The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense’s “10-Point Program” demands that black people are represented, granted freedom, and given security in all aspects of society. Their last demand of “land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice, and peace” makes these goals clear. Black people gaining this security would give them ownership of social and economic opportunities for their community. The overarching themes of black liberation and the Black Power Movement supported by the "10-Point Program," such as black people taking ownership of their lives, uplifting themselves, and achieving freedom in all aspects of life, are represented in poetry of the Black Arts Movement.
Firstly, a major message of Black Arts poetry is finding pride in creating a structure that breaks away from the typical form of art created by white people. “You Know,” by Jayne Cortez, describes the urge to write a meaningful piece. Haki Madhubti’s “Don’t Cry, Scream” is written with the unique structure that Cortez urges for. He writes, “Ascension into: / scream-eeeeeeeeeeeeee-ing sing / SCREAM-EEEeeeeeeeeeee-ing loud & / SCREAM-EEEEEEEEEEEEEE-ing long with feeling” (Madhubuti, lines 42-47). The use of capitalization and repetition of letters to emphasize “screaming” strikes readers and inspires the emotion felt by Coltrane poems. When the phrases that follow the long forms of “screaming” are placed together, they read “sing loud & long with feeling,” which supports the goal of taking pride in creating emotional and bold structures of art. By experimenting with new structures, poets of the Black Arts Movement took ownership of their art, and therefore contributed to the overall goal of black people taking ownership of their lives in society.
Black Arts poems also promoted embracing identity, which is the first step to an overarching goal of uplifting the black community. For example, Gwendolyn Brooks’s “To Those of My Sisters Who Kept Their Naturals” encourages defying assimilation to white standards. In line 25, she writes, “You have not wanted to be white. / Nor have you testified to adoration of that / state / with the advertisement of imitation/ … // But oh the rough dark Other music! / the Real, / the Right. / The natural Respect of Self and Seal! / Sisters! / Your hair is a Celebration in the world!” (Brooks, lines 25-35). These lines celebrate black women for taking pride in their identity and straying from the standards created by a white society by embracing their natural hair. This message uplifts the black community, aligning with the tenets of the “10-Point Program.”
Lastly, the “10-Point Program” demands an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people, freedom for all black men held in jail, representation in trials, decent housing, and full employment. These demands relate to the black liberation goal of gaining complete freedom in society. Achieving this justice and security in all forms would allow the black community to re-emerge and take ownership of their future. In “i am a blk /wooOOOOMAN,” Sonia Sanchez writes, “and the world / shaken by / my blkness / will channnnNNGGGEEE / colors. And be / reborn / blk. again.” (Sanchez, lines 14-20). These lines describe the re-emergence and influence of black people in the world once they are granted justice in all aspects of life. Sanchez’s poem and other poetry of the Black Arts Movement suggest that achieving freedom in all levels of society will uplift black people and allow them to reclaim their identity, which is a central motive of the Black Power Movement and black liberation.
I feel like upon seeing this blog post, and others, and then reflecting on how many texts that we've read included elements and themes that were said in the Ten-Point-Program, it's really been putting in perspective the reach and sheer impact the Black-Panther Party has on Black Arts (and Black Power). It really does feel "overarching," as you stated in your first paragraph. In your blog, I really like how you were able to connect Madhubti's poem with the Ten-Point-Program, as it feels like a way of developing its own freedom, apart from the more conventional style of writing poetry. Finally, the words of Sanchez in "i am a blk/ wooOOOOMAN" have continued to stick with me ever since we've read it in class, and I'm glad to see it brought back into view with your blog :D
ReplyDeleteI like your analysis of the Coltrane poem's odd structure, and how you relate it to the societal problems that were happening during the 1960s and 70s. I also think that the purposes of the Coltrane poems has a lot to do with mirroring John Coltrane's style of Jazz during the time, which was just as free of convention as the poems written based on it. The Jazz music and poetry of the Black Arts Movement is almost like a time capsule, capturing the unrest and chaotic nature of those times perfectly while also serving as a way to refute mainstream media and "white" culture.
ReplyDeleteI think your post did a great job discussing a lot of elements of the Ten-Point-Program and how they relate to the poems we've been reading! I agree with your point about how in these poems it's really important to embrace black culture and new ideas that differ from traditional white culture. I also see ideas of revolution in the poems. The change called for is more drastic than the change called for in the civil rights movement. For example, when Sonia Sanchez says "And be / reborn / blk. again.", there's the idea of changing the whole world to be for black people rather than just giving freedoms to black individuals.
ReplyDeleteYour connection of the 10 point paradigm to Cortez's poems definitely helped illuminate what was otherwise a confusing poem. The whole screaming bit was hard to wrap my head around originally, but I did get the jist that it was meant to display anger. The connection of this anger to the Black Panther Movement makes it much more clear what many of these Black Arts poems were actually angry about.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting how the ten point program is broadly about freedom and self-determination, but it's tenets still take many different forms. Some poems are looking for more militant action but I agree that a lot of them are just about breaking away from white society. I think the capitalization in the coltrane poems is trying to do this in a way, while also being able to express more emotion in the poems.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a really good job with relating the poems we read to the 10 point program that we discussed in class. I thought that it was interesting that you analyzed some of the poems that were harder to understand and that strayed from the typical poems we see, such as Sonia Sanchez's, in respect to the 10 point program. I personally thought that some of these poems were harder to understand the deeper meaning behind them, but now I can see the definite connections between them and the 10 point program. Great post, Noreen!
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