Poem For Black Hearts Essay

Amiri Baraka and Erykah Badu both signify oppression of blacks as a common theme in their works. According to the Poem, “to the grey monsters of the world, For Malcom’s pleas for the dignity, black men, for your life” (Line 14- 15). This is a line from Amiri Baraka’s, “Poem for Black Hearts”. In this poem Malcolm, more specifically Malcolm X, is a representation of African American men and the struggles they face. This line from the poem is talking about the grey monsters of the world that make black men beg for their dignity and for their life. The grey monsters of this world are white people because they are the ones who want to take the power away from blacks. This is an attempt to oppress them, they see their potential and they fear it. Malcolm X is a great example of this because he stood up as a black leader and was able to move a lot of people. That is why Baraka refined him in this poem. He represents the potential of black men. According to the poem, “Until we avenge ourselves for his death, stupid animals, that killed him, let us never breathe a pure breathe if, we fail, and white men call us faggots till the end of, the earth” (Line 23- 26). What Baraka is saying in these lines from the poem is, that Blacks need to avenge

Amiri Baraka and Erykah Badu are two artist and post form to Daffern times who have two different diachronic ways of writing their truths. They both cover a lot of the same controversial topics when it comes to how African Americans are tested in America. Both have very strong view and show this a lot in their writing, they signify the superior of whites and how they make other races inferior, more specifically African Americans. Amiri Baraka’s “Somebody Blew Up Amerikkka” and “A Poem for Black Hearts” and Erykah Badu’s, “Penitiary Philospohy” and “A.D. 2000” are great examples of works that exemplify this