Warning: There is a Demand for Change The sixties, was a period of growth and development for many Black writers and artist. It was a period that allowed them to come together, and by doing so they formed what is known as the “Black Arts Movement “. This movement allowed the artist to free their minds, and to focus their attention on the struggles of their time. The Black Arts Movement’s focus was on Black people, the art had to have a purpose and its purpose had to be for the Black people*http://www.yahoo.com*. Poet, Haki R. Madhubuti, was one of the many artist involved in the Black Arts Movement. Like; Larry Neal, who felt that the artist is responsible to his people, to his community, and must give up the sense of Americanized (white) idea of the individual experience (Neal, Visions of a Liberated Future p.32). Madhubuti also felt that blacks must move away from this “ white “ way of thinking. His poem entitled, “ a poem to compliment other poems”, is a perfect example of how he felt that Blacks must change and Caruthers 2move away from the negative influences of Whites. In fact, the theme of the poem is all about changing your way of thinking. Throughout the poem the theme “ change “ is broken down into stages. The first stage is about changing for the better, the second stage is about the wrong changes that Blacks make, and the final stage is about changing Black America’s mentality. The first stage that is addressed is about changing for the better. The focus is on telling Blacks to change the course that their life is taking. He says, “ life if u were a match I wd light u into something beautiful. change. change. for the better into a realreal together thing. change, from a make believe nothing on cornmeal and water.change”(stanza 1-6). The first line is about making something of your life, and in order to this some changes must be made. The speaker addr...
