Writing for English Poetry

Gonzales 1

Her Pain

Songs and poetry have been a way to express feelings, tell a story, or spread a message throughout time. These art forms allow people’s creativity to amplify awareness upon social issues. During the Harlem Renaissance, many black artists would use poetry as an outlet to express their frustration with their place in society. Likewise, in today’s society, many black artists use song as a way to communicate their aggravation with their place in the world. Claude McKay was a famous poet during the Harlem Renaissance. He settled into Harlem after being born and raised in Jamaica and used poetry to utter his dissatisfaction of his “fallen” race’s stance in society. Kendrick Lamar, a modern day rap artist, uses his rhymes to share his discontent with where many of the black community stands in today’s society. When comparing and contrasting McKay’s poem “Harlem Shadows” and Lamar’s song, “Keisha’s Song”, it is evident that countless members of the black community are still struggling in today’s society.

McKay’s poem “Harlem Shadows” brings to surface the suffering that young black girls of his time go through to earn an income. The title itself illustrates the idea that his race is living in the shadows. White America is blind to his people's pain and struggles and their pain is hidden in the shadows whites casted on blacks. McKay’s poem exposes the ugly truth that young girls are forced to sell themselves in order to make a living. The first stanza introduces the life of a young girl who is a prostitute. The speaker writes, “In Negro Harlem when the night lets fall its veil. I see the shapes of girls who pass to bend and barter at desire’s call” (lines 2-4). McKay’s use of darkness again exemplifies that black America’s agony is being blanketed. The revolting things that these young girls are being forced to do earn an income are an issue McKay touches base on in this poem. McKay is frustrated that white America is so blind to what is going on with the black community. Young black girls are bartering their innocence and bodies in exchange for money so they can support themselves. McKay’s choice of the word bend holds two connotations. To bend can mean that the girls bend to flexible with their morals in order to be able to make an income. To bend can also have more literal and sexual meaning to furthermore announce how these girls losing their innocence. The second stanza illustrates furthermore the weight these girls bear. The speaker writes “Through the lone night until the last now-flake/ Has dropped from heaven upon the earth’s white breast,/the dusky half-clad girls of tired feet/ are trudging, thinly shod, from street to street” (lines9-12). The speaker depicts the girls abandoned, in the cold, and half dressed. This puts emphasis on the idea that the hardships of these girls have been shut out by society. Their feet are grey from the filth they have to walk through, the pain they suffer, and their innocence being lost. The phrase “the earth’s white breast” exemplifies that the earth is white people’s own and the black community is forced to live under the white society. The last stanza depicts the most frustration with society’s order. The speaker writes, “Ah, stern harsh world, that in the wretched way/ Of poverty, dishonor and disgrace, / Has pushed the timid little feet of clay, / The sacred brown feet of my fallen race!”(lines13-16). McKay sees the world as harsh. The poverty that the white man has placed the black community in has forced the shy girls of the black community into a wretched lifestyle where they have to give up their childhood and purity in order to earn money to put food on the table and have shelter. The powerful words in this poem leave the reader with strong images of the suffering of these young girls have been forced to endure by society.

Songs and lyrics are a more common way for artists to express themselves in today’s society. Kendrick Lamar’s song “Keisha’s Song” is based on true story of a young girl who was murdered while prostituting herself in Compton. The first verse uses powerful lyricism when he writes, “And lord knows the usuals, leaving her body sore” (Lamar). It is evident that this girl is lovely; however, her career leaves her with a sore body, mind, and soul. The word usuals is a word you might here at a restaurant or salon, but instead of being customary guests at an business, they are regular visitors to use her body. The first also says, “And she capture features of a woman, but only seventeen/ The seven cars start honking, she start running like Flo-Jo” (Lamar). This girl is just a minor and has been given limited options to make money so she sells herself. Her body is a business and when the cars start honking; she starts “running”, which is slang for having sex with a lot of people. Kendrick Lamar ironically compares her running to Florence Griffith-Joyner’s, the fastest woman of all time, running. Joyner was also raised in a poverty stricken area like Keisha. However, Joyner was able to become a successful athlete despite her conditions. On the contrary, Keisha is trapped in a vicious cycle. The second verse goes on to exemplify Keisha’s innocence being lost. He writes, “”Her anatomy is God’s temple/ And its quite simple, her castle is about to be destroyed” (Lamar). Her body is a sacred place, and by prostituting herself she is ridding innocence from herself. The line also foreshadows the tragic ending in Verse 3. The last verse not only reveals one of Keisha’s customers stabbing her in the bladder suddenly ending her life, but also the agony Keisha endures. Lamar writes, “She suddenly realized, she’ll never escape the allure/ Of the black man, white man, needed satisfaction/ At first, it became a practice, but now she’s numb to it.” (Lamar). Keisha, like many woman of her field, most likely began selling herself to obtain quick money; however, Keisha has now become consumed by her lifestyle and is jaded. At first her lifestyle probably made her anxious or thrilled and later it became a monotonous routine that she had to tolerate without sensation.

The similarities in Lamar and McKay’s work are difficult to ignore. Both artists use three stanzas/verses to convey the issue of young black girls prostituting themselves in order to sustain a living. In addition, the girls of the works are living in towns of poverty. McKay’s poem took place in the streets of Negro Harlem, and “Keisha’s Song” took place “a block away from Lueders Park”, which is a park in Compton. Keisha and the young girls in McKay’s poem are both minors who are trapped in a vicious cycle of prostitution because they were displaced by society. Also, each of the three verses for both artists’ works end illustrating the girl’s agony and weariness. In Mckay’s poem, the last line to each stanza ends with a variation of the girls moving street to street. The girls begin prowling from street to street, to trudging from street to street, and lastly wandering from street to street. McKay depicts the girl’s sprits being lost. They go from actively prowling the night for customers, to being lost in a dark world that they have been out casted from. They lost purpose and became jaded. Similarly, Lamar’s last three verses all have variation of Keisha entering a backseat of an El Camino a block away from Lueders Park. Lamar describes how, “in her heart she hate it there but in/ her mind, she made it where/ nothing really matters, still she hit the backseat” (Lamar). Keisha is drained from her lifestyle, but she is trapped in a system therefore she endures it. Keisha goes from actively making ends meet, to sleeping with a crooked police officer, to finally having her life lost by one of her customers. Both sets of women are lost at the end of each of the works.

McKay’s poem “Harlem Shadows” and Lamar’s song “Keisha’s Song” have parallels that are difficult to ignore. Moreover, it is important to realize the significance of these similarities. These two works of art have been created almost a century apart. Yet, there is a remaining issue that much of the black community has been gentrified into poverty and many young black girls are still prostituting themselves because they do not feel they can make money any other way. Both artists bring to life a real life issue that is often neglected and casted away into the shadows. Art has been and will always be a way to express feelings, create awareness, and bring darkness into light. History is taught in order to prevent it repeating itself. However, many of the dark issues McKay touched based on are still a problem in today’s society. Only time will tell whether these problems will ever become resolved.

Work Cited

McKay, Claude. "Harlem Shadows." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 25

Mar. 2014

Lamar, Kendrick. Keisha's Song. 2011. MP3.