The Black Boy Poem Annotated

In Richard Wright’s novel, Black Boy, Richard is struggling to survive in a racist environment in the South. In his youth, Richard is vaguely aware of the differences between blacks and whites. He scarcely notices if a person is black or white, and views all people equally. As Richard grows older, he becomes more and more aware of how whites treat blacks, the social differences between the races, and how he is expected to act when in the presence of white people. Richard, with a rebellious nature, finds that he is torn between his need to be treated respectfully, with dignity and as an individual with value and his need to conform to the white rules of society for survival and acceptance.

This book is made up of two cycles of poems, each confronting the same subject: the characterization of a black man in white America. In this book, I plan to focus mainly on the first cycle and touch briefly on the second. The first cycle includes four different sections. In section one of cycle one, Eady writes about Susan Smith and Charles Stuart, two murderers who blamed their crimes on nonexistent black attackers. The first poem is called “How I Got Born” (Eady 5), in this poem the fictional young African American man is conjured up. In the upper right-hand corner of the page, Eady writes a note that explains who and what the speaker is: “The speaker is the young black man Susan Smith claimed kidnapped her children” (Eady 5). In the first few lines of the poem he says, “Susan Smith willed me alive/ At the moment/ Her babies sank into the lake” (l. 1-40). So right away he gives us a pretty straightforward explanation for what this poem is about and what this section will be about. In the next few poems, the narrator discusses his “existence” and reason for being created. Eady uses a lot of metaphors, similes and imagery in his poems, and he does a phenomenal job with imagery.

In a time when Africans were stolen from their native lands and brought through the middle passage to a land that claimed was a free country, a small African girl, who would later be known as Phillis Wheatley, was sold in Boston in 1761. In the speech, “The Miracle of Black Poetry in America”, written by June Jordan, a well respected black poet, professor and activist, wrote the speech in 1986, 200 years after Phillis walked the earth, to honor the legacy of the first black female poet for the people of the United States. Jordan, passionately alludes to the example of Phillis Wheatley’s life, to show the strength and perseverance of African-American people throughout difficult history and how they have overcome the impossible.

A large portion of this poem is comparing the difference between black and white. In the poem it practically says “what if all the black is now white, and all the white is now black?”, then goes on to give some examples like “Black Presidents,

Welton Smith’s poem “The Nigga Section” is a very interesting read. According to Ford’s analysis from their book, Smith’s poem expresses his anger and frustration towards the black people who killed Malcolm X. Smith also attacks the white man who enforced these oppressions to black people because we have been brainwashed to do things that the white man does. This means that black people would kill other black people. To also include that Smith is purely angry, Ford mentions that Smith’s choices of words to make it aware that he is using rhetorical devices and negative connotations that hurt and most likely to emasculate the black men who helped assassinate Malcolm X (Ford).

Life is an extremely unfair situation for Liz, as well as her best friend, Marlee. Life is supposed to be happy, and easy for children, but instead for these children, as well as all the other children in the book, The Lions of Little Rock, life is tough, and you had to be careful, especially if you were colored like Liz. This book is alike the to poem Black Fists in the Air because both are extremely against segregation. Furthermore, the mood of the book and the poem are close to the same. Both are sort of dark, ad the narrator, and the people in this book seem depressed. Finally, both the poem and the book use comparisons to show how unfair discrimination is. The poem Black Fists in the Air, and the book The Lions of Little Rock are both very similar in many ways.

W.E.B. Du Bois has contributed greatly to contemporary sociological thinking because he began a conversation of what it means to be “other” in this American Society. In his conversation of what it means to be other he constructed and included three major concepts that continue to resonate till this day. His concepts include “the color-line”, “the veil”, and the “double consciousness” (Appelrouth and Edles, 269). Together, these concepts not only described past experiences of blacks in American society (e.g., slavery) but also continue to remind us that the relation of whites and people of color remains complex. In Du Bois’s own words, “the Nation has not yet found peace from its sins” (273).

The short but inspirational poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes addresses what happens to aspirations that are postponed or lost. The brief, mind provoking questions posed throughout the poem allow the readers to reflect--on the effects of delaying our dreams. In addition, the questions give indications about Hughes' views on deferred dreams.

In her sonnet, “Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem” Helene M. Johnson uses oxymorons and dialect to convey the complex experience of the speaker. By using oxymorons and dialect, Johnson is able to show the advancement in the speaker’s words. Johnson’s usage of oxymorons conveys the complex experience by creating contradictory terms that produces intricacy within the speaker’s words. The speaker claiming “...disdainful and magnificent” and “...rich, barbaric song” adds advancement and complication.

Richard Wright’s memoir Black Boy (American Hunger): A Record of Childhood and Youth recounts the author’s personal experience growing up as an African American male in the Jim Crow South, as well as his initial years in the North in the late 1920s. While it is a personal account of one man’s life in this time period, Wright’s memoir also sheds light on the broader role of black men in American society in the early twentieth century, particularly with respect to race, gender, and class relations. By no accident, insight on these relations can be gleaned from the title of Wright’s memoir itself. I argue that Wright chose the provocative title Black Boy (American Hunger): A Record of Childhood and Youth in order to both utilize shock

In order to occupy her child, the mother dresses her daughter up to go sing in the children’s choir at church in the fifth stanza. She brushes her hair, bathes her, and puts on her gloves and shoes. Randall appeals to the senses in this stanza; he uses a metaphor here to inform the reader a visual that the family is African American. She has “night-dark” hair and small brown hands. She is dressed in white and smells of sweet rose petals. The mother takes the girls mind off of the Freedom March and fixes it on the children’s choir. The tone is one of content. The sixth stanza is a

The meaning and message of Nikki Giovanni's "Poem for Black Boys" is further emphasized by the usage of sardonic humor and sarcasm. In an initial reading, it is easy to confuse the message because of the blatant address of the stereotypes. If one did not know Giovanni or read the poem fully it could be interpreted as black bashing. However, this is nothing more than Giovanni honestly and unapologetically stating the views held by simple-minded people. Giovanni addresses how black males are viewed as drug-addicted, violent and uneducated. These thoughts are supported in the second stanza with "you should play run-away-slave…these are more in line with your history" and the fifth stanza especially:

Minorities in the poems had many common themes including black people being mistreated, despised and white people . Most of the poems mentioned how black people were mistreated or displayed examples of it. In the ending of battle royal the main character is given a scholarship to a Negro college as a reward for his academic achievements. However at the time segregated schools underfunded black schools preventing him from getting a proper education. Earlier in the story the mere mention of equality causes the white people to become hostile. The other poems from the Harlem renaissance also speak about racism and inequality and the effects it has on the population. In many of the poems white people are depicted as having despised black people

The poem White Beyoncé counteracts the universal concept of success in a way how racial ethnicity impacts our victory, leading to an altered life. The title introduces a distinguishable life of Beyoncé if transformed into a White woman. Correspondingly, the speaker writes the poem with a form of couplets and never-ending sentences describing the ongoing sequence that a white Beyoncé would experience on her daily basis. To illustrate, “she watches Turner Classic Movies/ and sees herself there// Up in da country club she dines with friends/ The conversation is breezy// Doesn’t look the waiter in the eyes/ ordering vegan chicken salad w/ amenities” (39). This suggests the casual and comfortable lifestyle that is retained at ease, while the Turner

Alliteration and metaphors are two major elements of this poem. The repetition of consonant sounds and alliteration occurs throughout the poem. All of the lines strongly use the repetition of consonants and alliteration except for lines two and seven. In addition to that, the controlling figure of speech in this poem is a metaphor. It is strongly articulated in the first line, and as the one continues to read, it is amplified and extended throughout the rest of the poem. The metaphor compares mask of Line 1 to the fabricated emotive facades that African-Americans had made use of in order to avert provoking their oppressors.