american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
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56 AMERICAN POLITICAL POETRY<br />
“The True Import” was written as “a protest aga<strong>in</strong>st [any] attitude”<br />
(Giovanni 374) that puts a premium on dy<strong>in</strong>g for civil rights, as <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>se l<strong>in</strong>es: “We a<strong>in</strong>’t got to prove we can die / We got to prove we<br />
can kill.” Accord<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>the</strong> poem’s speaker, her audience must learn<br />
“to kill WHITE for BLACK.” For many <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Civil Rights<br />
Movement <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1960s, compromise was not an option. 13 Malcolm<br />
X’s famous declaration “By any means necessary” is <strong>the</strong> implied<br />
framework for many of Giovanni’s 1968 poems, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g “The True<br />
Import.” But to reiterate, it is not this attitude that makes <strong>the</strong> poem<br />
less successful than <strong>the</strong> follow<strong>in</strong>g Giovanni poem; <strong>the</strong> poem’s very<br />
<strong>in</strong>sistence on direct action makes it <strong>in</strong>capable of discrim<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>g<br />
between action aga<strong>in</strong>st oppressive white <strong>in</strong>stitutions and action<br />
aga<strong>in</strong>st white people <strong>in</strong> general.<br />
Phillip Brian Harper has shown that “The True Import”<br />
“expose(s) <strong>the</strong> logic of <strong>the</strong> Black Arts ethic that governs work from<br />
<strong>the</strong> movement generally” <strong>in</strong> its use of <strong>the</strong> second-person pronoun and<br />
<strong>in</strong> its complex address to two audiences—one black and one white<br />
(240, 247). But Giovanni’s “My Poem” (The Collected Poetry 86–87),<br />
from Black Judgment, is a better example of authoritative agency even<br />
if it is less confrontational than “The True Import” and less representative<br />
of <strong>the</strong> Black Arts Movement. If <strong>the</strong> speaker’s voice <strong>in</strong> “The True<br />
Import” sounds like an <strong>in</strong>sistent but <strong>in</strong>secure bully peer-pressur<strong>in</strong>g<br />
her friends to act, <strong>the</strong> speaker of “My Poem” is a confident, conv<strong>in</strong>c<strong>in</strong>g<br />
revolutionary proclaim<strong>in</strong>g an <strong>in</strong>spir<strong>in</strong>g belief <strong>in</strong> her cause. The<br />
repetition, orality, and fundamentally oppositional character rema<strong>in</strong><br />
but largely absent is <strong>the</strong> assaultive voice. As such, <strong>the</strong> first-person s<strong>in</strong>gular<br />
speaker plays a major role <strong>in</strong> “My Poem,” unlike <strong>in</strong> “The True<br />
Import,” which conta<strong>in</strong>s not a s<strong>in</strong>gle “I.” Here is <strong>the</strong> first stanza:<br />
i am 25 years old<br />
black female poet<br />
wrote a poem ask<strong>in</strong>g<br />
nigger can you kill<br />
if <strong>the</strong>y kill me<br />
it won’t stop<br />
<strong>the</strong> revolution<br />
It is important that <strong>the</strong> speaker names herself and asserts her identity<br />
immediately; <strong>the</strong> lowercase “i” rema<strong>in</strong>s so throughout <strong>the</strong> poem, a<br />
technique that suggests <strong>the</strong> speaker’s identity is secondary to <strong>the</strong> revolution,<br />
to black lives <strong>in</strong> general. The poem ga<strong>in</strong>s a large part of its<br />
<strong>political</strong> vibrancy from <strong>the</strong> strategy of selflessness, itself a vital element