Author: Jenna

My found poem primarily focuses on the song “This is America”, by Childish Gambino. The central message of the song is about gun violence and police brutality within America. As I continued to work on the poem, I developed heavy feelings of sadness and anger due to the injustices faced within our generation today. I specifically chose this song in order to compare it to Zong! as they both display a lot of strong and powerful emotions. For instance, I highlighted my poem’s introductory verses in different colors to create a sense of imagery. The lyric “hunnid band” is in green as it resembles the ideology of money and wealth, and the lyric “contraband” is in red as it resembles a warning or crime. I also bolded repetitive lyrics like black men as it represented the significance of the struggle African Americans face. I felt the usage of repetition within the song was like Philip’s writing style in Zong! as it resembles the importance of how language is used and how it can represent a central idea of a lyric or story. Another strategy I did was I spaced a lot of the words far from one another in order to allow the readers to process the seriousness of the lyrics and allows the readers to take a quick pause and be able to feel the emotions the author is conveying. In addition, writing this poem made me realize it is not that simple as it seems. Every story has a central purpose, and it takes a lot of effort and time to display that idea effectively. Philip’s techniques are very unique within her poems as it develops a sense of creativity by the usage of strong word choice and grammar. I feel that after creating my own found poem it allows me to have a better understanding of how much work goes into this type of writing and why Phillips chose this strategy to write her poems in Zong!

Citizen, by Claudia Rankine focuses on the authors many personal experiences of being a woman of color. Rankine writes in a second-person narrative in order to display descriptive imagery and heavy emotions. The first chapter breaks down Rankine’s traumatic racial based encounters that she has faced throughout her lifetime. The chapter also specifically focuses on the pain, confusion, and sadness she was faced with as she was unable to defend herself in certain situations. All the memories discussed within this chapter center on race whether it was something Rankine faced or witnessed. The primary focus of why these memories is being addressed in this chapter are due to the lack of the individual’s awareness of what they have done. For instance, most of the people who were saying racist remarks were unaware they were due to their stereotypical judgement or cognitive process of implicit bias.

One of the main struggles Rankine was faced with was the constant confusion of the racial assumptions her peers and friends made about her. The first memory she explained within the book was her encounter with a young twelve-year-old girl. At the time, Rankine attended Sts.Philip and James school and a girl in her class asked to copy her test answers. “You never really speak except for the time she makes her request and later when she tells you you smell good and have more features like a white person. You assume she thinks she is thanking you for letting her cheat and feels better cheating from an almost white person” (Rankine 5). As Rankine finishes trying to justify the young girl for her racist actions, she proceeds on the next page by mentioning the sensation of speechlessness and despair she is left with as similar encounters continue to happen. “Certain moments send adrenaline to the heart, dry out the tongue, and clog the lungs. Like thunder they drown you in sound, no, like lightning they strike across the larynx. Cough. After it happened, I was at a loss for words. Haven’t you said this to yourself? Haven’t you said this to a close friend who early in your friendship, when distracted would call you by the name of her black housekeeper?” (Rankine 7). This memory is very significant as it represents how her close friend betrayed Rankine even though she was unaware of her actions. These hurtful actions led to Rankine bottling up her painful emotions and led to her remaining silent for many years. 

Later on in this chapter Rankine starts transitioning her stories by discussing memories where she finally stood up and her voice was seen and heard. She continues the chapter by telling another story about a time she witnessed a man referring to teenagers in a Starbucks by calling them racial slurs. “Hey, I am standing right here, you responded, not necessarily expecting him to turn to you” (Rankine 16). This is a strong transition in the chapter as it indicates Rankine was fed up with how the world treats people of color. Another significant memory that stood out in the end of the chapter is her encounter with her new therapist. As Rankine approaches her therapist’s house for the first time she knocks on the wrong door by mistake “. … the woman standing their yells, at the top of her lungs, Get away from my house! What are you doing in my yard? (Rankine 18). This concluding memory that wraps up the chapter is very important as it indicates even the people Rankine is supposed to confide in and trust make racial assumptions based on her appearance which is incredibly unfair as it causes many people of color to hold back, remain silent, and not show their identity. 

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think the young twelve year old girl that copied Rankines test was intentionally trying to show gratitude or insult her? What are your major takeaways from this interaction?

2. Why do you think Rankine remained silent and didn’t defend herself during most of the memories she explained in the beginning of this chapter? If you were in Rankines position what would you have done? 

Work Cited:

Rankine, Claudia, 1963- author. Citizen : An American Lyric. Minneapolis, Minnesota : Graywolf Press, 2014.

I am from Long Island, New York. I am currently a freshman and I am majoring in early childhood education. During the break I got a job at a local boutique and worked out frequently. Unfortunately, I am staying home this semester but I am still looking forward to taking this course!