Dreams

This week in poetry class, we learned about the poetry of Nikki Giovanni. We discussed at length how similar Giovanni is to Langston Hughes. Both poets were part of the Black Arts Movement, which stood up to previous generations of artists who submitted to what the white people, and white culture. Giovanni and Hughes wrote poetry that was very prideful of the Black people and the black culture. They did not like that they were held back by white people, and hoped that one day they could be free from such restrictions. Giovanni had to worry doubly about this because not only is she black, but she is also a woman. She dreamt that one day she could be looked at as a strong woman and as a strong person. The thing to emphasize about these two is that in no way were they ashamed of the color of their skin, nor in Giovanni's case her sex.

Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni had these dreams that they would one day break free, and they both wrote about them.

Langston Hughes wrote his poem "Dream Variations" (below) to write about his ideal world.

To fling my arms wide

In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me-
That is my dream!

To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening...
A tall, slim tree...
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.

The first stanza of this poem represents Hughes's dream. His dream is one where blacks can "whirl and dance" out in the open, and do this easily. Blacks can do this without having to hide themselves in the night. Notice how he uses white and black in the poem. He says that basically the day is white, and the night is black, and how both colors are integral parts of everyone's day just like white people and black people are integral parts of society. He says blacks and whites can both live peacefully together, and do as they please.

The second stanza recognizes the reality of the situation. There are only a few changes in this poem. The first change comes when he says "In the face of the sun." What Hughes means here is that blacks must fight to practice their culture against the day time. The word white is not used in this stanza, however it is implied because the whites represent the sun, because it is the sun that prevents them from practicing their culture easily. They are restricted to the night time because the whites "own" the day time because it is like them, unlike night time which is like the black people.

Nikki Giovanni has a similar message in her poem Dreams (below).

in my younger years

before i learned

black people aren’t

suppose to dream

i wanted to be

a raelet

and say “dr o wn d in my youn tears”

or “tal kin bout tal kin bout”

or marjorie hendricks and grind

all up against the mic

and scream

“baaaaaby nightandday

baaaaaby nightandday”

then as i grew and matured

i became more sensible

and decided i would

settle down

and just become

a sweet inspiration

Nikki Giovanni had dreams however she was told she was not supposed to dream. This poem depicts a black woman who wants to rid the world of the hatred toward black people by showing what it has done to them. She wants to be able to bring about peace and reconciliation between the two races, however she realizes that being a normal, average woman she can't do much to change the social thinking and perception of women.

Both poets were part of the black arts movement, and wanted to break free from society's restrictions of the black people. They dreamt of a world where they could be free from restrictions, and where they could fully embrace their culture, and so could the rest of the world. This was the thinking of the blacks who wanted to break free from society's thinking that black entertainment was not acceptable, and that in order to be successful blacks needed to pander to white people's interests. They wanted to embrace their own style of art, and literature, and music and let society accept them as they are. This was their dream, but it was altered for reality.