The poem “Black Power” is written by Nikki Giovanni. The poem dramatizes the conflict involving the Black Panthers as they take action and use their power to monitor and protect their people in their communities (black communities) showing racial pride. The speaker of the poem addresses a significant problem that takes place in African American communities where police often over use their power. This speaker emphasizes the Blank Panthers role of protection in their community in such a straight forward way. The ideas used was to refer and connect the Black Panther participant to the actual panther animal to bring clearer meaning to who the Black Panthers were. The language is simple, includes no periods, but the poem has quite a few hyphens
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The speaker uses alliteration by calling the Panthers, Beautiful Black Panthers. The speaker addresses the Black Panthers as beautiful to show that they were attractive in a way, although viewed as vicious or unattractive to others. The speaker also gives specific location to whom the dedication is for. The speaker says “For all the Beautiful Black Panthers East”. The word “East” almost sounds out of place, as if the word does not belong in the line. However, the word gives additional meaning. The word “East” is emphasizing the exact group of Black Panthers the speaker is referring to. The Black Panther Party originated in California and spread to multiple American cities. East gives direct location of where this specific incident is taking place. The speaker makes sure to add this additional word because he/she wants to assert the tribute specifically to this incident because there were many Black Panther incidents all around …show more content…
There must have been multiple people around who witnessed the incident for the speaker to emphasize this. The stanza begins with the word “and” again which demonstrates a rhetorical pattern from a previous stanza. The first line of this stanza states “And none of the zoos or circuses” (15). Referring to zoos and circuses gives the impression of a panther performing at one of these locations with so many people watching. The next line provides a distance of 50 miles. This was to exaggerate the amount of people from the entire community that may have saw or heard about the altercation between the Black Panther and police officer, yet it had not been reported as expressed as indicated in line 17. The following line states a Panther, which can reference both the animal and/or the participant of the party. This line concludes the overall importance of the theme and how the panther had such a significant impact on the situation of American Americans being terrorized by police. The last line is one word; “Missing” (19). This last word is significant because it leaves a long lasting effect on the audience. The word stands alone dramatizing that the incident did not lead to any prosecutions. The speaker adds this to the poem to showcase whose side the witnesses were
The speaker uses alliteration by calling the Panthers, Beautiful Black Panthers. The speaker addresses the Black Panthers as beautiful to show that they were attractive in a way, although viewed as vicious or unattractive to others. The speaker also gives specific location to whom the dedication is for. The speaker says “For all the Beautiful Black Panthers East”. The word “East” almost sounds out of place, as if the word does not belong in the line. However, the word gives additional meaning. The word “East” is emphasizing the exact group of Black Panthers the speaker is referring to. The Black Panther Party originated in California and spread to multiple American cities. East gives direct location of where this specific incident is taking place. The speaker makes sure to add this additional word because he/she wants to assert the tribute specifically to this incident because there were many Black Panther incidents all around …show more content…
There must have been multiple people around who witnessed the incident for the speaker to emphasize this. The stanza begins with the word “and” again which demonstrates a rhetorical pattern from a previous stanza. The first line of this stanza states “And none of the zoos or circuses” (15). Referring to zoos and circuses gives the impression of a panther performing at one of these locations with so many people watching. The next line provides a distance of 50 miles. This was to exaggerate the amount of people from the entire community that may have saw or heard about the altercation between the Black Panther and police officer, yet it had not been reported as expressed as indicated in line 17. The following line states a Panther, which can reference both the animal and/or the participant of the party. This line concludes the overall importance of the theme and how the panther had such a significant impact on the situation of American Americans being terrorized by police. The last line is one word; “Missing” (19). This last word is significant because it leaves a long lasting effect on the audience. The word stands alone dramatizing that the incident did not lead to any prosecutions. The speaker adds this to the poem to showcase whose side the witnesses were