checking out me history

• John Agard was born in Guyana and moved the UK in the 1970s
• Agard uses non-standard phonetic spelling and writes about him being black
• This poem highlights him trying to understand and speak about his history
• 'dem tell me' Agard does not use standard English to highlight a difference in language, the use of this repetition throughout the poem shows that it needs to be focused on and he is forcing his identity to be heard
• 'dem' is shown to be apart of his identity, which shouldn't be dismissed or hidden
• Poems to compare with:

  Ozymandias- Both show hope their identity got stripped away, however Agard shows that he can resolve this and male a change and research his history whilst Shelley shows that the corruption of power is permanent

  Emigree- Both poets attach great emotional significance to their cultural identity

  Kamikaze- Both show the importance of heritage and culture
• 'Wha dem want to tell me' this shows that Agard believes it is not the truth or history is not said in full
• 'Bandage up me eye with me own history' this highlights that the education system is sheltering black history, Agard feels anger towards their disregard of his history. The injury like connotation implies that Agard feels hurt by the sheltered upbringing
• 'Blind me up to me own identity' this shows that are trying to cover up his own identity, the education system is stopping you to see the important information
• 'Dem tell me bout 1066 and all dat' Agard highlights that Battle of Hastings is seen as a fundamental part of history whilst black history is just ignored
• 'dem tell me bout Dick Whittington and he cat' the use of the fairytale illustrates the lack of importance of British history feels towards black history.
• 'But Toussaint L'Ouverture no dem never tell me bout dat' Toussaint is the black leader of Haitian revolution against France, who abolished slavery in Haiti. The contrast shows that black history is continuously ignored and not talked about, British history is glorified whilst black history is just disregarded
• Agard telling 'Toussaint' story and how he is 'de beacon' shows that although history dismays him, Agard is willing to tell his story and preserve it. 'de beacon' shows that he is the light to the Haitians.
• 'de cow who jump over de moon' This phrase from the semantic field of childhood implies that Agard feels that nursery rhymes are more needed and are taught rather than important black history
• 'Nanny de maroon' is an important black female figure who is a reason for why mantequilla slaves are free, with 'mountain dreams' which shows that she has big dreams and wants. The extended metaphor of detailed information about black figures is used to educate the reader
• 'but what happened to de Caribs and de Arawaks too' this shows that they do not talk about significant people of colour, Agard is giving awareness to their history and impact in it
• 'and how Robin Hood use to camp' shows that a fairytale is more well known than actual black historical figures
• 'but dem never tell me bout Mary Seacole' shows that her efforts go unnoticed even though she worked in the crimean War with 'Florence Nightingale'. This shows that black people are dismayed and given less credit throughout all times of history
• 'But now I checking out me own history' this illustrates that he us discovering his own history and learning about his identity
• 'I carving out me identity' this highlights that he has to make it his own, there is a sense of permanence due to the 'carving', the fact that nothing can change him and no one can tell him who he is.