By: Cheryl Gittens-Jones
A steady anger burns within me
Welling up from deep
Deep inside
Three-fifths of a human being
The sacred constitution of the
Red, white and blue
Walking into a room
My blackness goes
My blackness goes
Goes before me
Those of the majority
Not all
Not few
But many
Still do not see
See me as
human
women
Only
Black
Not as mother
Of a beautiful almond eyed
Sepia skinned
Baby girl
Not as graduate
of
Ivy league
Not as wife
As I
As me
Someone whose life is
Just as significant
Meaningful
Purposeful
Beautiful
Three-fifths of a human being
The sacred
Sacred constitution of the
The red, white
Redm, white and blue
Not removed
Still written in
Indelible ink
To be read
Perused
Overlooked
Excused
Invoked
When I walk in
Into a room in my blackness
Precedes me
You see not I
Not mother
Not women
Not wife
Just
Black
Nothing has changed
So many things locked in
Racist
Classist
Sexist
Passive aggressiveness
Intellectual sarcasm
Impoverished ignorance
Blatant alienation
Little has changed
I am
Black and living next door
Behind the same white
Picket fence
Enduring bleached smiles
But not with
Eyes
A steady anger
Burns within me
Welling up from deep
Deep inside
Three-fifths of a human being
The sacred constitution
Of the red, white, and blue
Blackness walking
Walking into
Into the room before me
The poem written by Cheryl Gittens-Jones, talks about how fast people judge and place labels because of color and gender. In general, she is speaking about the inner struggle she feels because of things she did not get to choose nor pick. Walking into a room, her color walks before her. She is exaggerating how she gets judged based on her color and looked down on to emphasize her point further. This is a very important aspect in racism, which the blog’s aim is to minimize. Despite the poem being from an American perceptive, it is still relevant to this blog because it speaks in first-person, about the struggle of people not looking beyond identity, which occurs everywhere.
I like the topic you choose and as you already have mentioned about how society sees the difference between skins colours and gender, sometimes I feel the same but whenever I face such discrimination I try not to keep quiet. So, can you bring some ideas through a poems about not to ignore such things but bring changes.
ReplyDeleteI find your topic to be very sensitive yet very strong and influential at the same time. This is because people need to learn the importance of equality and what people have gone through because of racism. Are you focusing on modern or historical racism, though?
ReplyDeleteMuneera ^
ReplyDelete