‘Checking Out Me History’ by John Agard

John Agard, poet John Agard was born in British Guiana (now called Guyana) in the Caribbean, in He moved to the UK in the late 1970s and is well known for powerful and fun performances of his work. He uses non-standard phonetic spelling (written as a word sounds) to represent his own accent, and writes about what it is like being black to challenge racist attitudes, especially those which are unthinking.

A brief note… Agard is pointing out how in the English Curriculum students only seem to learn about white people because he believes it is written by white people for white people He suggests that history in the English Curriculum deliberately leaves out information about black men and women who deserve more recognition

Stanza one… Dem tell me Wha dem want to tell me Anaphora: these three words ‘Dem tell me’ are used at the start of all the stanzas that rhyme Repetition: highlights the control that white people have over history Phonetic spelling: an identity from Jamaican roots Pronoun: ‘Dem’: suggests separateness [‘dem and ‘me’ = them and us]

Stanza two… Bandage up me eye with me own history Blind me to me own identity Metaphor: on ‘bandage’ at suggests that information has been hidden Alliteration: on ‘b’ creates an angry tone Non-standard English: on ‘me’ is used to establish a separate identity from the dominant white identity

Stanza three… Dem tell me bout 1066 and all dat dem tell me bout Dick Whittington and he cat But Toussaint L’Ouverture no dem never tell me bout dat Nursery rhyme style and references: shows he is mocking what he has been told, expects the reader to know all this Juxtaposition: pantomime and fables against black history Double negative: sounds angry against the oppressive nature of white history

Stanza four… Toussaint a slave with vision lick back Napoleon battalion and first Black Republic born Toussaint de thorn to de French Toussaint de beacon of de Haitian Revolution Longer, italicised verses: emphasises black historical characters Short lines, free verse: recalls memories Metaphor and positive imagery: used to indicate light being brought to black people Rhyme: used the power of oral narratives, challenges white history, black history is often told through oral narratives Repetition: reminds the reader of his chant, his point

Stanza five… Dem tell me bout de man who discover de balloon and de cow who jump over de moon Dem tell me bout de dish ran away with the spoon but dem never tell me bout Nanny de maroon Lack of punctuation: rejects the rules of punctuation, rejecting white history, rejecting control Maroon = ‘maroon’ is a term used to describe black slaves who escaped from slavery Nursery rhyme references: trivialises white history, like how historians have trivialised black history

Stanza six… Nanny see-far woman of mountain dream fire-woman struggle hopeful stream to freedom river Metaphor: positive image used to indicate how Nanny had the power to see into the future Metaphor and nature and water imagery: used to indicate Nanny being a spiritual person Metaphor: used to indicate warmth and light Broken syntax: creates a serious, undeveloped, yet fragmented voice

Stanza seven… Dem tell me bout Lord Nelson and Waterloo but dem never tell me bout Shaka de great Zulu Dem tell me bout Columbus and 1492 but what happen to de Caribs and de Arawaks too Juxtaposition: antithetical power structures: Caribs and Arawaks, the original inhabitants of the West Indies and Columbus who represents the colonisers Pairing: Lord Nelson with Shaka

Stanza eight… Dem tell me bout Florence Nightingale and she lamp And how Robin Hood used to camp Dem tell me bout ole King Cole was a merry ole soul but dem never tell me bout Mary Seacole Juxtaposition: Figures from British folklore and nursery rhymes contract with Mary Seacole Symbolism: used to reduce Florence’s importance, although light imagery links to black historical references Quoted rhyme: suggests how history is not questioned, only repeated

Stanza nine… Metaphors: describes Mary Seacole in a positive ‘healing’ light and ‘a yellow sunrise’ is full of hope and promise for the dying, a ‘star’ links to the wider universe From Jamaica she travel far to the Crimean War she volunteer to go and even when de British said no she still brave the Russian snow a healing star among the wounded a yellow sunrise to the dying Crimean War = Russian Empire vs Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. Lots of deaths occurred from fighting bit also from outbreaks of disease. Metaphor: suggests bravery

Stanza ten… Dem tell Dem tell me wha dem want to tell me But now I checking out me own history I carving out me identity Repetition: ‘dem tell me’ could represent how black people were oppressed by white history, returns to stanza 1 and his first point Anaphora: highlights the anger and defiance of the speaker Metaphor: suggests an imprint, permanence Metaphor: suggests the main theme of his own history

Consider the following meanings… ‘Dem’ - ‘Me’ - ‘Bout’ - ‘Dat’ - ‘Lick back’ - ‘De’ – ‘See-far woman’ – =‘Them’ =‘My’ =‘About’ =‘That’ =‘Defeated’ =‘Of’ =‘A woman who has a vision of the future’

The poem… Is cleverly constructed to reclaim black identity Makes the reader aware that British history is only a point of view Introduces the reader to famous black people Reminds us that whoever controls the past, controls the present Cleverly uses two types of stanza to show the differences between ‘official’ and ‘non- official’ history Shows that without a history and without a distinctive voice we may have no identity

Structure The poem alternates between two different structures, which is indicated by two different fonts Rhyming couplets, triplets or quatrains Repetition of ‘Dem tell me’ indicates the white version of history Stories of three black historical figures is told using abbreviated syntax – words missed out, shorter lines and an irregular rhyme scheme The same quatrain is repeated throughout the poem – in each one a different famous white figure is mentioned. Each quatrain usually ends with the mention of a black historical figure who isn’t taught about.

Sound (phonological effects) Variations in spelling suggests Caribbean dialect and highlights the importance of the speaker ‘carving out his own identity’ Repetition creates a sense of rhythm End rhyme is used and is emphasised by the inclusion of references to traditional nursery rhymes

Imagery References to children’s nursery rhymes and storybook characters Suggestions that the historical events taught in school are not entirely accurate Nature metaphors are used for the black historical figures indicating the strength/growth of these characters Light – all three are linked to light metaphors showing that they are shining a light on black historical identity

Attitudes, themes and ideas A dual tone in the poem – rebellious, accusatory tone changes to a celebratory one Makes the reader consider the meaning of history, provoking the reader to ‘check out’ our own histories Confident tone that is aiming to bring about change

How is the narrator’s voice created in the poem? Non-standard spelling used to phonetically represent an accent Repetition gives it a strong voice, suggesting an assertive, aggressive mood There is a change in tone when talking about the black historical figures Rhyme gives it a sing-song tone which suggests an underlying contempt for the white-centric history in the curriculum A sense of determination in the last line suggests that things are going to change