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The Conscious Gospel Poem Analysis

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The Conscious Gospel and its Short-Comings

While growing up in the 80’s and early 90’s, in the black community, we had a term to refer to folks who understood the social structure, was in touch with black history, and who knew the truth and was not blinded by the lies of white supremacy. They were called “conscious.” We had our conscious rappers (i.e. Sista Soulja, KRS One, and Public Enemy), our conscious artists (usually spoken word poets), and the conscious religious folks (i.e. The Nation of Islam and Five Percenters). Whenever these conscious folks rapped, spoke, or taught, you heard “da truth” as well as their love for their people, for creating awareness, and for imparting knowledge.

That conscious spirit is still alive today in 2015 through the music of artists like Kendrick Lamar and through the phrase “stay woke”--- which means to stay informed and aware despite the B.S. that may attempt to convince you otherwise. That conscious spirit is also present in Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. …show more content…

It is something he inherited. In Section I, he describes how his parents was always pushing him to be politically conscious; something he describes as “much as a series of actions as a state of being, a constant questioning, questioning as ritual, questioning as exploration rather than the search for certainty.” His conscious spirit during college was evident by his own recognition that “I was made for the library, not the classroom.” In Between the World and Me, Coates attempts to impart this consciousness to his son and to us, the reader. He achieves in speaking the

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He talks about how those who believe they are white are essentially doing the “theft” from the bodies of the black. By using example from the American history and some recent disputes between the police and the black, he seems to express hope, but then he realized there’s real hope. The law enforcement and black Americans are seen by Coates as mistrust, sadness, and hopelessness because he knows it’s not all right but he has t

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Coates testified that “the classroom was a jail of other people’s interests. The library was open, unending, free” ( Coates 48). Coates was aware that the books were the key to his knowledge and as well as his curiosity to learn about his own race. He was mostly inspired by books and his main idol Malcolm X. In a quote is claimed that he “loved Malcolm because Malcolm never lied, unlike the schools and their facade of morality” (Coates 36).

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The essay will consider the poem 'Practising' by the poet Mary Howe. It will explore how this poem generates its meaning and focus by analysing its techniques, metaphorical construct and its treatment of memory. The poem can primarily be seen to be a poem of missed opportunity. In this way is comes to form, alongside other poems of Howe's a study about a certain kind of loss and the recuperative efforts of memory, alongside the certainty of the failure of this recuperation. The paper will begin by giving a context to the poem with regard to Howe's life and work and will then proceed to analyse it directly, drawing attention to how it can be seen to fulfil this thesis about its content and meaning.

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The 1970s were a rough year for African-Americans, still fighting for social and political rights in the United States. Consequently, women still did not receive equal rights. However, in 1972, “Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution, which reads: ‘Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex’ (History.com Staff).” Out of the thirty-eight necessary states only twenty-two ratified it right away, it was relieving for the moment because the feminist advocates had been trying to be ratified since 1923. The First African-American woman elected into Congress was Shirley Chisholm.

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Many people forget that African Americans in this country have been enslaved for longer than they have been free. Coates reminds his son to not forget their important history and that they will continuously struggle for freedom over their own bodies. They must learn to live within a black body. These struggles can be seen in the racial profiling and brutality among police officers in cases such as Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and countless of others. He goes on to describe his childhood and how fear was the root of black existence.

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In the poem “Ego-Tripping” by Nikki Giovanni, she normalizes her worth by continuing to royalist herself as a black woman who is essential to mankind. Giovanni creates a vision throughout the poem, which leaves a thought in mind of how woman should look at themselves with much confidence as Giovanni does. “Ego Tripping” was written by Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni, Jr. who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on June 7, 1943. G9iovanni is a writer, poet, activist, and educator whose work was influenced during the Black Power Movements and the Civil Rights Movement. The poem was released in 2002.

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Although he believes that this question is unanswerable, Coates’ purpose is to express his deepest concerns for his son and to help him understand his personal experiences as a black man. He achieves his purpose by incorporating rhetorical skills such as ethos, pathos, and logos. Coates has been a successful journalist and writer for several years. He previously worked for The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and O

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