For Thursday's reading response, you can choose one of the poems or the short story to focus on: "The Enactment"; "Fannie (of Fannie Lou Hamer)"; "Red Velvet," or the short story, "Recitatif." If you choose one of the poems, think about what we discussed in class on Tuesday and find a "foothold," or element to focus on to help you draw out possible meanings in the poem. If you choose to respond to "Recitatif," you might think about the role of memory or about the purpose of the character of Maggie in the story (lots of other possibilities, too, but we will be discussing memory and Maggie in class if you're looking for an angle.)
Responses are due by 9:45, Thursday, April 20.
In Angela Jackson’s poem, Frannie (of Frannie Lou Hammer), she writes about a woman named Frannie who sings her songs in a jailhouse cell. The poem is guided by the stanza “Fannie sang”, until Jackson poses the question, “Do you know her songs?” This seems to be the main question that Jackson wants the reader to answer, do we know the songs of Frannie? Frannie represents the voice of many African Americans during the Civil Rights era. This is emphasized when Jackson states, that Frannie sang about “robes and swamps, dust roads, lynch ropes, and water horses, dogs, badges, and mud weary beaten bones and bullets.” In addition, the imagery of the jailhouse is contrasted with the imagery of Jacob’s ladder. Jacob is known to have wrestled with God, and the beginning of God’s people, the Israelites. In the poem, Frannie sings about wrestling the angels and climbing the ladder. I believe Jackson did this to demonstrate the tensions between hope and perseverance in the midst of suffering and captivity.
ReplyDeleteThe jailhouse is a symbol of captivity and produces suffering. However, Jacob’s latter represents hope. Frannie’s song is a melody of redemption and perseverance. Correspondingly, it seems as if Frannie’s song is the key to unlocking the doors of the jail cell. Thus, when Jackson ask “Do you now her (Fannie) songs?”, I think he is asking the reader if we know the experiences or memories of Frannie. If her songs (the key) are known, there can be hope for the future. Jackson represents the future when he asks the question, “Have you ever seen a Queen Spider dance?” This dance represents the acknowledgment of the memories of Frannie and provides hope for the future. Jackson responds to his question regarding the spider by stating that the spider is “always getting up” and “Some of them have wings”. Both of these responses represent perseverance.
Overall, the songs of Frannie represent the memories of the consistent narrative of the captivity of the African American experience-from the field to the cell. Frannie’s song encourages her audience to listen to the songs. In class we talked about the notion of lamenting about the birthmark slavery has on America. In addition, we referenced the concept of voice, specifically in Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing. In Jackson’s poem, the voice of Frannie provokes the reader to listen to the suffering of the jail cell and the hope of Jacob’s ladder. This seems to be the call to lament. Furthermore, Jackson includes the Queen Spider as a reference to how one should respond to the songs of Frannie- by always getting up.
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ReplyDeleteIn "Red Velvet", there are many powerful elements and emotions that are portrayed in this poem, which I feel gives this poem it's intense complexity, depth, and meaning. One emotion that stuck out to me the most was frustration. Frustration for not being treated like a human being, and the lack of dignity for not being treated with worth and respect or being treated equally. This frustration is portrayed in many parts of the poem, and I believe the poem can almost been seen as a tribute, or a "sermon" to black woman in sympathy, and to others as an education. Towards the end, the sheer indignation reaches its peak. The poem portrays in detail the image of a black woman living in an oppressive society, and it's effect on her; "A fastened woman can be messed with, one too many times. With straight pins poised in the corner of her slightly parted lips, waiting to mark the stitch...through her softly clenched teeth she will tell you, without ever looking your way, You do what you need to do & So will I." It weaves the idea of a black woman's work during these times, and how it wore them down, with their sense of humanity being degraded in their existence due to this lack of respect, and for the absurd amount of things that are expected from them regardless of terrible conditions, together to create this rough symbol of their anger and hatred towards the outer world from their battle for their worth.
ReplyDeleteWhat ties into this meaning is black women finally realizing their inner empowerment, and using this newfound sense for their sense or worth and for standing up for their rights as a human being; this is especially highlighted towards the end of the play; "Whether you believe it or not, she has not come to Earth to play Ring Around Your Rosie on your rolling circus game of public transportation." In a sense, I believe the play is a portrayal of the progression of black woman putting up with the oppression and sexist, racist treatment from others around them, to them gradually becoming stronger and more toughened through their hard work, oppressive way of life, and through enduring all that society has thrown at them. The poem symbolizes how black women begin to use what was once a forced labor to their benefit; "You cannot keep messing with a sweet-looking Black woman who knows her way around velvet. A woman made of all this is never to be taken for granted, never to be asked to move to the back of anything, never ever to be arrested.", which is following the event in the poem right after a black woman was arrested for standing up for herself.
The poem reads almost like a summary of events of history for black women, and walks the reader through life during this time in a black woman's shoes, teaching the reader how to empathize with their suffering, their way of life, how much they have endured, and why this lead them to action. I believe this poem is extremely important because it is not only educating others on a subject that needs to be brought to people's attention much more often in general, but it is also giving black women a voice, and giving them a chance to have a part of their story told, and a part of their struggle recognized.
In the Children's Crusade, "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around," we can clearly see injustice and cruelty in one hand, but on the other hand, we see a rising population fighting fore their rights and not settling down. As we discussed las class, freedom was not completly real yet, freedom was not happening for the African american people after they were "freed," which is what it is being shown in this poem as well.
ReplyDeleteThis poem has a really strong connection with the reader because it shows the delicacy and the ingenuity of children being destroyed by not just things. The children also wanted their freedon and also had their childhood ways destroyed in a way, which reminds us of the children's childhood during the hollocaust taken away, from way back in the semester, even though their childhood was taken away in different ways, both had it from a lack of justice among people. The bravery of the children in the poem, to continue to sing the song shows how the change is necessary now more than ever that they had tehir childhood taken away.
Another very strong connection made in this poem is the connection between fire and water that we have been talking about. In this poem the fireman and water, that are supposed to bring safety and relief to people, instead bring water in full force in the hoses. The 100 pounds per square inch water pressure destroyed many on that march. Leaving a lot of blood, many are left in overloaded jails, not having commited any crimes, which can also be associated with the imprisoning of H in Homegoing.
“Red Velvet” by Nikky Finney is a poem about Rosa Parks. It can be described as poetic with a cinematic feel. The use of repetition and metaphors set the scene and helps the reader get an understanding of Rosa Park’s disposition when in her forties she is told to give up her seat to a white person.
ReplyDeleteThe use of repetition really helped me understand the meaning within the poem.
The reason repetition works here is because key ideas are able to stand out. For example, the idea of being a seamstress and working with velvet helps us understand the inner strength and wisdom of Rosa Parks. Whereas using lines like “where only white people” helps the reader understand the frustration of living in those times as a black woman. Because of these words or phrases being repeated multiple times, as a reader you cannot ignore their importance.
Finney intends to create a sort of backstory for Rosa Parks prior to the bus incident that helps the reader understand who Rosa Parks truly is, and succeeds in doing so. Rosa Parks here is not depicted as some ‘tired’ lady who through exhaustion does not want to give up her seat. No, on the contrary she is a fierce, seasoned woman who has weathered the storm of segregation and racism her entire life. Her job as a seamstress helps further highlight how strong and seasoned she is. In the third section we really see this being put on display. Finney writes, “By forty-two, your heart is heavy with slavery, lynching, and the lessons of being "good." You have heard 7,844 Sunday sermons on how God made every woman in his image. You do a lot of thinking with a thimble on your thumb. You have hemmed 8,230 skirts for nice, well-meaning white women in Montgomery. You have let the hem out of 18,809 pant legs for growing white boys. You have pricked your finger 45,203 times. Held your peace.” Through this poem we are able to understand why exactly Mrs. Parks is unwilling to give in to oppression anymore. After a lifetime of being oppressed and holding your peace, you begin to lose that desire to comply. I believe that is what we are supposed to leave away with here. The unspoken anger and unwillingness to comply any longer.
The poem “Red Velvet” by Nikky Finney is written to honor Rosa Parks and all that she had done to help trigger the movement of Civil Rights. The theme of sewing is used both as a metaphor throughout the poem, and is also the occupation that Rosa Parks held during her life. The poems use of repetition and imagery with this theme of sewing is very impactful and also allows the poem to flow easily for the reader. This foothold of sewing that Finney starts the poem with continually runs through the poem while also teaching the reader all that Rosa Parks had dealt with and overcome during her lifetime as an African American female during a time of severe racism.
ReplyDeleteThe poem begins with Finney describing how white people were viewed while Rosa Parks was growing up, and all of the privileges they had that African American’s could only dream of. She repeatedly states what white people were allowed to do, then uses her sewing reference to allow the reader to know that Rosa Parks is aware of the lifestyle white people were able to live, and the way she “knows her way around velvet” is the same way that she knows the way the world is working at this time, but will not take a stand until the time is right, or as Finney states, “but doesn’t cut, not until the straight pins are in place.” Finney they tells the reader about the first time Rosa Parks tried to stand up for what she believed but was only twenty eight years old, therefore she was not as mature and knowledgeable as she is now at age forty-two. With age came the mastery in her craft. Through aging she is able to better gage how to go about fighting for what she believes. She has had more time to see the world wear the clothes she has produced perfectly and walk around with the clothes she has sewn, while completely ignoring the fact that she is the human who sewed them. By age forty- two she is near her breaking point with all of the hardships she has had to deal with due to her race. Finney describes it as, “By forty-two, your biases are flat, your seams are inter-locked, your patience with fools razor thin.” This proves that Rosa Parks is reaching a point where she has matured in her mindset and knows that the time for change is now. Finney talks about Rosa being “worthy of everything possible” because she has dealt with enough suppression that she knows she should be treated as a person and will no longer stand for this submission to white people. When the time comes that the seamstress realizes her strength is like velvet, which is strong and cannot be easily swayed she takes her stand.
This poem captures the courage and maturity that Rosa Parks developed during this time period. Not only was she able to perfect her vocation as a seamstress, she was also able to perfect her approach on how to get her point across that African American people did not deserve to be mistreated any longer. Nikky Finney teaches the reader that Rosa Parks was not a person who made a rash decision to fight out against the societal norm. But rather was someone who, like red velvet, was created with an intricate plan that underwent a process which allowed it to be so strong and not easily swayed.
Red Velvet by Nikky Finney is an inspiring and emotionally-driven poem giving tribute to Rosa Parks, the famous woman who refused to give up her seat to a white person. As a well-written poem, it is possible to draw multiple meanings and conclusions about it and elaborate on all of them, but the most important thing to elaborate on is the central feeling the poem attempts to convey and how Finney uses literary devises to convey it. In other words, we are looking for a “foothold” that influences the entire poem and affects the reader.
ReplyDeleteThe “foothold” in Red Velvet is a conveyed sense of tiredness and an unwillingness to comply any longer to unfair standards. The very first thing we read in the poem is a quote by Rosa Parks herself, “I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. No--the only thing I was--was tired of giving in.” Right off the bat we have a declaration of tiredness, and an example of unwillingness to comply. Finney creates a feeling of this tiredness for the reader from the very start with this quote. Because it is being said by someone commonly known and understood as an important figure of history, we are strongly influenced by it.
After starting the poem off with a conveyed sense of tiredness, we should not be surprised to find the rest of the poem supporting this feeling. Throughout the poem, the reader is hit with the “worn-down” emotion they are supposed to feel. This is the true purpose and meaning of the poem – to allow the reader to better connect with the adversities of the black community in this time. One of the ways Finney manages to do this is the use of repetition. Repetition naturally wears us down and makes us tired. This natural symptom translates well in writing:
She had grown up in a place: where only white people had power, where only white people passed good jobs on to other white people, where only white people loaned money to other white people, where only white people were considered human by other white people, where only the children of white people had new books on the first day of school, where only white people could drive to the store at midnight for milk (without having to watch the rearview).
The phrase “only white people” is used many times in this passage. By using repetition, we directly connect with the significance of the problem by seeing many scenarios where being white is more beneficial than being black. Again, repetition is naturally tiring, so we become worn out by the massive problem at hand, and we better sympathize with the mistreated black community at this time.
Another technique Finney uses to have the reader sympathize with the mistreated black community is qualifying the victim. Clearly, Rosa Parks should not have been treated how she was. She had done nothing wrong, and all her good actions suggest that she should not be punished or made a victim. For example, in the context where Parks is about to be arrested, “And you, you with your forty-two years, with your 21,199 perfect zippers, you with your beautiful nation of perfect seams marching all in place, all around Montgomery, Alabama, on the backs & hips of Black & white alike, answer him back, Well--You may go on and do so.” This section qualifies Rosa Parks as an innocent and good person, because it highlights her experience and accomplishments. The reader feels worn-out after reading this because it shows how severe the problem is. She is such a good person, but she still is being arrested for keeping her seat. The problem becomes severe and it is natural to feel tired from it, therefore the reader can better connect with Rosa Parks.
“Red Velvet” by Nikki Finney is a beautiful tribute to Rosa Parks full of elegance and power. When I think of red velvet, I think of a classy material. I think the use of this material uses dignity as a foothold . Dignity could essentially be why Rosa Parks had to stand up for herself. She was tired of giving in, so she held her head high and stood up for her equal right to basic human treatment. My favorite part is, “A woman who believes she is worthy of every thing possible. Godly. Grace. Good. Whether you believe it or not, she has not come to Earth to play Ring Around Your Rosie on your rolling circus game of public transportation.” She knew she was worth more than the labels placed upon her; she knew she was more than a prawn in their game. She was a human being, a powerful woman who was tired of being pushed around and being told she was less than any other human. She was a woman with many pins- instances when they tried to define her by arresting women she identified with- in her, and little did they know, those instances made her stronger and less malleable to their hate.
ReplyDeleteVelvet is important, but the choice of the color of the velvet is important as well. The red velvet could represent the years of bloodshed that innocent Africans and African Americans endured. She soaked up their blood loss and pain to eventually stand for them. It could also represent her boldness. It is a classy, rich material that makes a statement. Red fails to blend in, and Rosa Parks failed to be another woman to comply with her unfair seating.
“Red Velvet” by Nikki Finney is a powerful poem about Rosa Parks, that emphasizes the struggles of African-Americans in Montgomery Alabama that eventually resulted in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In this poem, the language is a powerful tool to emphasize the meaning as the author uses techniques like metaphors and repetition. In section i of the poem, Finney calls riding the bus a game, and the players the fellow people on the bus. There is also a lot of repetition in the first section of the poem, particularly in stanza 6. The words that are repeated are “where only white people…”. Only white people had power, were considered human, passed along jobs to other white people, and loaned money to only white people. The repetition in this part of the poem emphasizes the frustration that Rosa and many people felt at this time, and by repeating then drills and emphasizes in our minds that this is what they must here every day.
ReplyDeleteIn parts ii and iii, the author emphasizes her work and her age throughout the poem. Parks is a hard worker, and is diligent with her work. Yet, there is a meaning behind her way with red velvet and perfect stitching. She is working, and being weighed down by society by their cruelty and disrespect towards men women and children due to their color of their skin. When more women are arrested for not giving up their seats, the patience and tolerance for those actions are unraveling. “The time to act held by two pins” is what is described by the poet, which means it was going to soon be parks to unravel the systematic injustices. Her age is also a very important factor in this poem. She boards the bus where the bus driver had kicked her off the bus years earlier at the age of 28, while she was still a “young child of the resistance”. Now at 42, she is older, wiser and have experienced racial segregation that has piled up on her shoulders. She had gone to “7844 sermons Sunday sermons on how God made every woman in his image... [she] pricked [her] finger 45,203 times. Held [her] peace.” Her patience with the fools who continue to disrespect her and her loved ones is razor thin. The emphasis on her age allows us to see that years of experiencing this can dwell and cause long term affects on a person. Now Parks is feeling a difference from the time she was removed from the bus at 28, to the time she was 42.
In the last part of the poem part iv, the emphasis falls back of red velvet. Velvet material is strong, and each thread holds on tightly even when exposed to the harshest conditions. This is the metaphor of strength and courage that women have to stand up for justice, and to spark a movement that will forever change the nation. She is an experienced seamstress, as the author of this poem says, and has experienced the frustrations of living in the Jim Crow south. This poem uses the strength of velvet as a form of symbolism of the strength that women have when they are messed with “one too many times
Angela Jackson's poem flowed really beautifully with rhythm. This rhythm also highlighted the pain in the words and the lamenting of Fannie Lou Hamer. Imagery is created of a jail cell; however, we see hope through Hamer's singing, the crying to shining, and the talk of Jacob's ladder.
ReplyDeleteThe allusion to Jacob's latter is significant in this poem. Jackson writes of her singing about the ladder and wrestling angels. Hamer’s singing is largely mentioned in this poem and acted as a rock to keep her grounded.
Instead of focusing on Hamer’s present predicament in the jailhouse, the writer focuses on the hope and the future of Fannie Lou Hamer. “She seems to be kneeling but is not. She is always getting up.” In Angela Jackson’s bio, she spoke about using poetry to heal and bring inner well-being to people. That message shows through the deepness and also the hopefulness of this poem.
The element of imagery is really strong and pulls all the different parts of the poem together from the allusion to Jacob’s ladder, to the picture of the jailhouse cell, the spider, and that Hamer is always getting up.