it were one person and that proves to be very effective, especially in this stanza. The use of the first person voice allows the author to illustrate suffering in a very personal way, while simultaneously making the statement that each person carries with them the suffering, if not the experience, of past generations.

“That one has a jail-cell with his name on it”, (Ferguson 1). A quote this powerful lays a foundation of the stories shared within the book Bad Boys.  This book allows us to see how the public school system is shaping black masculinity, and the affect it brings on these young boys.Yet, in the book The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, it tells us about  Robert’s struggle from poverty, the streets of Newark, and his education at Yale. These two books give us a powerful message. One that allows us to see the underlying triumphs Black men face. With poverty, biases, prejudices, and many more obstacles thrown in their path, they will always be set to prove themselves. The odds are constantly against them, as they are seen and viewed as

The main observation readers could take from this poem is that the “lower” individual has to take care of and pick up after the white man. It is even hinted at that the poems the mother chant rival the alleged master of poetry’s own works.

The 1960s was a volatile time with racial tensions coming to a head; however there was a Black Power Movement along with a Black Arts Movement taking place that inspired many black poets, writers, artists, and more to share their message and frustrations through the arts. One of these poets was Nikki Giovanni who was a major force in the Black Arts Movement. Nikki Giovanni’s earlier works mainly dealt with themes of black militancy, revolution and black empowerment. One of her poems that focused on and expressed these themes is MY POEM that talked about how no matter what happens to her or what’s going on the black revolution can not be