Baca's Oppression

Oppression 

by Jimmy Santiago Baca 

Is a question of strength, 

of unshed tears, 

of being trampled under, 

and always, always, 

remembering you are human. 

Look deep to find the grains of hope and strength, 

and sing, my brothers and sisters, 

and sing. The sun will share 

your birthdays with you behind bars, 

the new spring grass 

like fiery spears will count your years, 

as you start into the next year; 

endure my brothers, endure my sisters.

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       Jimmy Santiago Baca, a prison inmate turn award-winning poet and writer, wrote a poem called "Oppression", it tells a story of how Baca held on to the little hope he had left while in prison. In this poem he says, "Look deep to find the grains of hope and strength...", the diction in this line helps the reader visualize how little hope there was left but somehow he finds the strength to go on. Within the walls of the prison, his sense of humanity is tested, Baca reminds himself "...always, always, remembering you are a human." Baca shows how he had to dig deep within his self to find even the tiniest grain of hope and strength. He also says, "The sun will share your birthdays with you behind bars, the new spring grass like fiery spears will count your years...", this stanza shows how ordinary things to free men, like the sun and blades of grass, become just another reminder to an inmate like Baca that they are trapped in cage of oppression. As the years of his sentence pass, the changing of the seasons just remind him how much time has really passed. His choice of comparisons and diction help the reader understand his state of mind. Although, only three sentences this poem sums up the emotions felt by Baca during this time in his life.