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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64 AMERICAN POLITICAL POETRY<br />
fiction (DeShazer 13), Baraka’s poem, especially given its use of<br />
African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), has more <strong>in</strong> common<br />
with many hip-hop songs, <strong>the</strong> American “fugitive means of expression”<br />
par excellence. 15 Even so, its form, length, and rhetorical strategies<br />
make it a sprawl<strong>in</strong>g litany of accusations, collapsed historical<br />
contexts, and conspiracy <strong>the</strong>ories, all of which comb<strong>in</strong>e to make it a<br />
fasc<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>g, provocative mess.<br />
“Somebody Blew Up America” does not open with a defiant voice.<br />
The first seven l<strong>in</strong>es, which differ <strong>in</strong> tone and voice from <strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong><br />
poem, serve as prologue and de facto justification for its oppositional<br />
perspective. In prosaic English <strong>the</strong> speaker says matter-of-factly that<br />
“All th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g people / oppose terrorism / both domestic / & <strong>in</strong>ternational,”<br />
but that “one should not / be used / To cover <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r.”<br />
These flat, calm, measured l<strong>in</strong>es are enclosed <strong>in</strong> paren<strong>the</strong>ses to separate<br />
<strong>the</strong>m from <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>vective that follows; <strong>the</strong>y seem a strange prefatory<br />
apology for that <strong>in</strong>vective. Cleverly, though, <strong>the</strong>y proclaim <strong>the</strong><br />
speaker’s opposition to <strong>the</strong> terrorist attacks, but also set up his opposition<br />
to “domestic” terrorism, which alludes to <strong>the</strong> com<strong>in</strong>g attacks on<br />
corporate and imperial power.<br />
After <strong>the</strong>se prefatory remarks, Baraka’s speaker confronts <strong>the</strong> official<br />
public discourse about 9/11. He creates a somewhat abstruse<br />
enemy whose claims he questions throughout <strong>the</strong> poem: “They say it’s<br />
some terrorist” (my emphasis). This relatively ambiguous enemy<br />
oddly, and perhaps appropriately, echoes <strong>the</strong> ambiguity concern<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>the</strong> identity of <strong>the</strong> terrorist enemy <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror.” Even<br />
though “<strong>the</strong>y” is difficult to parse because Baraka collapses centuries<br />
of global, historical, and geo<strong>political</strong> contexts <strong>in</strong> order to assume a farreach<strong>in</strong>g<br />
purview of oppression, it certa<strong>in</strong>ly refers to <strong>the</strong> white, Euro-<br />
American imperial power <strong>the</strong> poem rebels aga<strong>in</strong>st—more specifically<br />
<strong>the</strong> military–<strong>in</strong>dustrial–corporate complex. One aspect of “<strong>the</strong>y” is<br />
po<strong>in</strong>ted out explicitly by rap group dead prez—currently <strong>the</strong> only<br />
overtly revolutionary, <strong>political</strong> hip-hop group with a major label<br />
record deal (<strong>the</strong> rest record on <strong>in</strong>dependent labels)—<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> song<br />
“ ‘<strong>the</strong>y’ schools,” which addresses <strong>the</strong> abuses of <strong>the</strong> American public<br />
school system (lets get free 2000). Dead prez notes that <strong>the</strong> “same<br />
people” who run <strong>the</strong> school system run <strong>the</strong> prison system; it is no<br />
wonder, <strong>the</strong>y suggest, that more African Americans f<strong>in</strong>d a home <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
latter than <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> former. For Baraka’s speaker as for dead prez, it is<br />
dangerous to trust anyth<strong>in</strong>g “<strong>the</strong>y” say or do.<br />
Beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> l<strong>in</strong>e 25, after <strong>the</strong> speaker doubts that “American<br />
terrorists” such as <strong>the</strong> Ku Klux Klan, Sk<strong>in</strong> heads, “<strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>m that blows<br />
up nigger Churches,” Trent Lott, David Duke, Rudy Giuliani, and