BEAUTIFUL BLACK WOMEN, a poem by Amiri Baraka (1969)

IS AMIRI BARAKA’S POEM, BEAUTIFUL BLACK WOMEN ONLY RELEVANT TO THE BLACK CIVIL RIGHTS WAR OF THE ‘60S?

The answer is an emphatic No! Women everywhere, black or otherwise, have a stake in making the world a better place. We have a duty to do that which we must, to play our part in achieving peace for the entire world. The first and perhaps the only important step, is to make it a more beautiful and safer place for our children. As always, a great education and education policy is the key. Remember, children are the future and if we teach them well…

Labor pains know no race. They are a reality that is timeless and universal. A short study of cultures around the world reveals that traditionally, many roles that involved “getting up and going out to protect the homestead” were left to the man. Today, we cannot afford to do that. There are still many wars to be fought and we all know the pain. Exploitation and greed remain as much a reality today as they did yesterday, both here in America and perhaps even more so in other parts of the world. Just ask Bhavani Bhattacharya who wrote his profound book So Many Hungers, set in Bengali of the early 1940s! It is a study on the travesty of justice by a few top strong hands against the meek masses.

Against this backdrop, I will first attempt to analyze Amiri Baraka’s poem within the context of the early black civil rights movement era for which it was initially written. We can then be able to see just how relevant and universal his call is to women today, in relation to the plight of society in general and that of our children in particular. First, a quick look at his style. We notice that the poem is quite short. The compression only serves to further enhance the loudness of his cry. Indeed so terse is his message that he limits his poem to less than half a page. It is common knowledge that extreme emotion often only invites verbal brevity in expression.

Introduction

In the poem, Beautiful Black Women, Amiri Baraka is recognizing the strength that lies in the beauty of black women. Using poetry, he therefore sets out on the necessary mission of imploring black women to tap into this resource for the good of the entire community; stand up and help the men in the fight for black rights. He wants them to assume their rightful positions as beautiful, superior and strong beings that can help win the civil rights war and end the impunity of the perceived protagonists. “Beautiful Black women, it is still raining...we need you”.

Historical Context

The ‘60s represent a tumultuous time in American Black History. Great events, both sad and happy, are recorded to have occurred in this timeline. For instance, there are hundreds of reports on black riots sparked throughout the country, protesting voter registration rules, segregation and racial discrimination. The summer of 1967 was one such turbulent period. Racial confrontations between police and black men, mostly youth escalated into full scale urban riots in major cities around the country such as Newark, Cleveland, Chicago, D.C and Atlanta. Perhaps the most horrifying would be the Detroit Riots when police raided a black drinking den. In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, TN, a sad event indeed.

However, several happy events pointed to a not so bleak future. Affirmative Action was instituted in this period. The government abolished racial discrimination in hiring processes for federally funded projects. The Civil Rights Act became law in 1964. In 1969, the year that Amiri Baraka wrote Beautiful Black Women, the Government ordered desegregation in county schools.( http://www.africanaonline.com/civil_rights.htm)

Clearly things were looking up, right? Not according to Amiri Baraka. Through Beautiful Black Women, he opines that the battle is far from won. “It is still raining in this terrible land”.

Ruby Dee –A symbolic figure

Who is Ruby Dee? A famous actress who is credited with being the first black female actress to perform lead roles in the American Shakespeare Festival and even won an Obie award, the direct reference to her in the poem is by no means accidental. According to tv.com, “During the 1960s, Dee appeared in such politically charged films as Gone Are the Days and The Incident, which is recognized as helping pave the way for young African-American actors and filmmakers”. (http://www.tv.com/ruby-dee/person/5624/biography.html)

Surely it cannot have been easy as a black woman in that racist America era to achieve such great heights of success in her art as she did. It must have taken immense resilience to weather the storms of both racial and quite possibly, sexual discrimination. One can infer from the poem that she probably would have gone even higher at that time (1969), if it wasn’t for – “our tormentor” - who predetermined one’s destiny “in this terrible land”. Describing her as “…deprived of her fullest light”, Amiri Baraka uses Ruby Dee to symbolize two things simultaneously: one, the true beauty and resilience of a black woman that recognizes; two, the internal conflict and outward struggle of all blacks, men and women, that has turned all into “sentimental, bitter, frustrated” people. To sum it up, Ruby Dee is a symbol of both conflict and hope in the poem.

The significance of Rain (raining)

If it is Amiri Baraka’s intention to demonstrate the gravity of the matter using mood, he succeeds in a profound way. As one reads the poem with the frequent mention of rain, imagery that the mood creates is one of being trapped inside “gray cold buildings” looking out the window at the heavy rain beating. One can almost see the lightning and hear the thunderstorms! But what exactly is ‘raining’? It can be said that the word means different things at different points in the poem. Rain is overflow, often in full force. Copious tears are said to ‘rain down’. Great torment befalling a community can be said to ‘rain trouble’ on them. He therefore uses ‘raining’ to demonstrate the magnitude and intensity of the events or actions taking place. He also uses it to perfect the mood of the poem for his purpose of meaning.

What then shall we say?

In conclusion, the poem, Beautiful Black Women is dedicated to beseeching black women to use the strength in their beauty as an asset to the war on racial discrimination. Yet it is more than that. The whole point of Ruby Dee being in the poem, is a call to action for all women regardless of their skin color; not just the erotic and sexy, the successful and business women, the actresses in Hollywood, the empowered elderly; neither the athletes or the models.

“We need you reigning, black queen”, he wails. To reign is to rule, control, and tower over; lead. Black women need to take up the mantle and lead in the fight. He points out their constant nagging to do better and their ability to snort at failure. “We fail them and their lips stick out perpetually at our weakness”.

Women, ladies, don’t just complain, don’t sit at your window and cry out your frustration; stand up and join the war. “Come to us; help us get back what was always ours. Help us women”

A friend loves to tell me of this Jewish saying that God knew He couldn’t be everywhere so he created mothers to help him. This is a call to all women black, white, brown, yellow, pink… stand up together; let us uplift the lot of our children. Our men are not able to do it on their own. The task to ensure they have the correct and adequate education is in our hands. The moment is now.

Amiri Baraka sums it up with a plaintive rallying cry; his pain can clearly be felt in the words, “Will you help us? Will you open your bodysouls, will you lift me up…”?

I almost feel like adding “mama” at the end of that plea.

(Will you...mama)?