How does Zephaniah's writing vividly express views on injustic in "Chant of a Homesick Nigga"
How does Zephaniah’s writing vividly express views on justice in “Chant of a Homesick Nigga”
Benjamin Zephaniah expresses his views on justice toward the black community, in his poem, “Chant of a Homesick Nigga”. Zephaniah is a profound political poet and activist whom has released several poems based around the injustice surrounding the black community, including this poem. This poem is a very dark, and we get a sense of anger and rage throughout. The poem is based upon the unjust and mistreatment of the black community, and about how they community are crying out for fairness and absolute justice, and how the black community, in this case, are being put to jail for crimes they did not commit, “I have not hidden any loot”. Zephaniah uses many techniques in order to vividly express his views on the matter.
One of the main techniques Zephaniah uses is his use of a free flowing structure instead of a more regular structure. This technique is subtle but very effective but it allows Zephaniah his freedom of expression, and helps him develop his thoughts more clearly. There is rhyme throughout, such as “talk” and walk”, and “downhearted” and “started”, which are included in the second stanza, yet the poem is still free flowing. This poem is irregular, but this lets Zephaniah describe his thoughts vividly, which is the main aim of this poem, so this technique is very effective.
Another technique that Zephaniah used which is very powerful and very strong is the use of racist terms. Zephaniah uses terms such as “nigga”, ”scum”, ”coon” and “wog”, which are words that are very insulting and socially unacceptable terms in which the black community are put under. These words bring anger, and emotion into the poem, showing that they are categorized insulted by means of skin colour and race. This brings emotion by showing us how they are socially treated differently, when in fact they are exactly the same, and it shows us Zephaniah’s anger by referring to his own race
Benjamin Zephaniah expresses his views on justice toward the black community, in his poem, “Chant of a Homesick Nigga”. Zephaniah is a profound political poet and activist whom has released several poems based around the injustice surrounding the black community, including this poem. This poem is a very dark, and we get a sense of anger and rage throughout. The poem is based upon the unjust and mistreatment of the black community, and about how they community are crying out for fairness and absolute justice, and how the black community, in this case, are being put to jail for crimes they did not commit, “I have not hidden any loot”. Zephaniah uses many techniques in order to vividly express his views on the matter.
One of the main techniques Zephaniah uses is his use of a free flowing structure instead of a more regular structure. This technique is subtle but very effective but it allows Zephaniah his freedom of expression, and helps him develop his thoughts more clearly. There is rhyme throughout, such as “talk” and walk”, and “downhearted” and “started”, which are included in the second stanza, yet the poem is still free flowing. This poem is irregular, but this lets Zephaniah describe his thoughts vividly, which is the main aim of this poem, so this technique is very effective.
Another technique that Zephaniah used which is very powerful and very strong is the use of racist terms. Zephaniah uses terms such as “nigga”, ”scum”, ”coon” and “wog”, which are words that are very insulting and socially unacceptable terms in which the black community are put under. These words bring anger, and emotion into the poem, showing that they are categorized insulted by means of skin colour and race. This brings emotion by showing us how they are socially treated differently, when in fact they are exactly the same, and it shows us Zephaniah’s anger by referring to his own race