Is the Black Lives Matter movement important? Do Black Lives Matter?
Discrimination has been a problem for numerous cultures in North America. Wanda Coleman wrote “Three Trees”, a poem that uses symbolic and emotion-stirring imagery, to bring social identity into focus. Smith and Coleman both use imagery differently, but their intent in recognizing discrimination and the difference between black-and-white culture is still clear. This essay compares the various ways in which Smith uses imagery to convey their different perspectives of black culture and racist attitudes in our society.
In Danez’s poem “not An Elegy For Mike Brown”, the reader will be able to identify the perspective of Black culture by the depiction of visual and natural imagery. The speaker of the poem “…ordinary Black / Dead Thing …” (3-4), first reveals the use of visual imagery. The words they use are meant to highlight how, from the perspective of humanity, the death of a Black person is unimportant. We remember the name of a person who has died, but we no longer see him as an individual when a group dies. The poem uses organic imagery to describe the dead, which can move people’s feelings. It is absurd to think that the more black people die, the less they are worth because each life counts. It seems that black lives are not important because of the racism and murders of innocent young black men.
Smith also uses organic and visual imagery to compare tragedies that have happened to black and white people. In lines 12-17, this comparison is made: imagine that a white girl had been kidnapped and the Trojan War was the result. Troy was shot later, and Tuesday. Do we deserve a city engulfed in ash and cinders? We are not worthy of a city made up of ashes?
Smith uses a Trojan war image to illustrate the impact of the kidnapping a girl of color. This comparison is used to highlight the sadness and sorrow that society feels when a girl of color is kidnapped. A black man being shot is treated as an everyday event by society. The Trojan War can be used as a symbol of the actions taken by higher authorities. A white girl being shot would make the news, and people would be motivated to seek justice. Some shootings of black men and their deaths are not even reported. A racist society is not the only thing that exists. The political system is no less discriminatory.
Coleman’s poems use imagery to express the perspective of a Black individual. Coleman, however, takes a different approach to Smith in “Three Trees” and gives a more positive view of black culture today. She achieves this through visual and gustatory images. Smith’s poem, “Three Trees,” is divided in three sections. Each section is represented by different fruits: lemons, peaches, and figs. Each segment uses imagery to express different memories they have with the tree. One example is lines 1-7.
The speaker describes the difficulty they faced when trying to climb up the lemon tree. The speaker uses visual imagery in the last phrase when he says, “The lemon tree’s “…prickly stems tear black tissue.”
Three trees can be used as visual images to represent the different memories the speaker has. The colour of the fruit changes as the memories progress: peaches become a peachy orange colour, while figs turn brown. The gradual shift in colour may be a reflection of a society that is becoming more accepting and diverse. To support this, in the final section of a poem, the poet mentions playing with white boys, “i would play as wendy while the little white boy / up the block / played the role of peter.”
As the fruit becomes sweeter, the imagery also changes. Peaches and lemons can be either sweet or sour based on their ripeness. Figs are sugary. The different flavours of the trees, just like their colour, can represent how black people’s lives are improving.
There are many perspectives on different topics and circumstances. It’s interesting to learn about these points of view rather than just one. Some African Americans might see the progress of humanity in the west, while others may think that there has been no change due to discrimination. Danez Smith, Wanda Coleman, and others do an excellent job of capturing this contrast using visual, natural, and gastronomic imagery.
