My Thoughts on Tenebris (A Poem Written By Angela Weld Grimke) – Pavan Kumar

When reading the poem for the first time, what struck me the most significantly was the applicability the poem had for our current 21st century era. In my English class, we spoke about the time period during which this poem was written. How the poem encapsulates the alienation of African Americans at the time, who desperately desired to rebuild an America that truly housed them. Yet, the poem also depicts how feeble their attempts were (with the use of “weak” language like “pluck”) in the face of strongarm tactics put into effect by white America. Decades later, how far have we really come? Can we really say that African Americans now have equal ownership of that house once mentioned in the poem? Our economic system primarily keeps African Americans at the bottom of the ladder and “sections” them off into impoverished residential areas that could eventually be gentrified in the future. Our current political structure refuses to see or address their problems and continues to marginalize their voice in our public system of discourse through indirect/direct attempts to rid them of their right to vote.  Our justice system disproportionately persecutes African Americans for their “crimes”. So, in reality it seems that instead of clasping the hand that’s been plucking at America’s foundations for so long, America has just modernized the institutions that keep it away from the “white man’s house”.