History has witnessed cases of oppression featuring different minority groups. When they lacked a channel to air their grievances, they turned to poets of resistance. These writers could capture the mood of the oppressed and send shivers down the spines of oppressors. Their words rallied the masses behind liberation struggles.
Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri and is famous for being a columnist and a social activist. He is a notable figure in the Harlem Renaissance when he was based in New York City. He has over 15 poetry anthologies to his name. His famous poem is I Look at the World. In the poem, he depicts the life of blacks as restricted and fenced. He uses the poem to rally them to rise and create the life and world they have always dreamt about.
Women resistance poets are led by the famous voice of a performer, author and memoirist Maya Angelou. She was from Missouri as well and is among the most decorated social justice activists with over 50 honorary degrees. Caged Bird is a verse that narrates the differences in the lives of free and oppressed people. The verse captures the life of a caged bird that only sings and another that is free to pursue its dreams. The imagery used in this poem is so powerful, sending the message home in a memorable version.
The war in Vietnam troubles Denise Levertov that she raises her sole voice against the British government and its engagement there. In her opinion, this is an atrocious act against masses who do not deserve the suffering. She is credited for building powerful images through news casts, conversations and diary entries. The format she adopts in her artistic works is dialogue or engagement between individuals and oppressors, who in this case is the government. She calls upon the world to stop and ponder on what peace means, clearing stating that it is not the absence of war. This message is in the poem Making Peace.
Claude McKay was born in Jamaica in 1889 and lived during the Harlem Renaissance. His ideology was largely communist though he claimed not to have been an official member of any such group. He was an accomplished author of poetry, fiction and non-fiction works. One of his most celebrated poems is IF We Must Die where he advocates for death but a noble death where one fights. He terms it as shameful to allow the enemy to celebrate your anguish.
In 1915, Margret Walker was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She became a prominent member of the African American literary movement operating from Chicago. She is famous for the verse, For My People which addresses a complacent people who are comfortable in oppression. She pushes them to fight by rising from their slumber and instigating for change.
Jane Hirshfield is viewed as clear and simplistic in her writing. She was part of the pioneer Princeton University lot that included the first female grandaunts. She made her mark with Let Them Not Say, a verse warning oppressors that the public is watching.
Protest poems were not designed to cause drastic change in social order. They set to awaken the conscious of oppressed masses into taking action against their wayward behaviors. They sent a message to oppressors that their time was nigh.
Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri and is famous for being a columnist and a social activist. He is a notable figure in the Harlem Renaissance when he was based in New York City. He has over 15 poetry anthologies to his name. His famous poem is I Look at the World. In the poem, he depicts the life of blacks as restricted and fenced. He uses the poem to rally them to rise and create the life and world they have always dreamt about.
Women resistance poets are led by the famous voice of a performer, author and memoirist Maya Angelou. She was from Missouri as well and is among the most decorated social justice activists with over 50 honorary degrees. Caged Bird is a verse that narrates the differences in the lives of free and oppressed people. The verse captures the life of a caged bird that only sings and another that is free to pursue its dreams. The imagery used in this poem is so powerful, sending the message home in a memorable version.
The war in Vietnam troubles Denise Levertov that she raises her sole voice against the British government and its engagement there. In her opinion, this is an atrocious act against masses who do not deserve the suffering. She is credited for building powerful images through news casts, conversations and diary entries. The format she adopts in her artistic works is dialogue or engagement between individuals and oppressors, who in this case is the government. She calls upon the world to stop and ponder on what peace means, clearing stating that it is not the absence of war. This message is in the poem Making Peace.
Claude McKay was born in Jamaica in 1889 and lived during the Harlem Renaissance. His ideology was largely communist though he claimed not to have been an official member of any such group. He was an accomplished author of poetry, fiction and non-fiction works. One of his most celebrated poems is IF We Must Die where he advocates for death but a noble death where one fights. He terms it as shameful to allow the enemy to celebrate your anguish.
In 1915, Margret Walker was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She became a prominent member of the African American literary movement operating from Chicago. She is famous for the verse, For My People which addresses a complacent people who are comfortable in oppression. She pushes them to fight by rising from their slumber and instigating for change.
Jane Hirshfield is viewed as clear and simplistic in her writing. She was part of the pioneer Princeton University lot that included the first female grandaunts. She made her mark with Let Them Not Say, a verse warning oppressors that the public is watching.
Protest poems were not designed to cause drastic change in social order. They set to awaken the conscious of oppressed masses into taking action against their wayward behaviors. They sent a message to oppressors that their time was nigh.
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