Enslaved vs I Shall Return

In Claude “McKay’s “Enslaved” and “I Shall Return,” I see a connection. They shed light on the issues within the black community while choosing a response to the hatred being received.

“Enslaved” entails a brief background on the issues the black community faces even to this day. Line 2-3: “For weary centuries despised, oppressed,/Enslaved and lynched, denied a human place. “It learned that this issue is far beyond his time and continues to be a problem in the modern day. Although scenarios might be slightly different than in the past, they are still important issues to shed light on. African Americans constantly have to deal with this strife of racism-coated hatred. Mckay seems to express his feelings on the matter and how tired he is of this Hate. Mckay expresses how hard it is to go through this oppression in Lines 8 -9: ” My heart grows sick with hate, becomes as lead,/ For this my race that has no home on earth../Then from the dark depths of my soul I cry. It’s a hard feeling to grasp, being hated just because of the color of your skin. Being a member of the black community, I can attest to the struggles and racism faced firsthand hand, and Claude expresses his pain for his community not being accepted and being shunned after they have every right to be there. Lines 5-6: “ And in the Black Land disinherited,/ Robbed in the ancient country of its birth.”. It is being deprived of what is rightfully theirs while experiencing racism. Not only does McKay express his emotional feelings towards this, but he also expresses anger. They do not have freedom in a place where they deserve every right to be. Bound to be constricted by the White Man. It could’ve easily felt like there was no safe space for them. There seemed to be a shift in this poem, though; Mckay shifted this awful experience as a black man and found strength. Lines 10- 14: “ To the avenging angel to consume/ The white man’s world of wonders utterly:/ Let it be swallowed up in earth’s vast womb,/ Or upward roll as sacrificial smoke/ To liberate my people from its yoke!”. The avenging angel seems to metaphorically bring his fellow people out of this oppression—a way to constrict the racism that was brought up in the world. In terms of the world today, Racism has not disappeared, although speaking of back then, it has been shaped. One thing that stood out to me was “WHITE MANS WORLD.” It’s clear even today that the world is built around the white man. Mckay wishes this commotion to be abolished as he is screaming for justice.

In terms of the poem “ I Shall Return,”. How do they all connect? This poem brings a different light to the previous one. Mckay’s approach is saying despite all odds, he’s still standing. He’s still resisting love and light. The passion did not leave him, nor did the fight for justice leave him. What others meant to bring him down, he found a safe place within himself. Lines 1-3” shall return; I shall return/To laugh and love and watch with wonder-eyes/At golden noon the forest fires burn,” Even though this fight for justice is not an easy path, being oppressed alongside fighting for justice can be a tremdelsuly stressful thing. Some might struggle to still find that light within them. This connects and amplifies his other poem. Looking at it side by side, one can see that it continues the story for justice. Screaming hey look, times are hard, but I am alive.” ‘I’m STRONG!”. It screams if I can have this fire inside me, so can you. This probably drew attention from those who might have wanted to give up. The last two lines in this poem stuck with me. Lines 13-14:” I shall return, I shall return,/ To ease my mind of long, long years of pain.” 

-Victoria Sasere

Unfortunate Truth

To be quite honest whilst reading these poems I felt that all of these poems were intriguing to me as they talk about his struggles and hardships. The two poems I chose to write about from Claude McKay’s poems were, “Outcast” and “The Tired Worker”. While reading the two poems, I noticed how they both express the want for freedom and the different ways to express this. 

In the sonnet for, “The Tired Worker”, the poem demonstrates the difficulties of the working class as well as his experiences. Mckay emphasizes the importance of the evening time as this is where they receive their free time away from work, as well as this is where they can be at peace. “O dawn! O dreaded dawn! O let me rest” (Line 12), the poet describes his dread for the beginning of a new day as this is where their freedom ends and they will need to start working once more. 

Although, In the poem “Outcast” it seems as if the poet focuses more on the feeling of loneliness just simply due to their skin color. As well as focusing on the fact that he is an immigrant, which wasn’t all that welcomed, “And I must walk the way of life a ghost” (Line 11). I felt that throughout the poem it focused around the idea of racial profiling as well as how they’re in a white world. Additionally to all of this, I noticed the alliteration throughout the poem of “I”, this appears to be the poet referring actually to the general working class rather than just himself. 

These poems are quite heartbreaking but they are also unfortunately the truth and something that people to this day still struggle with, race.

Yue Wu-Jamison

The End Of The Fight

I feel like Claude McKays “If We Must Die” and “REST IN PEACE” are aligned with one another. It almost feels like “REST IN PEACE” is the sonnet that came after “If We Must Die.” In  “REST IN PEACE” it talks about how their fight is over, how now they can rest and how they’ll never have to worry about the “the ugly corners of the Negro belt;” that makes me think about how in “If We Must Die.” he said “Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back,” the fight he was talking about if finally over for the person in “REST IN PEACE,” they can rest now that they have died. Though they are connected in a way that a story is connected to an ending, the poetic elements of the poems are different. In “REST IN PEACE” the tone is one of farewell, relief, and at times even celebration. There’s a sense of triumph over adversity and a wish for a brighter future for the subject of the poem. That tone conveys very well when the poem says “The miseries and pains of these harsh days By you will never, never again be felt. No more, if still you wander, will you meet With nights of unabating bitterness; They cannot reach you in your safe retreat, The city’s hate, the city’s prejudice!” They are saying goodbye to a dear friend yet they are relieved that their friend’s fight is finally over knowing that it is a hard and soul crushing one; and though they mourn, they are happy that they will never again have to face the bitterness of the city’s prejudice. In “If We Must Die” the tone is a bit different; the tone is defiant and confrontational. The speaker acknowledges the inevitability of death but refuses to go down without a fight. There’s a sense of urgency and determination in the face of oppression and persecution. No back down, and that is clearly shown when it says “Though far outnumbered let us show us brave, And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!- Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back.” In “REST IN PEACE” there is imagery that paints vivid pictures through its language, such as “the city’s thorny ways,” “the ugly corners of the Negro belt,” and “nights of unabating bitterness.” These images evoke strong emotions and create a sense of place and atmosphere. In “If We Must Die” McKay uses vivid imagery to depict the dire situation faced by the speaker and their fellow kinsman. Images of being “hunted and penned in an inglorious spot” and “round us bark the mad and hungry dogs” evoke a sense of danger and oppression and paint the oppressive nature of these words very vividly. In “REST IN PEACE” there is symbolism while in “If We Must Die” there is use of metaphor. In “REST IN PEACE” the city and its harsh realities symbolize struggle, prejudice, and suffering, while the safe retreat represents a haven from these troubles. The sea and port symbolize a journey or passage, perhaps to a better place or state of being. While in “If We Must Die” the metaphors lie in their comparisons to animals (“hogs” and “dogs”), as it emphasizes their dehumanization in the face of persecution and the way their murderers see them.

-Paris Baker

American Racism: A Toxic, Twisted Weed

Sentry stands guard
whitewashed house
oleander blooming

The imagery invoked in this haiku poem captures the experience of daily life in Japanese-American internment camps by painting a picture of racial oppression and toxicity. Initially, the imagery gives the impression of a typical suburban house with flowers blooming nearby. This innocuous image presents purity and nature. However, imagery and symbolism are in conflict here. Oleander is poisonous to humans and also represents caution, so the speaker is using oleander as a symbol of warning for poison. In this poem, racism is a poisonous plant growing and thriving within the United States. The “whitewashed house” is actually a symbol for the cramped barracks that people were confined in. The whitewashing in particular represents propaganda aimed at creating a false image of Japanese Americans living happy, fulfilling lives within the internment camps. Just as the definition of “whitewash” suggests, Japanese Americans were concealed away from their former communities and the American public as a whole. People were ousted from their homes and imprisoned in these camps under the premise of disloyalty (despite a majority of them having been born American citizens). The whitewashing is a physical manifestation of discrimination and white people exerting their power over Japanese Americans by forcing them out of their homes into desolate camps. In the poem, a “sentry” or soldier watches the camp carefully. At first glance, the sentry may seem like a protector of the people within the house. In reality, the sentry is present to ensure no one escapes the internment camp. This line refers to the constant surveillance and watchtowers in the internment camps.

~Miki Chroust

One Self, One soul

Reading We Are All Whitman: #2: Song of/to/My/Your/Self It has a lot of passion, pain, and expressiveness. The rhythm is like the pace of a heart, having moments that are quickly paced while other parts in the poem are not, but some pauses allow readers to bask in the idea the poem is trying to convey. However, I notice differences in the rhythm of the two poems. Although both have many similarities, Ambroggio has more pauses and expresses a different sort of emotion. With this poem, he expresses the deep feelings he feels for discrimination and injustice among colored people.. Like Whitman, he also lacks periods, which creates a lot of run-ons. Some things rolled off my tongue as I read the fast-paced parts, which flowed perfectly together. In Line 11, “offspring of poor and rich, of lettered and unlettered. ”  This poem, like Whitman’s, has many long sentences. But in a way, these long sentences imitate the stress in his voice, the tiredness of it all. When he goes on about the treatment certain groups of people get, he starts every chunk of text with the same word for the most part, starting with a repetition of the word from to repeating the word It from lines 43- 82. He wanted to bring the poem together and started doing it toward the end. 

This poem starts similar to Whitman’s… people are people, but things can go one way or another, but some differences set them apart; unlike Whitman, I feel he almost embraced differences, pointing them out. Whitman was getting across the point that at the end of the day, no matter what, you have your human with an oil. He uses a lot of symbolism, showing that although people might be from different worlds, certain things remain the same. He expresses his love and hate for creation… the good and bad, yes the physical world we live in, the anatomy..etc might be great but the personalities not as much. This leads to my point on his comparing things to one another. This poem is about identity, problems that certain groups of people face, and problems that Luis himself has gone through. This poem highlights that although God made humans in his image to be considered “perfect,” all are far from it. In the end, regardless of people sharing similarities in anatomy, it doesn’t automatically mean there will be respect.

A way that I saw Ambroggio’s poem translates the rhythmic enumeration of body parts in Whitman’s poem was very prominent in this specific part. I immediately noticed a connection between the two: “It suffers now, and in the next gust of wind, the discriminating smoke of random breath, for good or bad of those who intoxicated breathe ignorance or haughtiness without clusters of stars, mountains, heavenly clouds, wellsprings of gifts and meadows.” It shows similarities to what Whitman said in lines 6-10: “Eyes, eye-fringes, iris of the Eye, eyebrows, and the waking or sleeping of the lids. Mouth, tongue, lips, teeth, roof of the mouth, jaws, and the jaw-hinges.Nose, nostrils of the nose, and the partition. Cheeks, temples, forehead, chin, throat, back of the neck,neck-slue.Strong shoulders, manly beard, scapula, Hind-shoulders, And The ample  Side-round Of The chest,” list things in the same categories to ensure the reader understands their feelings. Overall, as for the meaning of the poems, I felt the end goal was entirely different. Whitman expresses his love for the body and the music all the body parts can make, while Ambroggio sheds a dim light on the fact that creation is beautiful but discusses how the world, indeed, can be. But I could see both trying to find peace in themselves, loving themselves despite what others say, and accepting who they are.

Victoria Sasere

Documentary 13th

While watching the Documentary in class I had many questions and many thoughts about it. We’ve been learning more about racism during class and being completely honest I did not expect my writing class to be about racism. This brings me to find the class even more interesting because you assume that you’re going to learn about grammar and etc but instead here we are watching documentaries on people’s rights, especially color people. You think that back then segregation was worse and you would think that everything was worse back then based on the history you learn during class. Once you actually sit down and learn more about the history of other people’s rights then you would actually understand it a whole lot better. There was a video we watched during class where a lady was telling us about how people tend to treat others differently based on what skin color they are and the sad part that is the truth. People tend to treat you differently, for example, you’re at the bank and if people see that you are a color person it is most likely they’ll be more afraid of you than being afraid of a white person. That is just the way society is nowadays and it’s sad. It’s sad because people who are white have more privilege than people who are colored and that’s just reality nowadays. The thing that I am mostly disgusted by, and I saw that happened in the documentary is that cops think that colored people are always looking suspicious. A color person could just be walking around and would get called being suspicious and they will get arrested but if it was a white person stealing it is most likely they’ll be held off with a warning and it makes me disgusted that today we see this happening a lot. It gets me disgusted knowing that the thing you are supposed to be protected by is the thing that ends many color people and that is society’s fault. I always question why does god let these types of things happen I always question why did god bring in racism how is it fair that we are treated the way we are through something that we cannot even pick when we are born. This is the way you’re born and you have to deal with it but if you’re colored people if you are an immigrant being born will bring you consequences just because of the way you look. I want people to stop being afraid I want people to stop putting labels on other cultures because labels shouldn’t exist in this world just like racism. Yet I find it so funny how America grants freedom to all Americans which was something that was said in the Documentary and it is the truth. Another part that I could relate to in the documentary is the part where they said those who were born white do not know the struggle of colored people and that is true. I could relate to this because being an immigrant is not easy either we don’t have many opportunities like Americans. It’s hard coming from a background that we can’t choose from.

Ana Munos

First learn your background.

So far I’ve learned a lot through the articles we’ve read and the video/podcast we watched. It’s been like a dramatic rollercoaster going through these topics but it’s nice because I personally enjoy reading. Reading about my history always leaves me shockingly mainly because you could never believe how cruel people were in the past. You think that the world, hasn’t changed but it has gone through so many stages like racism, movements, and many other awful situations. Reading topics like these makes me question a lot of things especially why cruel things happen, I don’t understand what people win by judging someone’s skin. Especially when I heard the video about Kimberle, that she came here for a better place to get a job but instead of getting a job she got double discrimination not just because of her skin color but also because of her gender and it’s honestly sad. I’m not going to lie reading those articles made me a bit confused because one article we were talking about one topic and then you read the next article and it’s a completely new topic. I’m not really a person who likes to read articles, being honest I barely understood what the articles meant. Overall I did get the main point which was how communication affects us on a daily basis and how they’re different types of social classes when it comes to racism. It’s pretty interesting what we’ve learned so far about how racism has grown over the past years and centuries. I never really like to go into depth mainly because it is a sad topic honestly I had no idea that we were going to be learning alot of about racims in our writing class. I feel like im good with writing but when it comes to describing articles of the past I just cant seem to get to it mainly because I tend to ignore news and stuff like that because I don’t like seeing how tramuatize people get. The worst part is that racism still happens as of today and there isnt really much we can do because all the power lands in the government. I know that if the government really wanted to stop slavery they would’ve done so a long time ago but the government is too ignorant to make any changes in my opinion. I think that no one deserved to be judged by their skin color mainly because I’ve nbeen judged by hispanics and now its sad that hispanics and chinese are not getting attacked because of their culture and where they come from. Just like the article said I don’t think anyone has the right to judge anyone by their skin color if they havent really focused on learning about it and the backgrounds because if were being honest everyone has ancestors so like the article mentioned technically we are all a little “negro” excuse my language since I don’t really like to use or mention that word mainly because I think its disrespectful. Anyways reading the three articles especially the one about communication was a pretty interesting topic to cover because I learned how communication tends to get stronger is we change ourselves a little. Communication can get better just like learning where someone came from isn’t that hard but what I’ve learned is that you should’ve judged something unless you really have the supporting evidence to judge it.

-Ana Munos

Distinguisged Voices in Parallel Desolation

McKay’s poems, Outcast and The Tired Worker coincide with each other due to their parallel significance. There is a sense of anguish and dejection in the Outcast that is reflected in The Tired Worker. It should be noted that McKay wrote the Outcast in 1922. The speaker in both poems expresses his thoughts towards the discriminatory prejudices found in America. The culture shock that is implied in these poems is the bridge that binds them together, which is where the depression stems from. McKay uses personification and diction to illustrate the somber hues in both poems. 

The Tired Worker depicts the tedious routine of an average worker in America, and there is an aching desire for rest within them. McKay writes, ““soon the night\ Will wrap thee gently in her sable sheet” (5-6). Words “wrap” and “gently” display the benign and tender tones the speaker so eagerly yearns for. The motherly intonation is explicitly stated in the word “her,” which merely exemplifies the context of homesickness. McKay’s diction evokes eloquence that coerces the reader to experience the dreadful sensations the speaker endures. The speaker continues, “The wretched day was theirs, the night is mine;\ Come tender sleep, and fold me to thy breast” (9-10). The speaker is awaiting the calming night only to awaken to another monotonous day. Recall the time period that McKay published these poems, considerably one of the many appalling moments in history. Outcast puts these thoughts and feelings into intimate and personal expressions that is fervently communicated in The Tired Worker. Outcast’s speaker discusses the origins of their displacement in the new environment. McKay states, “For the dim regions whence my fathers came\ My spirit, bondaged by the body, longs” (1-2). The speaker desires the comfort that can only be provided from their homeland, which is evident in The Tired Worker. 

Emily Pu

Tacit

For people of color, there has yet to be a time where they can truly be permitted to be in their bodies. They have been oppressed and marginalized to show their culture and who they really are for years and years. Natalie Diaz does an amazing job of illustrating these issues within her two poems, “My Brother at 3 A.M.” and more specifically “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation”. To which she uses imagery and allusions to signal the lack of freedom she has to be herself even within her own home at the reservation.

Diaz halfway through the poem appeals to the audience of others like her by highlighting the negative association they have with outsiders that visit or appear on the reservation. She writes, “Pastor John’s son is the angel—everyone knows angels are white./ Quit bothering with angels, I say. They’re no good for Indians.” (Lines 16-17) Diaz alludes to an angel in these lines to not only make biblical reference but also to describe how her people don’t feel as though they can feel comfortable or be around the white people in their area that have marginalized them. And how they shouldn’t bother with them, therefore, generating the feeling that they represent people you should avoid. This is likely primarily due to them being a part of those who are put on a pedestal and tiptoed around in these areas, creating the idea that it’s almost as if they are untouchable. By saying that they’re “no good” for Indians she’s capable of reminding us as the reader of the colonization that’s happened to indigenous people in the past. She continues with this idea by saying, “You better hope you never see angels on the rez. If you do, they’ll be marching you off” (Lines 25-26). Demonstrating to us as the reader that there is a feeling of fear created by seeing people like this in their area. That they’re unsafe to be around. By mentioning this, it lets us readers know that because of this, it is likely that those who do face issues with them are made to be muzzled from speaking up to them. In essence, Natalie Diaz by using these elements within the poem aims to accommodate other social identities like herself who wish to call attention to the silence they’ve been forced under by their oppressors. 

Patricia Brewer

Despair

Vinnie Kim

There is a dark feeling that builds up in your stomach when you know you have to work for a long time. It’s a painful, heart wrenching ugh and it (I guarantee) will ruin your day. Although, for me it was only knowing I had to work an 8 hour shift or something but imagine knowing you were bound to work the same, exhausting job every single day for the rest of your life. That feeling of despair is clearly depicted in McKay’s poems, “Outcast” and “The Tired Worker.”

Both poems have very different tones to them. “Outcast” almost feels like the speaker is looking in the mirror, trying to motivate himself to go to work/keep on living day by day. “And I must walk the way of life a ghost.” He MUST go on living, no matter how hard it gets. Although he is worn down and has been abused, he still must go on living. The speaker explains that yes he is worn down, yes he is a victim to something that he cannot control, yes he is a slave in a free world, but he keeps on going. He sees his life as valuable and something worth working for, he sees life as something to be cherished. Yet, even though he cherishes his life like so, he knows deep down that he will never be free. “For I was born, far from my native clime, Under the white man’s menace, out of time.”

“The Tired Worker” is a more energetic poem. The speaker is almost giving a war speech to a group of people that are in hiding. “Peace, O my rebel heart! for soon the moon From out its misty veil comes aloft!” This is a really interesting quote because it makes it seem like the speaker is ready to strike. But alas, he is not waiting for the night to strike, he is waiting for the night to rest from a long day at work. The speaker is almost making it seem like let us work so that we can rest which seems pointless but that’s the point. The speaker knows how hard life is but there’s nothing to do about it in the speaker’s eyes. The speaker is offering motivation by glamorizing the rest that comes with the night.

Both poems depict workers struggling to find methods to try and cope with the heavy burden of working every day for the rest of their days. That sense of disparity must have been so heartbreaking and overwhelming for those that lived in these times. These poems offered me a sense of motivation to strive to be the best student I can be so I can succeed later in my life and not have to work back breaking jobs.