The Silenced

Run. Run. Run.

They Like To Beat Me For Fun.

My Body Their Toy

They Use With Everyone

I Am Black

They Are White

But That Is Not A Reason

For Me To Not Put Up A Fight

Abuse Against The Shadows

Never Seems To Come To Light

For When It Does

Everyone Turns A Blind Eye

Blood. Blood. Blood.

Laying Lifeless Like A Dud

No Blood From My Thighs But Still I Carry

Pain That Is Much More Scary

I Come Asking For Protection

But These Same People Tell Me

That Nothing I Do

Will Damn These Men In Hell, Surely

Bail. Bail. Bail.

I Am Lucky They Say

Because The Negro Girl

Got Them Put Away

Postponed And Forgotten

Is This My Fate?

To Not Receive Justice

By A Reasonable Date

Overview:

This article is short but its use of language gives us context to everything we need to know about the historical context. Because the woman who was raped was black, she recieved little to no coverage on the issues. Even more so because the men that were found guilty, were white poor men who could not meet the bail requirments. In class we learned how common it was for white men, when accused of rape, to assume roles of "exemplary behavior" and when these men had poor track records, the defense oftentimes described them as being outliers. It was was also often that the women of color's character were picked a part of to demonize the race and gender. This furthermore made it extremely difficult for any woman to gain traction in their reports against the white men.

In my poem, I wanted to make it clear that beyond getting brutally beaten by these men, she was humiliated and made vulnerable. According to the 1951 article from the Jackson Advocate, the woman who was unnamed was forced into a vehicle after the men had bardged into an all Black grocery store. It was later that she was beaten and raped at a farm house where she had tried to escape. These men were looking to incite violence by entering the Black's grocery store and their brutal attack against the woman was meant to make not only Black women that heard about this feel powerless, but the men as well. While the artcile briefly describes that the men were arrested on the counts of kidnapping, assault, rape and intent to murder, they were then unable to pay the bail fees in jail. The later trials were further postponed. And this portion was something I wanted to touch on because it seems like it was not urgent enough. Despite this woman testifying and her life still being at risk because they were not officially sentenced, it seems like it was an ongoing pattern that is still a problem today. The court system does take a while but it purposely takes a while and avoids media coverage when it pertains to white males.