Ed Roberson's Not Brought Up (161) is a poem I am still working on trying to understand. The phrase itself, "not brought up" is somewhat confusing in that it can take on many meanings. To not be brought up a certain way regarding perceived normative behaviors, or perhaps not brought up as in not uplifted in a movement; not made visible or allowed a voice, or even simply put, not brought up in conversation, unheard of or deliberately ignored. With these potential defining ideas in mind I began to unfold a deeper intersecting significance not fixed to either universal or particular but rather one and the same.
The line "that many gone along/keeping silent kept in office for - / just the sweep of the complicit terror against us-" informs me that not brought up is about what's not talked about in mainstream society, the injustices that are fundamentally established within structures and institutions. Speaking on the universal and (my) understanding of the poem, it's the inherently oppressive white hegemony's dominant narrative that preserves the "silence" cultivating historical amnesia that elicits "complicit terror".
Roberson, I believe is not only talking about racism, which may be more obvious with the line "the lynchings each of the thousands of/ times it happened/ the whole white town/ come down", I also found reference to the Stonewall Riots which took place in 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village New York and was lead by the LGBT community. Also taking place in the 60s were the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-Vietnam War Movement.
The movements brought up in particular are still relevant today because they are current human rights issues that are not brought up. Perhaps here at Mills and throughout our leftists and liberal communities around the bay area, but thinking in terms of mainstream coverage/conversations, these issues are being left up to those who "go along keeping silent complicit terror against us".
Dominique I'm just curious, given the image that precedes this poem why do you feel things are "not brought up"? (Not a trick question in anyway I'm just curious because if you think of who's not bringing things up, I feel it's a natural step to ask why)
ReplyDeleteI'm not totally sure I understand your question, sorry, and please feel free to re explain if you're open to that. Do you mean the literal image on the page left of the poem?
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about "not brought up" in the context of mainstream media in relation to the dominant narrative of US history to present day. If you did mean the actual image, this also goes with what I was attempting to reflect on in my post. The image of the American flag with bodies hanged within it, to me expresses how violence and slavery is deeply woven into the creation of America by way of settler colonialism. It's not that Roberson himself or the political art to the left isn't bringing it up, they are doing exactly that. I think both works of art are illuminating important historical information missing in present mainstream conversations. It reminds me of something I recently read either from Toni Morrison, or maybe Leslie Marmon Silko... basically, if you don't know your history you don't know yourself.
I hope that helped answer your question.
Thanks.
Hi Dominique,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing this blog, I find it interesting how we can all understand a piece of work differently based on the words. I was also having trouble understanding the grammatical behind Not Brought Up. I think that it can be everything too, especially this idea of not being brought up to fit into the norm of set behaviors. Also thank you for bringing up the fact that many of these issues are not portrayed in the dominant narrative, rather living in the bay area and in a liberal state we are exposed more to these issues.
Thanks!
Daisy
I think the phrasing was deliberate, not brought up can mean not brought up in conversation, and not uplifted and not even part of the mainstream and I think it can mean all that as a way of emphasizing how important it is and how unimportant things that are brought upare. I think you're on the right track with your questions
ReplyDelete