involving a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or combination.

Anglo means a white, English-speaking American. By saying plastic parameters and Anglo- blandness, Touré may be suggesting the conformity to white society is plain, dull, and lacks any of the substance or creativity that Black culture possesses.

Repetition of audacity

Repetition of eternal and immortal. Calling the night everlasting may suggest everlasting darkness which maybe a metaphor for black skin.

Sonny Blount was a jazz and funk musician

uncontrolled; unconstrained

showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks or showing an impudent lack of respect

myth- a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events. Sonny Blount claimed the planet Saturn as his birthplace. He took as his motto "Space Is the Place." Thus, the constant use of space and magic imagery in the poem has to do with Sonny’s musical science fiction overtones.

The contribution to the brightness of the night sky from all unresolved extragalactic sources. Capitalization of Comic Light may be because it is another name for Sun Ra. Poet is saying 'he is' the light.

Ra- Egyptian God of the Sun

May be referencing or comparing his 'realms' to heaven, a kingdom of eternal life

Realms- Kingdom

someone or something who is wise or exhibits signs of wisdom or intelligence

Also referring to Ra, Egyptian God of the sun

This may suggest he realizes his true potential of becoming a poet and/or he is starting analyze the situation.

The library of Congress is a research library that officially serves the United States Congress. It is the national library of the United States. It is also located somewhat close to Gibson Plaza Apartments.

Gibson Plaza Apartments are located in a central part of Washington D.C. When looking at a map, The White House and Washington Monuments are fairly close to the building.

First built in 1972 in Washington D.C. They were built to help keep families in D.C. by giving them an affordable option for housing.

High school in Washington D.C. that Ellis attended. In the 1870s, it was a public high school for African Americans. In 1955 Bolling vs Sharpe allowed for the process of integration. (https://www.dunbarhsdc.org/about_us)

Ellis’ father was a large man who was very into physical feeling rather than emotional feeling. He was very into sports and was not a fan of art and poetry. Living in a tough neighborhood, everything was about survival which Ellis’ father emphasized to him when growing up. (https://teachersandwritersmagazine.org/loud-and-open-on-the-page-interview-with-thomas-sayers-ellis-2730.htm)

In an interview by the Teachers and Writers Magazine, Ellis described how he had the nickname of ‘Sticks’ growing up because he was so skinny. Ellis grew up in an inner city neighborhood in Washington D.C. ‘Sayers’ is also a nickname he was given growing up. Gale Sayers was a running back for the Chicago Bears who was the “most poetic runner in the history of pro football” (https://teachersandwritersmagazine.org/loud-and-open-on-the-page-interview-with-thomas-sayers-ellis-2730.htm)

the dash demonstrates the shift of topics in the poem. It goes from Ellis talking about his father and wanting to be like his father to him discovering writing and becoming his own person.

This may suggest that Ellis’ father has internal battles that he tries to cover up with his strong physical appearance.

His father physically abused Ellis’ mother. In the earlier stanza when he says “I wanted to be just like him”, suggest Ellis might be abusive like his father.

Instead of being physically violent, Ellis turned to poetry to try to escape his world of violence.

This is in past tense potentially foreshadowing the speaker’s opinion of his father changes later in the poem

Basic pattern of drumming, consisting of a stroke followed by a grace note.

Represents a person who was abused

This returns to the topic of butter in the first line but also reinforces the idea of hunger with figurative language.

This suggests that the “you” is the one with the hunger that is “not his own.”

This suggests an inability to provide for others despite a desire to, especially in the context of family or a loved one.

This image of being choked may be alluding to the overall violence in slavery with the abuse and death of African Americans.

This suggests having to wait to eat and may be referencing the days of slavery in needing to serve the slave master first.

The questions throughout the poem suggest an attempt to understand the subject or audience’s knowledge. Editor Yolanda Page in Encyclopedia of African American Women Writers describes one of the common themes of Opal Moore’s poetry as exhibiting “the power of communication between generations” (421). In the context of this poem, that idea suggests that this may be a younger generation asking questions about the experiences of an older generation.

This is the only statement in the poem. It is followed by questions that suggest images of the past and the South. Also, according to L.V. Anderson in “All Churned Around,” the poor and enslaved people drank buttermilk for its high fat and caloric content.

The title suggests there is a connection between food and generations through a taste of the past and wanting to satisfy hunger.

This may indicate the attempt of the speaker to convince themselves of what they want to see in the death of “sister”

In keeping with the representation of Zeus through the lightning rods, the lightning hammer may be representing the the God Thor of Norse Mythology.

“His Eye is on the Sparrow is a gospel hymn written in 1905. The song emphasizes the reliance on Jesus and God for all things and forgetting one’s troubles.

This may indicate that it was blasphemy because she was a woman believing herself to be a tool of God.

Some denominations of Christianity do not believe in the use of modern medicine to heal sicknesses. Instead they rely on prayer for their healing power.

The reference to lightning rods may be indicating an emphasis on other religions through a representation of the Greek God, Zeus.

This may be referencing the birth of Jesus.

The slash that separates God and man may be to emphasize the control that men have over women. In this way, Moore may be trying to show that the death was caused by man’s need to control women. Yolanda Page’s evaluation of Moore portrays this as well: “Moore’s poetry struggles between the redemptive power of Christianity and its historical repression of women’s voices” (421).

As this immediately follows God/man, this may suggest a belief that there is a higher power above God.

This may be a reference to the Bible in which misfortunes are portrayed as trials for individuals, such as with the life of Job.

A death certificate

This is a prose poem divided into seven paragraph-form stanzas. The lack of pronouns before “Sister” may indicate that this is not the speaker’s sister but instead, for a fellow woman. The idea of this poem being directed to women in general is reinforced by Yolanda Page: “Moore’s uncollected published poetry, from 1985 to 1999, serves to speak women’s voices into fields where they were not welcome” (421). Yolanda Page mentions only of Moore’s dedication to amplifying the female voice, not the origins of her poetry being rooted in the experiences of specific individuals. Additionally, Moore wrote multiple poems that are collected into Lot’s Daughters which reference “sister” without a pronoun attached, such as: “A Woman’s Virtue: Sister I Need to Hear You Sing That Song” and “Benediction: His Eye is on the Sparrow.”

Chicken fat is left over from the cooking process and is generally reused for other dishes. It is a common ingredient to add flavor. This may indicate that the speaker is calling the women’s attentions common.

This line may be included to keep with the sexual tone of the poem, but it could suggest that even after death, the lovers' bodies will still want to be with each other.

This may represent a cemetery, since the speaker has mentioned death multiple times within the poem.

This line suggests that the speaker feels guilty for what she is participating in; she might be doing something she shouldn’t be doing or is forbidden.

a magic charm, talisman, or spell; Including this word may suggest that the speaker is under some sort of spell and cannot get herself away from her partner.

There has been no capitalization in this poem, including “i.” This may suggest the lack of Osbey’s self within the poem or that the speaker feels to be at a lower stance than her partner.

The speaker may be suggesting physical danger or emotional danger of not being able to separate herself from her partner.

The speaker may suggest to be having some struggle with drug or alcohol use and whatever sexual act she is participating in, should be kept a secret but isn’t.

“distance,” “years,” and “dying” may be literal barriers or just represent a long period of time—the way time has traveled.

voodoo or witchcraft; Hoodoo began as an African American religion and lost its religious status after the 1880s. Hoodoo beliefs are naturalistic and believed to be folk magic. (Ed Moorhouse (Rutgers 2013): African American Hoodoo: More Than Magic)

Here the speaker seems to be so overwhelmed by what is happening that she blocks out any words her partner might be saying and does not care to hear them.

This line confirms that the poem is written from a woman's perspective.

This line may suggest that some kind of sexual activity is occurring.

The title may suggest fighting against some sort of force. The force could be simply the speaker's own body. The tittle could mean the speaker is fighting against her own body's wants for a sexual experience.

a factual or written account of important or historical events in the order of their occurrence; Using the word “chronical” in this line may suggest that the poem is set up in chronological order of Osbey’s coming of age and how Nina Simone affected her at each phase of her life.

The speaker admits to feeling no shame for not honoring Nina Simone properly when she was younger. But now, Osbey realizes what an important role Nina Simone played in the Civil Rights Movement.

These four lines may suggest how Osbey and other African Americans did not appreciate Nina Simone and her efforts. Osbey seems to be aware of her dishonor to Nina Simone and wishes more people of color were aware of how radical Nina Simone was during the Civil Rights Movement.

This may suggest that the speaker is reminding the readers that this poem is directly for Nina Simone.

This line is repeated again, but this time italicized. In this case, it may suggest that in that particular moment Nina Simone had independent agency and reminded her people of their betrayal of not honoring her.

“their” could represent the people of color who did not always believe in Nina Simone’s efforts because she was a woman. African Americans also failed to represent their own people simply because of gender. Osbey may have included this line to show how ignorant it was for people to ignore such radical things Nina Simone was doing because of her gender.

These three places are not capitalized. These three cities are very significant during the Civil Rights Movement.

15 lines staring with “if.” These lines may suggest a calling for African Americans to connect with these words and see where they fit in. It also makes the audience feel that they are not alone with what is happening to them. Many people of color are experiencing the same thing—discrimination.

Here the speaker is asking specifically what Nina Simone wore when she was performing in New Orleans. This may suggest that the speaker is questioning if Nina Simone has changed since her leave in Liberia. Because Osbey mentions dashikis, afros, and cornrows, she may want the audience to understand the types of cultural things that were evident in African American’s lives including Nina Simone's.

This is the title of Nina Simone’s album. It is known as one of her best works. This is also the only phrase that is capitalized in the entire poem. This may suggest the significance of the album title it had on both the speaker and Nina Simone’s life and the immense respect Osbey has for Nina Simone, since “i” is not even capitalized.

These two lines are italicized to show significance—the speaker is directly asking Nina Simone where she is. This is important because there was a time where Nina Simone did stop singing and she moved to Liberia in the mid-1970s. She moved here, disappointed by the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcom X, along with other African American artists in search of black consciousness. (Danielle Jackson: Nina Simone's Three Years of Freedom)

This is a repeated question that the speaker is directly asking Nina Simone. This is italicized and in quotes representing the past when Osbey figuratively asked Nina Simone this question when she heard her on the radio.

"cambridge” is not capitalized and it is also a city in eastern England. Osbey says she heard Nina Simone on the radio when she was visiting England.

The italics here may suggest Osbey speaking in the present. It seems that she is literally asking Nina Simone this question. It could also be directed at African American people who conformed to the "right" way of living and forgot about their fight to gain equality.

a person who lives outside of their native country; Including this word in the poem may suggest how people of color felt like outcasts in America. They felt they did not belong because of the color of their skin.

This phrase could suggest that Osbey and other African Americans did not appreciate all of Nina Simone’s efforts in the Civil Rights Movement. Even though her work was very radical, she was dismissed because she was a woman.

It was very common during this time to smoke. It was part of the normal day routine to smoke cigarettes, even young teens. Including this in the poem may just suggest the rebellious side of Osbey when she was coming of age.

The italics and quotes represent that someone else is speaking. The speaker refers to Nina Simone as a “sister” which was a slang term used during the Civil Rights Movement that created a community in which they all were fighting for equal rights.

Osbey may have put this line in quotes to represent her own speaking but in the past. She recalls herself saying this and repeats it now realizing it was “foolish.” She now realizes how radical Nina Simone was but not taken seriously due to her being a woman.

The italics and quotes represent that someone new is speaking. In this case, this quote may suggest that Osbey recalls a specific conversation in which someone gives her this advice.

These lines may suggest that African American women felt that white men were dangerous, whether it be sexually or not.

None of these places are capitalized, however, they are all significant because the Civil Rights Movement is not just a fight in America, but a fight all across the world. People of color are struggling globally to be seen as equals and Osbey recognizes that in this poem.

“france” is not capitalized. France is significant to Nina Simone’s life because she moves there when she begins to struggle with mental illnesses and dies there in April of 2003.

The “you” is directed right to Nina Simone. The speaker believes Simone was in her glory—meaning past tense. This may suggest that Nina Simone has stopped fighting or stopped singing.

Repetition of these lines may emphasize the significance of the color violet and the meaning behind it—being spiritual and imaginative or the struggles of coming of age as a African American woman.

It is very common for young people to believe that they do know it all. Adding this line may suggest that Osbey is remembering times where she may have not appreciated all of what Nina Simone and other civil rights activists were doing to gain equality.

This is another type of hairstyle traditionally worn by people of color. Adding this word in the poem further shows the culture of African Americans that Osbey is trying to portray; the idea that people of color should be proud of their true blackness and embrace all of their culture.

Marceline could be Osbey’s “soul sister” that she is referring to in the poem.

Because these two lines are in quotations but not italicized, it could infer that Osbey is recalling a time where she herself was speaking. When she was a younger girl, this is how she roll-called her friends and including this in the poem may suggest how important she thought of her friends, since she referred to them as “soul sisters.” In addition, Nina Simone helped signify the term “soul” as a “flexible yet powerful marker of black identity.” (Emily J. Lordi (2016) Souls Intact)

Women of color were being sexualized constantly during this time, so young girls had to learn the difference between when they were going too far or just having fun. Their appearance and reputation mattered more than women of noncolor.

Dashikis are loose, colorful, vibrant shirts originally from West Africa. Afros are a type of hairstyle that people of color wore often. Having these styles in the poem may suggest that Osbey is trying to paint a picture in the reader’s mind of what people of color may have looked like or dressed like during these time periods. This shows their culture and their true blackness.

This could just be the name of a childhood friend of Obsey's that listened to Nina Simone on the radio with her.

These four lines are italicized to show someone different is talking. The new speaker, Osbey recalls from a past conversation, seems to be telling the girls (Osbey’s younger self) to stop worrying about their looks and boys and listen to Nina Simone’s music which brings light to the Civil Rights Movement and their fight for equality.

It was very common for women of color to be hypersexualized. For example, the jezebel and the mammy. Nina Simone was not always recognized for how radical she was simply because she was a woman.

"we” can mean African American people and the narrator is suggesting that Nina Simone being on the evening news means that she had to do something big that would attract such notice. She played a huge role in the Civil Rights Movement, therefore, when Osbey says “we were on the evening news” it could suggest that Nina Simone represents the entire African American community.

These phrases are slang words used by African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. Including them in the poem may suggest that there was a sense of family or community of people of color all fighting for their rights.

Osbey does not capitalize any of the “i’s.” This may suggest that she is not very self-absorbed with her thoughts, but more concerned with trying to portray Nina Simone’s thoughts or puts Nina Simone at a much higher stance that she may believe her own self of “i” is not as significant.

fail to remember it; The phrase “i disremember” is italicized and in quotations which could represent a new speaker. This speaker could perhaps be an audience member of one of Nina Simone’s performances and does not remember the reasoning behind her singing and simply just enjoyed the entertainment aspect.

lacking character or individuality; using this word may suggest that Nina Simone entertained her audience and they liked her music, but they did not fully grasp her message behind the songs.

Brenda Marie Osbey does not capitalize New Orleans, but this is one of the many cities where the Civil Rights Movement was very active. Because Nina Simone was apart of this movement, including this setting might suggest that she was a participant in events in New Orleans. It is also important to note that Osbey grew up in New Orleans.

The color violet represents imagination and spirituality. It creates a balance of the physical and spiritual energies within someone. Violet assists those seeking the meaning of life and spiritual fulfillment. It could also represent the fictional novel The Color Purple, written by Alice Walker, that describes the coming of age of a young African American girl who is abused and raped by her own father. This may suggest some of the struggles young African American people go through because of their color.

(1933-2003); Nina Simone is known as an author, civil rights activist, singer and pianist. She was a legendary jazz, blues and folk performer and trained at Julliard School of Music. Nina Simone is her stage name and her performances won over fans such as Langston Hughes, Lorraine Hansberry, and James Baldwin. In the mid-1960s she became the voice of the Civil Rights Movement, writing a song titled "Mississippi Goddamn" in response to the Birmingham church bombing that killed four young African American girls. She settled down in France and struggled with severe mental health issues. Nina Simone died at the age of 70 from breast cancer on April 21, 2003 at her home in France.

tender, juicy, and tasty, sexual and sweet connotation

inspiring a sense of spiritual mystery, awe, and fascination

Love and happiness is still associated with distillation which relates to alcohol and sex.

In the Bible, pearl is described as a complete and lustrous gem created by God through nature. Pearl in latin means precious.

a room in a church where a priest prepares for a service, and where vestments and other things used in worship are kept. Being next to organic and abode may suggest the mothers pregnant belly is a natural 'sacred room' or 'abode' for the baby

Red wine increases sexual arousal in both men and women

Spanish/ Portuguese definition: old trees that fertilize new trees, referencing sexual fertilization

the tailed aquatic larva of an amphibian

a soft-bodied legless larva, especially that of a fly found in decaying matter.

more comparisons between sweets and sex

means being born or coming into existence for the first time

a starchy substance in the form of hard white grains, obtained from cassava and used in cooking for puddings and other dishes.

repetition of not considering consequences and living 'invincibly' in the now

Superstition, prejudice, bringer of good or bad luck. Opposite of the superstitious meaning of peach in the beginning that is lucky

pleasant to look at; attractive.

The poem is written with a sort of rhythm, but not a regular or structured rhythm. So, this line may be referring to the irregular beat of the poem and reflecting the irregular structure of life's "rhythm."

a pronounced beat finger-popping, toe-tapping music, also has a sexual connotation

any of numerous usually cloudy and rounded spots or patches of a color or shade different from their background

Phoenixes are mythological birds that cyclically regenerate or are otherwise resurrected/born again. A phoenix obtains its new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. The phoenix imagery of rebirth/resurrection after death brings to mind the death and resurrection of Jesus. This line may suggest that Till is included as a martyr, and/or a Christ-like figure such as those who have died before Till because of an unjust cause such as racism towards African Americans. Those who have been "martyred" before him for the sake of equality honor his death and the legend he will leave behind him.

Unlike the mythological phoenix, Till and other murdered African Americans cannot be reborn, and thus, they do not leave ashes. However, the following two lines suggest that while the physical people cannot be resurrected, their deaths have produced an honorable legend that will live on forever.

This vivid imagery alludes to lynching. Emmett Till was beaten, mutilated, shot in the head, and then thrown into the river with a cotton gin fan tied around his neck with barbed wire.

The life and death of the poem’s subject acts as a ‘social critique’ towards the manner in which African Americans have been treated.

“Star” may be alluding to the slave folklore that says that the North Star was crucially important in helping slaves escape to the north. Additionally, “trail” may also allude to the Underground Railroad, through which abolitionist and former slave Harriet Tubman led slaves to freedom.

In a traditional African American folktale, a boy is confused by every story he reads, in which the lion, the king of the jungle, is always defeated by the man. The boy’s father explains to him that the lion will always be conquered until he can tell his own story.

Among some African American and African cultures, the owl is seen as a figure of death, bad luck, or illness. This applied to even seeing or hearing an owl.

The practice of jumping over a broomstick sufficed as a public marriage ceremony among slaves in the 1840s and 1850s as they were usually not permitted to marry legally. This practice is still used in some African American communities.

Since the subject of this poem dies, the “arrival” could be the arrival through death to Heaven after having gone through an extreme challenge grounded in racism. Throughout the poem, several different challenges that African Americans have faced are recalled, such as needing to create a symbolic covenant of marriage, escaping slavery through the Underground Railroad, and lynchings.

The possible subject of this poem,Emmett Till, was lynched at the age of 14 in 1955 for supposedly sexually harassing a married white woman. Till became a symbol for the Civil Rights Movement following his death. The white woman who accused Till admitted years later that she fabricated the story.

This could allude to the fact that very little people speak about minor (and sometimes even major) oil spills and other kinds of pollution, and therefore, language (speaking about these events) is constricted by a metaphorical ceiling.

(noun): an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime. (noun: archaic definition): dread, terror.

This could refer to two things, or both at once. The first option is that the speaker has literally been on a boat while the water was filled with oil and became seasick. The second option is that seeing all of the oil and damage to the Gulf made the speaker feel sick, thus referencing a “boat-tossed face.”

Miracle spread is an alternative fatty spread (similar to butter) consistent of different oils popular in Australia. This adds on to the “breadbrown slice of careless nature,” as miracle spread is used on bread or toast as a butter substitute. It also adds to the satirical, eco-critical tone of the poem in which the oil spill is metaphorically visualized through several food references. The beaches are “awaiting” the arrival of the oil from the spill. It is referenced as a “gift” sarcastically.

(verb): to become unwoven, untwisted, or unwound.

Veracity, or truth, “rises” to the “surface” just as the marine wildlife such as sea turtles and fish will rise to the surface of the water after being killed by the contamination of the oil spill.

(noun): conformity with truth or fact. “Veracity” may indicate that the prior “theory” of the oil spill is no longer valid as there will one day be concrete evidence of pollution, as oil will eventually wash up on the shore of the coasts.

Included satirically, because sea turtles are killed and/or harmed by the effects of oil spills’ contamination.

“Housed in theory” may allude to the lack of knowledge or care for the small, everyday oil spills. Only large oil spills like 2010’s BP (Deepwater Horizon) Oil Spill are televised and announced. Many people also believe that global warming and pollution are not a huge danger for the Earth, so “housed in theory” could be satirically calling out those people who are skeptical.

Sea turtles are included in the Gulf of Mexico’s most endangered and threatened species. Sea turtles are among the most impacted species each time an oil spill occurs.

There have been numerous oil spills that have affected the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Mississippi River. As there are no oil spills named specifically, Jerry Ward Jr. may be referring to the constant toxification of the Gulf by runoff and small leaks that occur continuously and go largely unnoticed. He may be trying to raise awareness about the small yet still significant destruction of nature that people are unconscious of or apathetic towards.

“Beautiful indifference” represents the purity of fish. They “ignore” the oil that is going to cause their deaths because they are unaware of its existence and its harmful effects. They, unlike humans, are unable to prevent damaging occurrences such as oil spills from happening.

Butter or butter-like substances consist of various oils. This reference to butter may aid the reader in visualizing what this oil might look or feel like. It also assists in completing the image of churning butter as a metaphor for the oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

A churn is a machine or container in which butter (a thick substance) is made by agitating and breaking apart fatty molecules. This is a tiring process when completed by hand because of the vigorous effort required to churn thick substances. This image of churning the water allows the reader to recognize how much oil must have been in the water and its effect on the water’s consistency.

Jerry Ward Jr. was born in Washington, D.C. in 1943 and then moved to Mississippi six years later. He grew up largely on the Gulf Coast.

Whereas Trujillo is referred to as "El General" in the first part of the poem, he is referred to as "the general" in the second part of the poem. This reinforces the sense that the two parts of the poem represent different ethnic or global perspectives.

"Miles" refers to Miles Davis (1926-1991), a famous African American trumpeter, who is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz. He adopted a variety of musical directions in his five-decade career that kept him at the forefront of many major stylistic developments--from be-bop and hard bop to electric jazz and jazz fusion.

Peggy succeeded in killing her children but she herself did not die.

This is a reference to Jesus's resurrection before his ascension to heaven.

The italicized subtitles found throughout the poem serve to indicate the events that are happening in the verses that follow.

Kendrick wrote this poem after researching Margaret Garner, a slave who attempted to escape with her husband and children. Her story also inspired Toni Morrison's Beloved and an opera called Margaret Garner.

It seems that, in the end, Hattie and Carrie are sold together. Hattie says "we ain't bought" because through her prayer and conversation with Carrie they refused to succumb to their own acceptance of slavery. They have not "bought in".

It seems that this is one of Carrie's first experiences on the auction block; she's crying and nervous while Hattie knows what's going on. Kendrick may be describing Carrie's discomfort as the fever coming onto her, in addition to her possibly feeling sick in the moment. In contrast, Hattie is no stranger to the ills of slavery and is used to this public display of inhumanity; her "fever's gone cold". However, Carrie's anguish seems to have reignited an anger in Hattie that she hasn't had in some time, and she is well aware that, "exposed to the elements/ that gather up 'round her now," she must control herself. So, her words to her daughter are also a way for Hattie to keep herself calm.

Kendrick's use of enjambment here layers the meaning of these two lines. Hattie cannot leave the auction block in either the present or the foreseeable future. If she decided to run, she would surely be abused and likely separated from her child. In the second line, the hyphenated word "holo-cust" is clearly a play on the word holocaust—meaning a mass slaughter of people--used most commonly in reference to the Holocaust, the genocide of millions of Jewish people by Nazi Germany from 1941-1945. Kendrick seems to be likening the mass abduction, abuse, and even murder of millions of African Americans from the 1600s to the 1800s. However, the word "holo-cust" has a meaning of its own. The Greek word "holo" means entire, total, or complete, while the word "cust" likely refers to the Latin word "custos" which means guardian or oversight. When put together, the word holo-cust means something along the lines of total guardianship. This is the role Hattie takes on the auction block as Carrie's mother. However, when the two lines are read together, Kendrick comments on the compromising position that enslaved parents were forced into.

Their refusal to cry or break down in front of these white people is an act of defiance that symbolically defeats "the evil" of slavery as to not let it affect them.

Unleavened refers to bread or baked goods made without 'leavening agents' that would cause it to rise while being baked. The result is a flatter good like biscuits or tortillas. This may also be a biblical allusion. When Moses helped the Jews escape slavery in Egypt, they didn't have time to let their bread rise, so they ate unleavened bread. Jewish people eat unleavened bread at Passover year to commemorate their escape from bondage.

Hattie, the enslaved mother, seems to be well aware of her humanity and the fact that whites, specifically white slave owners, believe her to be simply property. This echoes W.E.B. DuBois' concept of "double consciousness."

The word or phrase "silver skin" has two meanings, both related to food. The first refers to a thin papery layer that surrounds a coffee bean immediately inside the parchment. The second meaning is the thin, sinewy connective tissue on meats. The skin here seems to be referring both to a skin around the genitalia and around the mind. In both, actual sensation or orgasm is being blocked by this 'skin' of wondering.

This is an allusion to Peacock's poem, specifically the lines "That head/between your legs so long."

Brooks enjambs her poem so that each line, save the last, ends on We. This forces the reader to pause for a moment and consider the group of boys who feel unseen, making them—as a group—the focus of the poem.

Capitalization is important to show proper nouns, things that are important and worthy of recognition. This is a reclaiming of the word Black

the power of a name and how it brings forward your anscestors

Black people are in every part of the globe, there is a unity in that which is divided by the term "African-American"

the repetition of the harsh syllables and consonants put the word right in your face to make you uncomfortable but also to see that the word has power and that it isn't the negativity that has historically been placed on it.

black is an inclusive and powerful term

They do not know or care to see the importance of a name and the power that stems from it.

Commentary on how "African-American" is seen as politically correct. The term can be seen as negative for many reasons including that it infers that they are hyphenated Americans, or not fully American

In her intro to the poem at the 1994 conference, Dove explains that the inspiration for this poem is a painting by 1920s German painter Christian Schad. The painting is a portrait of a Black woman from Madagascar and a white man with a physical deformity in which he appeared to have wings under his body. The two appeared in a freak show together in Berlin in 1929; the woman being in the show simply because it was so unusual to see a Black person in Germany at the time, having no physical peculiarities. This poem is ekphrastic, or based on art.

From the Tate Museum of Art: "Agosta, the Pigeon-Chested Man, and Rasha, the Black Dove (1929) is a large portrait-oriented oil painting that features a white man (Agosta) on a decorative high-backed chair that is reminiscent of a throne. He is naked aside from a black and white robe that is swathed around his lower half, and he turns slightly to his right in an upright position that emphasises his unusually prominent ribcage. The man has a confident, almost arrogant expression, and stares down towards the viewer. Positioned in front of him at his feet is a black woman, Rasha, visible from the chest upwards, who wears a red and white halter-neck top. She is shown frontally and gazes impassively at the viewer."

Elizabeth Alexander wrote a similar poem entitled "The Venus Hottentot" that parallels the theme of looking at historical figures with a modern perspective.

There is a double meaning here. They are killed "for a single, beautiful word," referring both to their mispronunciation of the word and to the memory of his mother that the word evokes.

This seems to be a play on words, as it refers not only to a walking cane but to the sugar cane referenced in the first part of the poem

The form of part 2 is free verse. There is also a point of view change here. Part 2 is from the point of view of El General.

El General's mother, who is discussed more in part two, was of Haitian descent. This alludes to the fact that El General connected the killing of the Haitians with somehow defending or covering up his mother's heritage.

This could be the name of El General's mother. As scholar Therese Steffen and Hubert Fichte note, the "l" in Katalina is also significant because it highlights the failure of even the Spanish to say their Rs: "since the days of the Conquistadores the master language Spanish itself would replace an "R" with an "L" and produce "Katalina" for "Katharina"" (english.illinois.edu).

The form of part 1 is an unrhyming villanelle, a nineteen-line poem consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains, with the first and third line of the first tercet repeated alternately until the last stanza, which includes both repeated lines.

This is in reference to the overwhelming hate, violence, and protests from white people in response to the Civil Rights movement gaining traction.

The Black Aesthetic is a cultural ideology that developed in America alongside the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and promoted Black separatism in the arts.The theorist Larry Neal proclaimed in 1968, that the Black arts were the "aesthetic and spiritual sister of the Black Power concept." The development of a Black Aesthetic was crucial to the development of an African-American identity at this revolutionary moment in American politics.

Evans invokes the social and political upheaval of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements to advise Black artists, activists, and leaders.

Throughout the poem, the tone of the refrain shifts from the romantic nostalgia of the original lyric to the tragedy and racial trauma of Bessie's death.

Here, there is a stark contrast between this voice and the voice of the poem—the voice of the poem eulogizes Bessie as a music hero, this one both writes her off and kills her off using this racial slur.

Smith weighed about 200lbs, which was one reason that those present at the accident decided it would be too difficult to transfer her to the car of a passerby who was willing to drive her to get care.

In reference to the automobile accident that led to the death of Bessie Smith. Her arm was torn from her body and she was bleeding profusely, but could not receive proper medical treatment in time due to the fact that the closest hospital to the accident would not accept African American patients.

Bessie Smith was a wildly successful American blues singer in the 1920s and 30s. Smith was known as the "Empress of Blues."

Redmond lists two people as sources of inspiration for this poem: famous playwright William Shakespeare and American singer William "Smokey" Robinson. Smokey Robinson was the founder, lead, songwriter, and producer for the popular Motown vocal group The Miracles. He would eventually go solo in 1973 while spending more time as the vice president of Motown Records. Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

Redmond's references to rice throughout the poem– "rice-thin", "rice wine", and "grains" here– may be included to remind the reader that My Lai was a small agricultural village with a population of mostly farmers.

Redmond refers to American armaments as "branchless / mechanical trees" and the villagers massacred by those arms as "unregenerative crops" which have died and will never live again. Redmond's plant imagery here may also refer to Agent Orange, which was a deadly chemical herbicide dropped by American aircraft during the war in order to poison people and their food supplies. The use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War was part of a strategic war program called "Operation Ranch Hand."

After the rebellion, Turner and his followers danced, celebrated, and feasted on the food seized from the plantation homes, including pork.

Possibly a play off of the well known prayer "give them now their daily bread."

Aubert summarizes his ultimate purpose in writing a poem about Nat Turner, to educate those who may not know of his sacrifice and give "some dark child" a sense of history and heroism.

After the rebellion, Nat Turner was sentenced to death by public hanging. Aubert contemplates how Turner’s fire was, “rushed to dying glow” and how the winds might be indifferent to the “miscarriage” of justice.

“Nat Turner was a preacher and he educated himself on the Bible [...] and so I cast the poem in the form of a prayer.” -Alvin Aubert

Nat Turner was an enslaved Black preacher who led a two-day rebellion of both enslaved and free black people in Southampton County, Virginia, beginning August 21, 1831.

Montaigne was a French philosopher who lived 1533-1592 and critiqued the Eurocentric belief in Western superiority.

The ending line suggests the speaker is dreaming of forgiveness and acceptance, regardless of what she achieves. However, the ending is somewhat ambiguous. Initially, the "I forgive you" seems to be coming from the "open arms," which could be her dream for her family to forgive her or accept her for being "lazy." However, the line ends with a comma and an "all," which implies that it is not her that needs forgiveness from her family but her family that needs forgiveness from her. She could possibly still have resentment towards her family for the pressure she faced in her childhood. Regardless of the interpretation, this is only happening in her "sleep," which suggests this sense of community, forgiveness, and acceptance has not been reached in her life.

Here, there is a shift as Elizabeth Alexander looks back on her childhood. She had a very taxing schedule as a child, both mentally and physically, which contrasts to the previous stanza of adulthood written in the present tense.

Sunday is a weekend usually meaning no work. However, Sunday has religious ties as the holy day, and may have a possible connection to the religious undertones of the Seven Deadly Sins.

When Baraka read this poem at the conference, he sang, using each stanza as an interjection in the song. These interjections in the music are similar to when you're in a crowded area and pick up little pieces of people's conversations.

The "They" in this poem is subverted--Baraka is criticizing white people, showing how they are not as superior as they believe themselves to be.

In his "Expressive Language" essay, Baraka writes, "For instance, when the first Africans were brought into the New World, it was thought that it was all right for them to be slaves because “they were heathens.”

Baraka published a book of poems called "S O S: Poems 1961-2013" where he has more "Heathen" poems, with titles such as "Heathens in Evolution," "Heathen Bliss," "Heathen Technology & Media," and "Heathens Think Fascism is Civilization." In these poems, Baraka uses the term "heathen" similarly to how he does here, with it criticizing whites.