Carla Guarino Minguillón

Final Paper

“Dear badge number.

What did I do wrong? be born? be black? meet you?” (Don’t call us dead, Danez Smith)

I wanted to begin this brief analysis with this very precise and necessary quote. Danez
Smith; the author, summarizes in this little sentence all the injustice that exists in the
United States regarding racism. Likewise, we can see how he openly says, "dear badge
number", referring to all the deaths in vain that the police have caused. And precisely,
that is what we are going to talk about in this final essay. Said author published a set of
poems called Don't call us dead in 2017, of which we will focus on one of the poems:
Summer, somewhere.

In the first place, when the reader begins the first verse, it can be intuited that it is not the
typical poem. Summer, somewhere is full of strength and metaphor. Likewise, it is worth
noting the way that Smith writes, since he uses many punctuation marks, begins the first
letter in lowercase, and uses short lines, as if the poem were being written by a child: “in
the air and stay there. boys become new moons, gum-dark on all sides, beg bruine” (Lines
3-4).

On the one hand, Smith's poem reminds us of all the injustices that have been committed
throughout history. Summer, somewhere tries to recreate a new life for all those black
people who have been killed, especially by the police. One such person was Emmett Till,
an African-American teenager who was killed and maimed for flirting with a white
woman. Michael Brown was gunned down by a federal police officer for no compelling
reason. Likewise, Smith in the poem recreates a new life for them, as I have already said
before. He carries out this idea by making it so that when they die and go to a new world,
they can change their name: "that man Sean named himself i do, i do" (Line 30). And the
truth is that a true story that many of us know is being commemorated; Sean Bell,
murdered by the New York police shortly before getting married, named himself "i do i
do". Furthermore, "that boy was Trayvon" (Line 29), refers to Trayvon Martin, a young boy
who was murdered. It is worth noting this young man from Florida since Smith refers to
him on different occasions in the poem. "We go out for sweets and come back" (Line 16),

referring to Martin. Let's remember that he was shot by the police, he was not even
carrying a gun or a knife, but he was carrying a bag of skittles since he had come out of
a convenience store. He went out to buy sweets and did not return.
 Carla Guarino Minguillón

After seeing multiple cases in which the police are involved, and are even the cause of
these injustices, I can understand the verse of line 12: "there's no language for officer or
law". From my point of view, this phrase makes me think that the police and the law are
there because it is mandatory. However, when these things happen, I do not feel protected
by them, quite the contrary, I fear them, and I do not want something like that for the
world. They do not know how to use the language, they refuse dialogue with black people,
and it seems that they will only treat straight white cis men correctly.

On the other hand, this poem plays both ways; between the real world (the world of the
living, where black men are killed), and the world of the dead (where they can have a
better life there). In the real world, they cannot live in peace, nor can they even die in
peace, because "history is what it is" (Line 7). Throughout history, we have been able to
contemplate how the black race has been discriminated against, simply because of its skin
color, as it happens with homosexuality and gender inequality. As it is written, I got the
cell count blues by Juncosa (page 58):

“certain lives will be highly protected, and the abrogation of their claims to sanctity will
be sufficient to mobilize the forces of war, while other lives will not find such fast and
furious support and will not even qualify as ‘grievable’”.

Makes it clear, once again, that the white man is the privileged one. Toni R. Juncosa
mentions James Baldwin because said novelist referred to the lives of African-Americans
as "insignificant" for society and institutional power during the second half of the 20th
century. Likewise, Juncosa sees the poetry of Danez Smith as a source of inspiration for
"racialized Americans”. Being direct: blacks and whites are equally racialized. However,
the difference is that the consequences are not the same in society for some as for others.

Finally, I think it's worth commenting on the video and lyrics of Childish Gambino's “This
is America”. It is a social critique. In the video, you can see black people dancing, and
singing, "because that's what they do well"; as if thinking like that is not stereotypical
racist thinking. But then, behind these things, we see guns, murder, death, chase, and
police. Also, at minute 2:26 it says, "This a celly", but the police thought it was a gun.
Always guns and drugs are in the hand of black people. It seems that if you are black, you
are already dead. Likewise, in the black community parents have "the talk" with their
children where they are told: “you are a black person living in America, and if you are
driving and the police stop you, do not move, the hands on the steering wheel, because if
 Carla Guarino Minguillón

not you are dead. Walking down the street do not put your hand in your pockets, always
the hands put in a way that the police can see them”. That a person, depending on their
race, has to live like this, is an atrocity.

In conclusion of this brief explanation about Danez Smith's poem Summer, somewhere
and some reference made, it is clear that the author through delicate, fresh, direct,
enveloping, sincere poetry, and at the same time, heartbreaking for the truths that he says,
reflect all the injustices caused by racism in the United States. Within this hell, Smith
dedicates the poems to the victims so they can have a better life elsewhere; so that their
death has not been in vain; so that they know that those who remain here are fighting for
their rights. At the end of the day, it is positive that they also make songs like "This is
America", or movies like "Get out" so that all the truth and atrocities that continue to
occur, even now, in the 21st century are visible. These messages are dedicated to those
who promote this racist movement and let them see that these inhumane behaviors are
being exterminated.
 Carla Guarino Minguillón

References

- Smith, D. (2017). Don’t call us dead. “Summer, somewhere”. (1-21)

- Juncosa, T. R. (2019). " I Got the Cell Count Blues:" Danez Smith, HIV, and the Legacy
of the Black Arts Movement. JAm It!(Journal of American Studies in Italy), (1-19)

- Gambino, C. (2018). This is America. YouTube video, uploaded by Donald Glover, 5.