When The 10-Point Program Meets Poetry
The 10-Point Program is an insightful list of demands by the Black Panther Party which lists the values they wanted society to hold in order to gain equality during the Civil Rights Era. These values have lasted through the decades and affected literature in the Black Arts movement as well as pieces about similar topics like John Coltrane and Malcolm X. These poems that reflect themes of Black liberation and power create unique representations of the 10-Point Program that remain really helpful when looking at different circles of Black history.
“We Want Freedom For All Black Men
Held In Federal, State, County And City Prisons And Jails.”
As we know, Malcolm X spent a large portion of his young adulthood in jail. In the poem “For Malcolm X” by Margaret Walker, both his journey through imprisonment and those of other Black people in the prison system are represented in this poem. These lines in the first stanza relate especially to the eighth point of the 10-Point Program: “You violent dreamers whose cries shout heartbreak; / Whose voices echo clamors of our cool capers” (Walker). These lines show a glimpse of the struggles of incarcerated people who aren’t able to have the opportunities other people get. I was a bit puzzled about the “cool capers,” but I take it to mean activity from the “violent dreamers.” Another more convincing possibility may be civil rights protests, in which these lines reflect another very likely meaning where Black people are being unfairly targeted and imprisoned for protesting relevant social and political problems.
“We Want Education For Our People That Exposes
The True Nature Of This Decadent American Society.
We Want Education That Teaches Us Our True History
And Our Role In The Present-Day Society.”
In “How Long Has Trane Been Gone” by Jayne Cortez, an important theme throughout the poem is education about Black history and reconnection with that history as well as the culture it affects. John Coltrane is portrayed as a symbol of Black culture and history, and a point of frustration in this poem is that young Black people don’t know about John Coltrane and all he represents. This isn’t necessarily the fault of the people who don’t know about it, but as hinted at in the fifth point of the 10-Point Program, a fault of the education system that fails to address Black histories. On page 316, there’s a striking example of how this failure frustrates the narrator:
Rip those dead white people off
your walls Black People
black people whose walls
should be a hall
A Black Hall Of Fame
so our children will know
will know & be proud (Cortez).
Because of the way the education system has been built, Black people haven’t been represented accurately in history classes and programs. This part of the poem showcases exactly what the Black Panther Party wanted from this point: an appropriate telling of history, in this case through important Black musicians.
Even though I’m pretty sure I used at least one different packet than what we were supposed to use for this prompt, I think the analysis still stands because the Malcolm X and John Coltrane poems reflect a lot of the values shown in the 10-Point Program. These values are still relevant and have been rewritten in countless pieces of literature, and altogether are really important to understand the history of the Black Panther Party as well as the Black Arts movement.
Work Cited
Cortez, Jayne. “How Long Has Trane Been Gone.” Appendix A: Coltrane Poems, 1999, p. 316.
Newton, Huey P. “The Ten-Point Program.” Edited by MIM/Brian Baggins, Black Panther’s Ten-Point Program, 2001, www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/1966/10/15.htm.
Walker, Margaret. “For Malcolm X.” This is My Century: New and Collected Poems, Poetry Foundation, University of Georgia Press, 1989, 2023.
Hi Citlali! I really like how you brought this together, you did a good job citing and using material for this. About the black panther movement, I think its interesting that that first point they make is to undo all the wronged black people who were unrightfully put into prison or jail. This definitely has effect on them not being able to have equal opportunity. Its a important stances on their goal.
ReplyDeleteHi Citlali, I really like the way you draw a direct connection between some of the works we read and the 10-Point program. Your connection with Malcom X's time in prison and the lack of black history being taught in the classroom to the eighth and fifth amendment are direct examples of what they believe and what they fought for at the time. I wonder if these amendments were put into practice if Malcolm X would be one of the black men that got a retrial or if they would deem his sentence fine with how he's treated in prison.
ReplyDeleteHi Citlali! I find often we separate fiction and non-fiction completely, wherein poetry is usually considered "fiction" because it is more creatively expressed and factually ambiguous. However, what I enjoyed about this blog is how you connected the poetry that we read in this class with nonfiction as well! It is so important to remember that all literature, not just nonfiction writing, is so strongly informed by history and the social trends of the time. That fundamental connection between literature and history represents a central theme of this class, and one reason why I enjoy African American Literature so much. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteHey Citlali! I really appreciate the concrete, direct examples you've given from texts in the class that can be directly connected to the different points you mention from the 10-point program. So many pieces you mention are key works through Black history and the Black Arts Movement, and I think it's an important detail when considering the ideological framework of the Black Arts Movement. At a surface level, it's clear the motivation is societal change and rebellion, but it's super important to make connections back to foundational principles like those the Black Panthers advocated and fought for. Really great post!
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