The Real Idea of Ancestry

For Malcolm, A Year After

BY ETHERIDGE KNIGHT

Compose for Red a proper verse;

Adhere to foot and strict iamb;

Control the burst of angry words

Or they might boil and break the dam.

Or they might boil and overflow

And drench me, drown me, drive me mad.

So swear no oath, so shed no tear,

And sing no song blue Baptist sad.

Evoke no image, stir no flame,

And spin no yarn across the air.

Make empty anglo tea lace words—

Make them dead white and dry bone bare.

Compose a verse for Malcolm man,

And make it rime and

make it prim.

The verse will die—as all men do—

but not the memory of him!

Death might come singing sweet like C,

Or knocking like the old folk say,

The moon and stars may pass away,

But not the anger of that day.

Etheridge Knight writing this poem presents one question. How is Knight connected to the Nation of Islam? Knight, although a central figure in the Black Arts Movement, did not have any differing religious affiliations. He is paying tribute to Malcolm X, one man who played a major role in the slightly more militaristic, revolutionary side of the Black Power movement. Malcolm X was one of the first who was able to stand up and defend the African-Americans from the thoughts and misconceptions of the White majority. When I see Etheridge Knight writing a poem about Malcolm X, honestly the first thing that comes to mind is the cultural unity that all African-Americans seem to have amongst themselves. Their "Idea of Ancestry" is possibly the strongest of any race in the world. Through sharing the same experience of slavery and emancipation through the history of the United States, the black population has been able to develop a single streamlined identity. In essence, that was the main purpose of the Black Arts movement, as well as the Black Power movement and associated events, to develop a new functional black identity with all the liberties and freedoms allowed to every person in the Constitution. I feel that the Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam go hand in hand, giving the African-American community a fighting chance against white

oppression. They were the fighting force, enabling other, more peaceful protesters, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and members of the Black Arts movement, to live in safety, knowing that there were other groups established that would defend their rights.