by: Simone Shadd

Sonia Sanchez’s words, while prolific on page, are certainly more powerful when spoken. However, “blk / rhetoric” is impactful either way. When Sanchez asks who is going to make “beautiful blk / rhetoric mean something,” she is highlighting white America’s inability to recognize the cultural richness of the black community (Sanchez 713). If something lacks meaning it is because the culture in which it exists participates in the type of erasure that results more from purposeful avoidance rather than active denouncement. At the end of the list of empty consolation prizes given to the younger black generation by their white counterparts Sanchez condemns the “quick / fucks in the hall / way of wite / america’s mind,” because it is unfair of white America to enjoy black culture while actively discriminating against black people and reducing them to “catch / phrases,” (Sanchez 713). Do you think Sanchez is correct in her assessment of white engagement with black rhetoric? Why or why not?

Work Cited

Sanchez, Sonia. “blk/ rhetoric”. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, vol.2, 3^rd ed., edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Valerie A. Smith, W.W Norton & Company, 2014, pp. 713.

by: Simone Shadd

Nikki Giovanni’s “Nikki-Rosa”, while short, manages to convey the deep misunderstandings between the white and black communities at even the most basic level. When she says, “they never understand Black love is Black wealth,” she highlights the chasm in perspective between the black and white community (Giovanni 882). Wealth for black people is measured by love, warmth and loyalty under pressure in this piece, while by contrast the claim is made that there is a superficiality and material aspect to the way white people assess prosperity. Giovanni also states that biographers do not understand a father’s “pain as he sells his stock,” illustrating again the inability of the white community to comprehend blackness a complex existence (Giovanni 882). While it is understood that poverty is difficult, the emotional trials and tribulations go unnoticed. However, it is the emotionality of these situations that give them their humanity and thus without that element true understanding is impossible. “Nikki-Rosa” is ultimately a tale meant to give dimension to an existence that is often flattened by storytellers who did not ever live the experiences they divulge. Do you think Giovanni succeeds in bringing the black story to life? Why or why not?

Work Cited

Giovanni, Nikki. “Nikki-Rosa”. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, vol.2, 3^rd ed., edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Valerie A. Smith, W.W Norton & Company, 2014, pp. 882.

by: Simone Shadd

Gwendolyn Brooks has a unique voice. Her poetry is punctuated by rhythmic breaks, meaning that there are lines that distort the natural rhythm of the poem making those points stand out from the rest. Her poems are rooted in reality rather than in fantasy. Even in “kitchenette building” when Brooks speaks of dreams, they are contrasted with real images. Dreams are compared to real objects, which make for vivid juxtapositions. For example, when Brooks ponders our ability to dream she asks whether we are willing to “let it in” and “keep it clean” (Brooks 326). These phrases serve to capture dreams as prized possessions rather than as ideas. By comparing dreams to tangible objects Brooks implores the reader to believe in dreams the way one believes in the reality of “rent” (Brooks 326). Do you believe that Brooks felt dreams were as important as real life, even if their consequences are not as direct as everyday actions?

Works Cited

Brooks, Gwendolyn. “kitchenette building”. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, vol.2, 3^rd ed., edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Valerie A. Smith, W.W Norton & Company, 2014, pp. 326.

by: Simone Shadd

Margaret Walker’s For My People is an exquisite piece of literature. When one reads each stanza, one gets the impression that the subject matter of each affects the others. The feelings described are not stand-alone entities, they are conjoined. Each feeling is a symptom of a larger chronic issue. Walker breaks grammar conventions by omitting commas when listing activities and making liberal use of “and” (Walker 320). In the second stanza, Walker exhaustively lists the intensive labor endured by African Americans in both the present and past. While reading “washing ironing cooking […]” the reader becomes exhausted because without commas one is not allowed to break from the sentence (Walker 319). The reader is forced to finish and only by reaching the period at the end of the stanza is one allowed to rest. Creative resistance to expected convention allows Walker to layer meaning. Not only are the tasks described physically taxing, one experiences a fraction of this exhaustion while reading a seemingly never-ending sentence. Do you think Walker’s style choices affect the impact of her statements?

Work Cited

Walker, Margaret “For My People”. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, vol.2, 3^rd ed., edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Valerie A. Smith, W.W Norton & Company, 2014, pp. 319-320.

by: Simone Shadd

Ann Petry’s style of writing is distinctly different than Richard Wright’s because although she exercises a very gritty realism in her writing there are also fantastical elements that are not present in Wright’s pieces. When describing the wind, she imagines it to act as fingers, unjustifiably touching the main character, aggressively pawing at her without her consent. When Lutie is walking Petry mentions that others have managed to escape the wind’s ravages illustrating black women’s vulnerability to the gaze of men related to the disadvantage their blackness and their womanhood has given them. While others can take refuge, there is little recourse for black women in this era. Petry doubles down on this sentiment when detailing the invasive looks Lutie receives from the superintendent. Her body is not to be lived in, it is only to be experienced by the men around her.

Work Cited

Petry, Ann. “The Street”. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, vol.2, 3^rd ed., edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Valerie A. Smith, W.W Norton & Company, 2014, pp. 168-179.