For Malcolm X by Margaret Walker (1970)

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For Malcolm X is rooted in history based on Malcolm X who is considered as the vital figure in fighting racial equality in America. As an African-American Muslim, he sometimes took militant stand as his effort gaining the equality. The poem, as well, talked about the death of Malcolm X. [1]

Poetry

For Malcolm X

Margaret Walker

All you violated ones with gentle hearts;

You violent dreamers whose cries shout heartbreak;

Whose voices echo clamors of our cool capers,

And whose black faces have hollowed pits for eyes.

All you gambling sons and hooked children and bowery bums

Hating white devils and black bourgeoisie,

Thumbing your noses at your burning red suns,

Gather round this coffin and mourn your dying swan.

Snow-white moslem head-dress around a dead black face!

Beautiful were your sand-papering words against our skins!

Our blood and water pour from your flowing wounds.

You have cut open our breasts and dug scalpels in our brains.

When and Where will another come to take your holy place?

Old man mumbling in his dotage, crying child, unborn? [2]

Author

Margaret Abigail Walker Alexander known as Margaret Walker, was an American poet and writer who was born July 7, 1915 in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. She was one of the leading black women writers in the mid 20th century. Her best known work was the nove Jubilee (1966). As a part of African-American literary movement in Chicago, as well as known as the Chicago Black Renaissance, Walker’s works mostly speak powerfully about African-American experiences. In 1942, she received the Yale Younger Poets Prize, and was the first African-American who was awarded with the prize for her debut collection of poetry, For My People. [3] [4] [5]

Racism Issue

The poem honors Malcolm X and his legacy after he died in 1965. For Malcolm X focussed on Malcolm and people who he stood for, as well as the movements that influenced others. The poet begins by calling the beginnings of the movement, explaining how cultural position impacted the feelings of African-American community, they felt violated. As in this poem, describing that community in a bold and frank way, referring to them with a second person “you”, signifying that the poem is for them, as her true audience.

Walker continues to use imagery to evoke readers’ emotions. In lines, depicts Malcolm like a Christ figure, mourning not on the mortality of himself, but the impact of losing on the community. At the end of the poem, there is a hint marked by a question mark, which raises both hope and suggestion that the new revolutionaries will come. [6]

References

  1. James, Lee. For Malcom X By Margaret Walker. Poem Analysis. Retrieved 15 January, 2021
  2. Poetry and the Civil Rights Movement. Poetry Foundation. Retrieved January 15, 2021
  3. Margaret Walker. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 15, 2020
  4. Atlas, Nava. 11 Poems by Margaret Walker. Literary Ladies Guide. June 11, 2020. Retrtieved January 15, 2021
  5. Margaret Walker. Britannica. November 26, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2021
  6. Richee, Clarissa. A Look at Margaret Walker's "For Malcolm X". Cultural Front. September 19, 2011. Retrieved January 15, 2021