Movement Description: The Black Arts Movement was powered by Black Power, a phenomenon based on the pride and assertion of the goodness and beauty of Blackness. Beginning in 1960 and ending in 1970, politically engaged work that explored African American culture and history was created during this time. LeRoi Jones ( Amirl Baraka) was one of the most important people of this movement founded the Black Arts Repertory after the assassination of Malcolm X. This movement was seen as racially exclusive and homophobic, but in reality it inspired future generations of native Americans, Latinos/as gays, and lesbians alike to be inspired.
Poem Analysis: This poem was written after Marc Crawford made the suggestion to Brooks to make a poem about blacks surviving in ghetto america. The boy breaking the glass could be freedom from the restraints of society or the ghetto itself. The boy succeeded in his escape, but it is seen as an act of treason because freedom is not a luxury society thinks he should have. Society believes the boy is beautiful but there is something wrong with him. The boy says that he won't leave any words for those who discover his absence but a hole in their lives. He also thinks that his escape is not only an introduction to something new, but a violation of the things that were expected of him. The boy hops trains to get around and doesn't pursue something unless it will benefit him in the long run. He stays to himself and doesn't ask anyone for help (stanzas 3&4). Brooks then expresses how the boy is a minor of a racial minority, and others like him have different struggles. Wherever he was the boy's identity was taken and now all he has is his freedom. In the last stanza Brooks lists all of the things the boy and other children like him are without and how all of things have been blended together in an unattractive way.
Literary Devices: Imagery was use throughout the poem to give the reader a picture of the boy's journey. Figurative language was used at least once in each stanza either in Brooks' point of view or the boy's. "... beautiful flaw", is an example of an oxymoron in reference to the boy. Also "... terrible ornament", is an oxymoron because ornaments are usually related to positive things, like Christmas, and was combined with terrible.
Poem Analysis: This poem was written after Marc Crawford made the suggestion to Brooks to make a poem about blacks surviving in ghetto america. The boy breaking the glass could be freedom from the restraints of society or the ghetto itself. The boy succeeded in his escape, but it is seen as an act of treason because freedom is not a luxury society thinks he should have. Society believes the boy is beautiful but there is something wrong with him. The boy says that he won't leave any words for those who discover his absence but a hole in their lives. He also thinks that his escape is not only an introduction to something new, but a violation of the things that were expected of him. The boy hops trains to get around and doesn't pursue something unless it will benefit him in the long run. He stays to himself and doesn't ask anyone for help (stanzas 3&4). Brooks then expresses how the boy is a minor of a racial minority, and others like him have different struggles. Wherever he was the boy's identity was taken and now all he has is his freedom. In the last stanza Brooks lists all of the things the boy and other children like him are without and how all of things have been blended together in an unattractive way.
Literary Devices: Imagery was use throughout the poem to give the reader a picture of the boy's journey. Figurative language was used at least once in each stanza either in Brooks' point of view or the boy's. "... beautiful flaw", is an example of an oxymoron in reference to the boy. Also "... terrible ornament", is an oxymoron because ornaments are usually related to positive things, like Christmas, and was combined with terrible.