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We began reading and discussing the Middle Passage in class. Please take a moment to review these two poems about the Middle Passage.
Nikki Giovanni - Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea (We're Going to Mars)
Sonia Sanchez - Middle Passage
Our readings from The African American Odyssey provided an historical perspective on the Middle Passage. These two poems provided interpretations of the Middle Passage.
Please take a moment to consider how the poems enhanced your reading and previous knowledge about the Middle Passage. How is your understanding of the Middle Passaged changed? Why? Use the comments box below.
Wow! I guess I can start off saying that poetry is definitely an art form that can be interpreted in many different ways depending on what style you prefer. I for one am used to the sultry jazzy kind of poetry with the music matching the pace of the poem but these poets introduced me to a sort of different way of telling poetry.
ReplyDeleteI’m not going to lie and say that I understood every single point that each poet was trying to convey with each poem as it related to the Middle Passage but I will say that some things stuck out to me in Sonia Sanchez poem as she repeated phrases such as “I Am”, “I Was” & the ending “How To Live”. Those phrases stuck out to me the most not only because those were repeated the most throughout her recitation of her poem but when you look at the deeper meaning of those phrases at least in my mind they represented the state of mind of each of the slaves as they were on their way to the new land. Going from knowing who they were as a people, to the past tense of how they used to be and then to their identity in the New World and how they were taught to act according the different ways they were grouped. I thought it was interesting how she was able to subtly show the thoughts and feelings of some of the slaves as they crossed over into an unknown territory know as The New World.
These videos definitely opened my eyes to different forms of poetry. Im more used to Nikki Giovanni's method of poetry its like storytelling. To be honest I didn't really connect with Sonia Sanchez's poem like I did for Nikki. The things that stuck out to me from Nikki's Giovanni's poem are when she compares the Middle Passage to being like a space adventure to a new planet. The space ships destination was Mars which was the New World and the slaves were the Earthlings going to Mars. Going somewhere that you have no prior knowledge of. Being in a cramped god awful space with fear and death in the air. And somehow finding the will to hope . They hoped through every spiritual song they sang . I love how she told NASA what the would need to make the voyage. A couple of songs and fried chicken in a shoe box with a moist lemon pound cake
ReplyDeleteWhile watching these videos I gained much more respect for poets and their form of art. As I watched both videos I feel that I could understand more of the concept through Sonia Sanchez poem than I did Nikki Giovanni's. The repetition ,exaggerating tone, and the use of instruments made the poem come to life. One thing I thought was interesting from the video is when Sanchez talked about the commodified female bodies who were raped and how she repeated over and over about how bad it was giving birth every nine months. Thank you for sharing this video with the class.
ReplyDeleteI never realized that someone could relate going to Mars to the black community. It was interesting to seethe connections and understand the that were made not only between Martians and black slaves and how ignorant humans will corrupt the whole situation if mars came to us but also to see how we as a black community could help those traveling to mars better handle the trip. Because we had been taken from our homes and into unknown lands by people we were sure to be monsters we can help those traveling to Mars better deal with the same type of scenario. I loved the inclusion of song and how it gives us hope because that is very true, also the ties to food and certain artist. I also enjoyed her reasoning to why we feel the need to travel to Mars. In Middle Passage I understood the concept of her poem and why she spoke that way. To my understanding she was trying to get her point across on how coming to America as a slave could draw people to insanity. She expresses the emotions in her repetition and emotions instead of just the words them self. It was actually kind of terrifying when she kept repeating giving birth every nine months.Sonia Sanchez brought a very different way of performing poetry that I thought to be very effective.
ReplyDeletePoetry in general gives you a new way of learning a story. Nikki was a little more abstract with her reference of mars to the middle passage. I liked it in the sense that it was not the norm and it allowed me to see the story in a new way. Sonia was really nice though and I believe I enjoyed her piece so much because it was narrative in a way where we could imagine what she was speaking. The music and the way she delivered herself really brought the whole thing together. Overall, both allowed me to see the story of the middle passage in a new refreshing way.
ReplyDeleteI had only learned little about the Middle passage in the past, but these videos really gave me a satisfying, unique look into the Middle passage. These videos gave me an alternative view into the Middle passage that I could not have gotten from different sources.
ReplyDeleteI love the second poem and how she says that America has never said "I'm sorry" for slavery. I also like how she describes the slaves journey as "packing"; she really hones in on the journey itself, which is something that we don't usually learn about in school. The Middle Passage was a horrible experience where humans were treated worse than animals, yet somehow history has over looked it and falsified the entire slave experience. Poetry is a great way to learn about the Middle Passage because it is a very expressive and detailed art form, these videos were very helpful!
ReplyDeleteThese poems really helped me look at the middle passage from a different angle. I had never thought that the middle passage could be conveyed to us in such a way!
ReplyDeleteWow the fact that she said that the US has yet to say we're sorry for slavery really made me give more respect to her.
ReplyDeleteI really like both performances. I especially liked how, Nikki was able to offer up the knowledge the suffering of those people in the middle passage provided us all. and then connected with everyone about it. She is very emotionally clever. I feel like when I was watching the video that I got a little un easy when she was talking about the middle passage. But then she lets the tension go, she said we were gonna do it together. She used the imagery of a beer. She said I couldn't imagine going on a journey that long without a beer. When I was watching her performance, to me that moment was lightening a load, it was healing. She says "I know you didn't ask, but you are really missing out so I'll do the work for you." I really enjoyed watching these videos.
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