Injustice Portrayed in Poems Written By Tatamkhulu Afrika and Lawrence Ferlinghetti

“Nothing’s Changed” by Tatamkhulu Afrika is a poem that protests against white authority over mistreated people, the minority, weaker members of society and especially the black race. In this poem, Afrika uses visual imagery, repetition, irony and alliteration to disapprove the Apartheid which vanquished white South African thinking. He also adds that, that the racial discrimination is still on-going.

Firstly, Afrika portrays the theme of injustice through the use of visual imagery. The poet invites the reader to stand in his childhood shoes and observe the on goings during the apartheid. Although Afrika is recalling a past experience, through writing in the present tense, he invites the reader to relive his experience. Afrika uses the phrase “small round hard stones click" to give readers a graphic picture of an uncomfortable setting with tiny little stones rubbing and hurting his feet. Though Afrika tries to create a vivid picture of an uncomfortable setting in the stanza, he describes the weeds growing in this unknown setting as "amiable" to indicate that he is familiar with the setting and is able to cope with the discomfort that the setting comes with. This strong visual imagery gives me the picture of a rural area that he recalls with fondness.

After inviting the reader, Afrika is able to progressively intensify his anger towards the setting he describes in stanza one through the use of repetition and alliteration. His repeated word, "and", emphasises his anger towards the setting in the sense that, he cannot find the right words to describe the setting as he sees it. He does not only repeat the word "and" but also increases his length of lines especially in the second stanza w...

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...ortrays is the traffic light that bridges the gap in the social classes. The traffic light then becomes a central point in the poem which holds the two scavengers and the two beautiful people all together in the same moment in time all with equal chance. Although they lead completely different lives, the traffic light is used to bridge the gap temporarily. Within seconds however, the light will change to green and the equality will be lost; the gap will once again be bigger and everyone will go their way and the segregation will continue.
Although Ferlinghetti “Two Scavengers in a Truck , Two beautiful People in a Mercedes" deals with social injustice as supposed to racial injustice found in Afrika's "Nothing's Changed", both poets agree that some form of injustice is going on and that separation between certain groups of people is very much alive.