Summary and analysis of Poems
Cheryl Jones used her exceptional art of combination of words and phrase to develop an emotional poem she titled My blackness goes beyond me. She presents the plight of hundreds of thousand people all over the world who in one way or another have experienced marginalization, segregation or worst discrimination just because of their skin colour. The main theme in this piece of work is discrimination based on racism, this is supported by the line “Those of the majority, not all, not few, still do not see me as a human woman”. Racism has become a global disaster as the countless number of complaints are registered all over the world, blacks complain about police brutality in European countries, Asians too complain of discrimination in opportunities in European countries. At the same time, whites face stigmatization whenever they visit Asia of Africa. The poet expresses the frustrations of million other black women who were angered by the prejudice of generalization anti-abortion comments on black women in the united states without any substantive evidence to their claims. Racism needs to be reconsidered by relevant authorities as all humans need fair treatment regardless of the skin colour.
Lauren Kim also jots down a simple but powerful message in for of a poem. In her poetry, she expresses how passionate she is in fairness, unit and equality to all regardless of the skin appearance and warns on the privileged that take advantage of others skin appearance an opportunity to exploit, “support black community but not an opportunity to benefit”. The poem is rich in themes, love unity, equality and end to racism. This comes at a time when most European countries are experiencing uprisings and riots in the major streets in protest of the brutal murder of black American George Floyd by a white coup. These lines are captivating “ Say something, please do something” she brings another trajectory in the fight against racism. it should not be viewed as white vs black but rather requires a collective responsibility across all divisions to bring racism to an end. She also urges other nations and countries to join on the push for the end of racism and slavery to make the world a better place for all mankind.
Maya Angelo also took to pen and paper to pen down a poem she titled Caged bird. It’s amazing how she managed to use metaphors and imagery to express what it was like in America in the early 1960s, where people were defined by their skin colour. She describes two birds, one caged while the other is free to range. The caged bird longs for freedom while in a cage and from its captivity it sings melodiously hoping that someday she will also enjoy the freedom of being free to range. The stanza “the caged bird sings with fearful trill and hope is tune is heard” represents the voices of few black activists who sounded their displeasure on racism in America in the 1800s and early 1900s. The words of Maya still holds meaning to many black Americans till to date as the experience of frustration still the same.
In conclusion, these three poems from different poets converge in ideology as the main theme in the poems is racism. Racism is like a weed that encroaches slowly but very toxic to peaceful coexistence as one fraction feels marginalized or discriminated because of their skin colour. God created all human equal and he said it was beautiful therefore we need to appreciate everyone just the way they are without attaching skin colour or continent of origin.
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