Analysis Of Michael Harper's 'A Mother Speaks'

In “A Mother Speaks,” Michael Harper conveys the message on how the colored were treated unfairly through the use of imagery and mood. The poem was based on the Algiers Motel incident in Detroit where a couple of colored people were killed by white officers for no reason. “I was led away without seeing this plastic face they'd built that was not my son’s” (Harper). As the quote shows, imagery is used to convey the message when it describes the boy’s condition after being assaulted without any faults or offenses to the point in which his own mother did not recognize him. The reader gets attached to the story through the poem. When the boy says, “Oh I'm so sorry, officer, I broke your gun.” (Harper), the reader understands why the boy did not