Blog 14 - Reflecting Circle 6

I’m responding to Morgan’s response question for Reflecting Circle 6: “Literature Since 1975.” She said to pick one poem from this time period and put a particular stanza in your own words. Does it change the meaning of the poem?

I decided to write about “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou. I was very intrigued by this author especially when she said, “You may encounter many defeats but you must not be defeated.” This courage and strength is shown in every stanza of her poem. One stanza intrigued me. “…You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise.” If I had to rewrite this portion of Angelou’s poem, it would go something like,

“You may try at every angle to change my sense of self, you may try to belittle and cripple my growth and progression, but try is all you will accomplish because, like air, I’ll rise.”

I think that this does not change the meaning of the poem even though it is not as eloquently written as Angelou’s stanza. She writes about the multiple attempts from “you” (which can be assumed as the white race) to defeat her. This woman’s ancestors had to endure oppression and slavery for decades and decades. Finally she is “the dream and the hope of the slave.” This poem portrays such an extreme amount of strength, one that many of us will never have to possess. Growing up in Arkansas, Angelou had to deal with racism even from her dentist. He refused her service because she was a black girl. She was later raped at the age of eight by her mother’s boyfriend. After a very laborious trial, her uncles murdered her rapist. These tribulations in her young life make her poetry extremely powerful.

Reflecting Circle 5 - "The Black Arts Era"

I wanted to respond to Ansley’s question from the Reflecting Circle 5. Her question was to respond to one of your favorite poems of this movement and explain why it is such.

There were a number of poems that stood out to me but “Jesus Was Crucified or, It Must Be Deep” was one of my favorites. This is a poem about a girl that was feeling sick and her mother called to check on her. During the course of conversation the mother said that she should pray in order to feel better. This daughter (I presumed to be Rodgers) was a student in college. Rodgers admitted she’d been angry a lot lately and went on to question her mother’s religious faith. Her mother told her if she didn’t believe, she was going to go to hell and the daughters response was “I sd I hoped it wudn’t be no hunkies there” which I found very humorous. This poem just reminds me of a rebellious young girl that is learning the ways of the world and how unjust it can be. I enjoyed the vernacular voice that the author uses in her poetry. It really helps bring the words to life. The young girl’s mother said that she believed in the bible and that if the daughter looked deep deep down she would know it was true as well. During the remainder of the poem the daughter jokes about how far down she would have to look to find that “Truth”. She was even getting on her mother about it saying “catch yuh later on jesus, I mean motha!” as she got off the phone. I think it is normal for young people to question their religious faith. Many would argue that it is imperative to question your faith in order to really understand it. This poem was my favorite because it reminds me of the time in my life when I realized my faith might not be perfect and the world around me was not as I imagined.

The Black Arts Era Cont...

One thing that stuck me during the Black Arts Era (1960-1975) was the number of published literary works that were written by women for women. Mari Evans in her poem “I Am a Black Woman” spoke about the different political and racial events that were prominent during this time period. Nat Turner who was executed for a slave revolt and the Korean War are a few examples. This shows that Evans was not only book smart, but had researched and was current on events that were occurring outside of her world. Evans wrote “I am a black woman, tall as a cypress, strong beyond all definition still defying place and time and circumstance, assailed impervious indestructible. Look on me and be renewed.” Black women during this time had overcome a number of obstacles and proved to be solid, resistant, and everlasting. Noticing these characteristics, I believe that anyone would feel renewed and confident to overcome daily struggles.

The Odyssey Webquest that we were required to do opened my eyes to a number of accomplishments that I was not previously aware of. The Executive Order No. 9981 was a major victory for full citizenship for everyone living in the United States. Now everyone could serve in the military. I found the evidence used in the Brown v. Board of Education to be particularly disturbing. Children were given a black and white doll and asked which one they preferred – and majority of black children chose the white one associated with more positive characteristics. I knew that viewpoints were skewed during this time, but it shows how racism is cyclical and even the younger generations were effected.

The Black Arts Era

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) was a literary figure during the Black Arts Era as a poet, essayist, and feminist theorist. She was born Audrey Geraldine Lorde but changed her name because she didn’t like the y hanging down and would always forget to add it. I found that I could relate to her writings more than other writers during this time period because she brings in the feminist aspect. She was a victim of breast cancer and this also influenced her views of cultural norms of physical beauty. “A Litany for Survival” was a poem about a mother’s responsibility to her next generation claiming that she “cannot indulge the passing dreams of choice.” The last line of the poem, “…it is better to speak remembering we were never meant to survive” sends a message of courage and triumph to the reader.

Lorde’s essay entitled “Poetry Is Not a Luxury” was one of my favorites. I felt that I could relate to the women she described. While there were a few references to the “white fathers” that I did not agree with, the overall effect of the essay was a positive one. The line “For within living structures defined by profit, by linear power, by institutional dehumanization, our feelings were not meant to survive.” portrays how I feel in my line of work. I am employed by a very large worldwide corporation that specializes in engineering power plants. Growing up with a very strong arts and expression influence, it is such a drag to go to work in a cube processing meaningless documents day in and day out. There is no room for feelings in the corporate world (except for ambition – or any other feeling that benefits the company). I can’t help but wonder if this dehumanized, programmed way of life is what was intended for us. I believe that’s what Lorde means when she writes about poetry being a luxury – it is a means of self expression that takes a woman’s thoughts and puts them on paper as a foundation for change.