Checking out me history

"dem tell me"

- repeated throughout poem

- the repetition of the creole language throughout the poem highlights the divide between Agard ('me') and the educators/authorities ('them')

- it creates a monotonous rhythm which Agard uses to show that colonial history is drilled into school curriculums and people's heads

- he is suggesting he is living in a society where nursery rhymes and fictional characters are more important than real revolutionary characters of a different culture or religion

"Dem tell me/ Dem tell me/ Wha dem want to tell me"

- first lines/stanza of the poem

- the phonetic Caribbean dialect challenges standard English - rejects colonial authority

- repetition of 'dem tell me' shows how the speaker is force fed a controlled version of history

- the repetition also highlights monotony and boredom, it mimics brainwashing, implying identity has been deliberately constructed by those in control

- 'tell' anger and frustration, he wants to ensure he is heard and his message is clear

"Bandage up me eye with me own history/

Blind me to me own identity"

- metaphor of 'bandage' suggests deliberate injury and restriction, not accidental ignorance

- 'blind' implies the speaker has been prevented from seeing their cultural truth - shows how colonial education erases identity

- also the plosives here 'b' creates an aggressive tone, it implies the violent lengths they will go to in order to sustain their power- links to violence of european empires at the time

- also the irony of 'me own history' suggests it is being used against him- history becomes a weapon of control

'Toussaint

A slave

With vision

Lick back

Napoleon'

- enjambment breaks the lines, it reflects fragmented but powerful rediscovery of history

- 'lick back' is a colloquial phrase that shows rebellion and pride in black resistance, he is fighting to keep his history alive - this contrasts sharply with earlier passive tone, shift to empowerment , he wants to take over the role of 'Toussaint' and overthrow oppressive educational system

- the monosyllabic structure here mirrors drum beats/oral storytelling, it reconnects the speaker to ancesteral culture

"Of mountain dream / fire woman struggle / hopeful stream / to freedom river"

- nature imagery here has connotations of pure and eternal, Agar is using this to be parallel with the constant resilience of black people

- 'hopeful' and 'freedom' is part of a semantic field of liberation and individuality, Agar uses these words to outline the importance of these historical figures throughout times when places were heavily controlled

- the short lines show history was cut short, and the italic font shows black people were treated differently - intention

Mary seacole is a 'healing star'

- metaphor- Agar mythologises mary seacole as if she is someone to guide us, reflects his purpose to conduct reader to a new understanding of history through 'healing' as he provides a 'bandage' to black brits

- tone shifts from anger to a conciliatory tone, he is trying to come to a compromise with the reader so they can understand what he proposes is fair

- motif of light throughout the poem 'beacon' , 'fire' , 'star' stops the speaker from being 'blind' by colonial syllabus, the figures pierce through the darkness of ignorance

"I carving out me identity"

- verb 'carving' suggests identity is something actively created not passively received, this implies struggle as carving is slow and painful but permanent

- Agar intent here : telling reader to be vocal about their identity by making it visible and lasting, rewriting history

- 'me' - represents his personal heritage, highlights a rejection of the colonizer's rules in favor of his own voice

- this is a volta - shifts to speakers perspective, an active agent of his own future, contextual rebellion he is no longer following a eurocentric view

context

- born in guyana

- pointing out British curriculum - written by white oppressors - black history isolated

- eurocentric- European focus

- poem is part of 'Empire fights back'

- poem is written in creole (a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages)

who wrote it

John agard

comparison

London- power of authority figures, oppression in physical context and oppression in education context