In Of Poetry & Protest, the poems this week collectively reminded me of W.E.B. Du Bois' concept of double consciousness. As I remember it, his theory explains how people of color have the ability to see their non-white, racialized identity through the lens of the Euro-centered dominant narrative. The first thing I noticed visually about Thomas Sayers Ellis' poem "The Identity Repairman," were the titles he began each section with; "African", "Slave", "Negro", "Colored", "Black", "African American". Ellis really only uses literal words we commonly know as colors such as black and white once however these titles in the context of US history infer ones skin color which leads me to sit with further reflections around race and identity. Nikky Finney's work in "Left," added to what I'm still wrapping my head around in terms of racialization and skin color. To me, her poem is juggling historically built structures and institutions of racism that work hand in hand to justify and perpetuate oppression. Finney uses the broken levee disaster in New Orleans to explore how an area of predominantly black residence were outright ignored, left to die, in contrast to San Diego's wildfires that were immediately tended to, "put out so well" (57) because they were in white territory.
"Voice of American," by Duriel E. Harris also used the juxtaposition of racializing the body in regards to skin color. The line, "persistent ideology makes itself known we are American; universal truths rest in the value... placed on certain inalienable bodies" (82), I believe is talking about the structural racism I mentioned before. The dominant narrative being white bodies, universal truths implying structures and institutions inscribe and perpetuate who is white and therefore valued in American society.
Although this collection does not necessarily talk about color explicitly but elicits assumptions of skin color through the portrayals of American racialization via lived experiences and collective memory. Reginald Harris' poem, "New Rules of the Road" is simple in it's wording but carries the heaviest of implications. Harris makes clear the little, if any, value racialized (non-white) bodies possess in a structurally racist America. He describes the policed body, one that can only be against the law and deserve no rights because of their innate "badness" or "blackness" rather. "Do not say you do not fit the profile... this is America: you are the profile" (87). Profile = portrayal, depiction, side view, shape, figure. Cops don't arrest on account of ones shape, it is their color that portrays and profiles.
Our posts definitely notice similar links. Color isn't explicitly talked about throughout, but it's a "what we talk about when we talk about color" moment. Here it is lived experiences. It's what is evoked by those experiences, what this country normalizes as the experiences of black people, etc. We looked into poems that see the dimensions of color. I remember my first post talked a lot about the different facets of blackness, and as we move our way through P&P we are able to hone in on all of these poets takes-- crafting poetry through juxtaposition, through connecting different times and places through (what we aim to build as) the black experience. Looking forward to talking more and working together!
ReplyDeleteI wondered with this particular prompt about whether or not color has to be mentioned explicitly. There's a quote by Toni Morrison, though I don't remember when she said it about writing for Black folks and that being her audience. And if you've ever read Toni Morrison, you'd know that she doesn't go out of her way to present Blackness...which is to say, you don't see color in a way that is obvious (with exceptions to God Help the Child and The Bluest Eye) and I want to believe that that's what's happening here. I like the term you used Van Dell, "dimensions of color."
ReplyDeleteD,
ReplyDeletethis is so on point, both in your addressing the color complex and in analyzing how it plays out both named and unnamed in the poems. You work the Harris poem into the interpretation that talks about implied traits quite beautifully. Good work
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