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• Checking Out Me History by John Agard
• The speaker recounts historical figures taught in childhood and lists black historical figures not mentioned
• The speaker resolves to discover more about their own heritage
• The poem is inspired by Agard's experience of being denied his cultural identity due to colonialism
• Agard's formative years were under British rule in Guyana
• The poem was published in the collection "Half Caste and other poems" focused on culture and racial identity
• Agard intended the poems to be universal for people living under oppression and denied cultural identity
• Structure and Language
• The use of repetition creates an accusatory tone, showing the speaker's anger
• The poem uses non-standard phonetic spelling to resist English language traditions imposed by colonial rule
• Agard uses light imagery to associate black historical figures with guidance and importance
• Violent metaphors emphasize the cruelty of colonialism and the pain of identity suppression
• No punctuation is used in the poem to allow for varied interpretations and resist oppression
• References
• Toussaint L’Ouverture led the Haitian revolution against the French colony of Haiti
• Nanny de Maroon was a female leader of Jamaica maroons who escaped slavery
• Shaka de great Zulu was an influential military leader in the Zulu kingdom
• Mary Seacole improved hygiene in hospital wards during the Crimean War
• The Caribs and Arawaks were indigenous people impacted by colonialism in the Caribbean