The signs of oppression in humanity are not always evident, but they always have an immense impact on one’s life. Oppression by Jimmy Santiago Bacca shows just how oppression can have a massive toll on one’s demise, making you feel as if you are lower than someone, getting hurt until you shed tears and losing hope in your life but you keep fighting and never give up. Oppression occurs for different reasons such as culture, race, and religion, but the effects of oppression are always similar. Consequently, the effects of oppression always cause one to feel lower than another person with a different culture, race, and religion. These pessimistic effects can also be seen in Bacca’s poem, which states that oppression causes you to feel as if you …show more content…
Oppression can bring the worst out of someone due to the discrimination and racism inflicted on one’s life. Although you try to be strong with the “unshed tears” (2) that you keep inside, but are impossible to keep in. Once the effects of oppression take over one’s life, it seems as if all hope is lost, but they keep fighting and enduring. Nevertheless, the main message of oppression always negatively impacts one life, with racial slurs, and discrimination, but it is always important to remember to keep fighting and never give up. Once you give up, you let the effects oppression win and grow even more. As seen in Bacca’s poem on oppression “…The sun will share your birthdays with you behind bars, the new spring grass like fiery spears will count your years, as you start in the next year, endure my brothers, endure my sisters.” (8-13). The meaning Bacca tries to portray in his poem on oppression is that the effects of oppression will last for years, but you must always endure through it, as it will end one day. Oppression can bring the worst and emotions out of a person, it may terrorize your entire life and leave you careless of your own demise, but oppression will not last forever, and you must live through it no matter how hard it is and never give
The first oppression is Interpersonal oppression. In the book it says,’’...if you make some charcoal babies, I'm going to disown her.’’ This quote means that the father does not approve of his daughter having babies with Arnold. This is Interpersonal oppression since he is making a racist comment towards Arnold. Another quote is,’’On the reservation? Yes we all know there’s so much amazing science on the reservation.’’ The teacher is implying that Arnold’s hometown has no education.
Oppression is defined by the act of subjugating a people and state through means of force- a universal theme explored in both Hobson’s Choice by Harold Brighouse and Letter from Birmingham Jail written by Martin Luther King Jr (Webster). How can one achieve what they term as the ‘good life’ under oppression and is it necessarily worth the consequences that can result from said search? Hobson’s Choice explores the difficulty of finding a good life under the oppression of a father and how that quest can result in a happier life. Letter from Birmingham Jail tackles a more defined term of subjugation and the danger of finding a ‘good life’ compared to safety and unhappiness under oppression. Ultimately, the search for a good life is derived by the struggle of rising above one’s oppressor with the personal satisfaction of searching for the good life outweighing the consequences that may arise.
We all are Gods creation, and no doubt He made us better than we think we are, everyone is equal and everyone has great qualities inside them and this leads to the second point which is about equality. Equality means that everyone in the society is treated similarly, no matter what race they belong to, but after reading this emotion-filled poem, it is declared that the native people are not treated equally. Mercredi states “my red face hurts as I watch a white man hiding his white sheet beneath his suit and tie condemn me because of one man's greed sentencing me to an early death my red face hurts as he smiles (Mercredi: 13-18)” The poet exemplifies that how the white people have more privileges and rights in the country, they have more power because of their color and due to this overwhelmed power they possess, they are extremely greedy. The white people treat the natives like slaves and make them work like animals until their life is close to an end. After this convoluted torture, they still are smiling. The white people have a heart like a stone because they have committed so many injustices that they can’t redeem their
The author argues that in order for oppression to be vitally explored, the factors that create oppression must be realized. Oppression gives material advantage to the oppressor. "All social relations have material consequences". The author argues that all identities must be considered interconnected.
Through the decades, there have been different types of social issues that affect many people. “The personal is political” was a popular feminist cry originating from civil rights movements of the 1960s, called attention to daily lives in order to see greater social issues on our society. This quote can relate back to many social issues that still occur till this day that many people are opposed of. One of the major social issues that still exist today, for example, is discrimination against colored people. In Javon Johnson’s poem, “Cuz He’s Black,” he discusses how discrimination affects many people, especially little kids because they are growing up fearing people who are supposed to protect us. Johnson effectively uses similes, dialogue
...ites a short 33-line poem that simply shows the barriers between races in the time period when racism was still openly practiced through segregation and discrimination. The poem captures the African American tenant’s frustrations towards the landlord as well as the racism shown by the landlord. The poem is a great illustration of the time period, and it shows how relevant discrimination was in everyday life in the nineteen-forties. It is important for the author to use the selected literary devices to help better illustrate his point. Each literary device in the poem helps exemplify the author’s intent: to increase awareness of the racism in the society in the time period.
Discrimination and prejudice actions in American society is prominent with no hint of extinction. In the book “Sông I Sing” by Bao Phi, he depicts and highlights racism in his poems. The poet outlines stereotypes, prejudices, discrimination along with reference to white privilege. This two time Minnesota slam champion injects his passionate feelings of his views of other people into his poems. He advocates that racism shouldn’t exist in American society. Bao Phi is semi descriptive on the stories and brings his poems alive to visualize the content through words. This poet illustrates the effects of prejudice on people in American society who do not feel freedom based on skin color. All of his poems are deemed excellent not just because Phi
Though dealing with the situation is difficult, the poem goes on to express that going through this ordeal has only strengthened the resolve of the African American community. Lines 4-9 of this poem speak to toughness and resolve of the African American community in the fight to gain equality. McKay even goes as far ...
In her poetry, Sonia Sanchez stresses the importance of black unity and taking action against white oppression in addition to writing about brutality in the African American community, the interconnection between African American women and men, family connections, and problems in society. She a notable poet who uses urban Black English in written form. She also endorsed the addition of African American research applications in organizations of higher educational institutions and was the first professor to offer a conference on literary works by The u. s. declares females while at the School of Pittsburgh. . She is a notable poet who uses urban Black English in written format. She also endorsed the addition of African American research applications
Jimmy Santiago Baca's poem "Oppression is a poem that shows equality and justice from Baca's point of view, including how he was against oppression and longed for emancipation. Through the first stanza, Baca's view of the matter was made evident to the readers. "is a question of strength, of unshed tears, of being trampled under." It demonstrates that Baca felt as his strength was being tested through the treatment he endured. He continues on saying "and always. Always, remembering you are human." Baca emphasizes the importance of understanding that the people being oppressed are still humans and deserve respect as well as that it is okay to let your tears out. The second stanza further continues Baca's views of oppression as he continues to
The late 1800’s were a tumultuous time for the United States, one consisting of both monumental gains, serious losses, and unsurprisingly, a number of vicious wars. Two of these wars in particular, are important, not to the history of the United States specifically, but to almost all world powers at the time, as they were prime examples of what would later be referred to as “The White Man’s Burden”. The first being the Spanish-American War, which mainly revolved around U.S. attacks on Spain’s colonies in the Pacific, and the demand for Cuban independence. Although it only lasted 10 weeks, the Cuban Republic, being the smaller fighting contingency, faced heavy losses, with casualties exceeding ten thousand. The ultimate result of this war was
Margaret Atwood reviles in her book how standardized oppression can easily cause personalized oppression, and how if one accepts oppression they get from being in a society which is oppressive then that person starts to feel internally oppressed. Almost all of the characters in this book feel both of these oppressions. Through out the book Margaret Atwood used short phrases to exaggerate the personalized oppression which the characters felt. The way in which the novel was written allows the reader enter the mind and thoughts of the narrator, which helps us understand that the oppression the characters are feeling from the society leads to the personal oppression they feel. Margaret Atwood shows us the continues cycle of oppression and how it is a continues cycle, she shows us the connection between standardized oppression and personal oppression and that group oppression leads to individual
“No one heals himself by wounding another” - St.Ambrose. In life, hurting others will never benefit you but will make you be seen as one who brings others down to fit in with the crowd. In the book Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, it goes through the graphic autobiography of a young girl growing up during the Iranian Revolution witnessing violent acts and forcing religious beliefs to happen in her community and if not followed will have v crucial punishments. In the passage I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, is an autobiography about a young girl in the 1940’s struggling with being a victim to racism where she must learn the importance of family and seeking for independence for her people. The world around you can affect the
Oppression is this and so much more than what Ben Harper wrote in his song. Oppression is an unjust or cruel exercise or action of power. Everyone experiences oppression at least once in his or her lives. We have only recently begun to fight the effects of oppression, to gain freedom in our world. Oppression divides us to keep us from maintaining our freedom, what little of it we have. Oppression is completely based on hatred and preys on you when you sleep, or when you are at your lowest point. It kicks you when you are down, and pushes you further down the rabbit’s hole. It forces you to fight when you are the weakest and will take your very last breath. It takes one problem and snowballs until you can not take it anymore. We can learn to fight oppression, if we only make ourselves aware.
Poetry is the ultimate form of expression, an arrangement that is so unique it has the ability to capture song, art, drama and movement into one. Not only has it become the text of passion and imagination but also our everyday language has been renewed and intensified so we see things in a new light, as if for the first time. Poetry does not abide by rules and formulas but instead represents imagination beyond the presence of an object. Above all poetry is a mystery and a challenge, to interpret, empathize and understand it is what makes it intriguing, consoling and sustaining to humans. Its power lies in its ability to use our personal affinities to sway our view of a poem, allowing us to hold more importance to it than it actually possesses. The anthology “then and now” focuses on indigenous poetry in Africa, the history, values and feelings behind the words that make their message so powerful. “The black woman”, written by former president of Senegal Léopold Senghor, tells a story of a beautiful untouched Africa before colonization. He becomes a type of messenger, expressing the joys and grievances felt by collective Indigenous community in Africa and similar injustices evident in many other parts of the world.