Etheridge Knight was an American poet born in 1931. His early life was marked by his military career and later incarceration for robbery. He began writing poetry in prison and is remembered as one of the most important African American poets of his day.
‘Hard Rock Returns to Prison’ is an allegory of oppression and forced submission of Black inmates in America.
Hard Rock / was / “known not to take no shit
From nobody,” and he had the scars to prove it:
Split purple lips, lumbed ears, welts above
His yellow eyes, and one long scar that cut
‘The Idea of Ancestry’ by Etheridge Knight is concerned with family relationships and how important being with those you’re related to is.
Taped to the wall of my cell are 47 pictures: 47 black
faces: my father, mother, grandmothers (1 dead), grand-
fathers (both dead), brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts,
cousins (1st and 2nd), nieces, and nephews. They stare
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