Etheridge Knight: life, work, and legacy

¶ … Post and Other Thoughts

I also believe Knight's poetry is an early expression of the uneven surface of the ethnic world he lived in. The heartfelt loss and anguish of "Feeling Fucked Up" are universal emotions experienced by many at the loss of love. However, the anger directed at Coltrane, Marx, Fidel, Mao, democracy, communism, smack, pot, and red stripped tomatoes, God, Mary and Jesus can only be hurled by one who feels completely betrayed by life (Knight). This is the type of fire that can only be stoked by experiences that surpass our lowest expectations of our fellow human beings.

This poem burns true. Knight lived in a world of racial prejudice based on two hundred years of history. Much has changed in the last half of century, yet much remains the same. In many ways the economic oppression of the early twenty-first century is as bad, and some may contend more widespread than the racial oppression of the past. Today even the possession of a college degree is no guarantee of economic freedom and in fact the acquisition of a degree may chain the barer to economic servitude to the lender of his or her student loan. This oppression knows no race, is not visible, and is the whip of the one percent of the population that controls 40% of the wealth with the support of the 20% that control 80%.