Lauren- Week 3- "Fury and Faith" by Amanda Gorman
Amanda Gorman's brilliant poem "Fury and Faith" is centered around the fight for racial justice and the anger and faithful emotions that come along with this horror. The purpose of this poem is to express the various emotions that inevitably come along after tragedies such as racially-based brutality. As a young African American, Gorman knows firsthand just how difficult it is to grapple with situations such as the ones detailed in her poem. A stanza that spoke to me, in particular, was as follows
Our goal has never been revenge, just restoration;
not dominance, just dignity;
not fear, just freedom;
just justice.
Gorman's title is very significant because it encompasses all the trauma these situations put on African- Americans in particular. They have watched generations of their parents and grandparents fight for the same cause and rightfully so they are tired. Fury in the title represents the anger and trauma ingrained into people and faith represents the undying hope that there will come a day when injustices no longer persist.
I really enjoyed this poem. I thought it was amazing to read not only a poem but a memoir in a way because of how personal this subject is to the author. It was great to get a point of view other than the biased news and truly read something that you can gain empathy with and personalize.
Hi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the message of this poem. Most protesters are peaceful no matter what cause they are fighting for, we just hear about the minority of violent ones (ironically). Many people in the U.S. have a fear that Black people will want revenge for all the things the country has put them through, but I think this poem is just restating what they have been saying all along. They just want to live life normally.
Hi Lauren, I really enjoyed this poem and your analysis of it. We are all white teenagers, so it is extremely hard for us to be able to relate to the atrocities that minorities like black people face every day of their lives, but reading poems like these and spreading them is the first step we can take in doing our part. Many people in America misunderstand the basis for many of the riots and protests, and try to turn it into a narrative that it is not, often involving some stereotype about black people. I think this was poem was amazing in the way that it was able to portray such a struggle and plaguing issue through such a beautiful and carefully thought out form of art. I will make sure to check out more of Amanda Gorman's poems.
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