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Project by: Abigail Ahlers, Katy Binkowski, Davis Gilroy, Cameron Hill
Image from the Library of Congress
The late 1950s and most of the 1960s were obviously a very important in not just African American history but in the history of the United State as a whole. However, we feel as if, through our own interpretation of this poem, maybe some of the people in the black community did not believe that this “Civil Rights Movement” would help them in any way. We feel that the author of this poem Gwendolyn Brooks may have been one of these people. Through our interpretation, we believe Gwendolyn Brooks uses this poem and its speaker as a way to possibly make these feelings known without openly saying it.
In our opinion, Gwendolyn Brooks is speaking in a way that makes her opinion public without dragging the spirit of many of her fellow African Americans who truly believed in this movement, much like a friend who wants to support another but doesn’t truly believe what their friend is doing. Particularly in Chicago, where this poem is set, there is a lot of historical context that could have lead to Brooks having this stance on this movement. The way the black community was treated, young and old, and where many were forced to live could have made the most hopeful certain that the Civil Rights Movement would not help the community at all. The evidence we chose is going to support these claims. Some of the examples chosen, show children being schooled in parking lots because of the color of their skin, and another piece shows the living conditions for an average African American in Chicago around the time this poem was written. All of these examples could lead to even the most hopeful of the time to wonder if this could actually change.
Luckily today we know that the Civil Rights Movement was in large part a success; however, we want this project to be read not only as a member of today’s society, but we would also ask our readers to put themselves into the shoes of the many African American residents of Chicago in 1963. We want our readers to wonder if this new movement for civil rights is actually going improve their lives. Not only do we believe the possibility of Brooks being reserved about this movement, but we also believe that there were many others in the African American community who felt the same way and did not have the voice Brooks did. As a group we do not believe that Civil Rights Movement was not successful, we believe and find it very interesting that there is a possibility of many African Americans who did not wholeheartedly believe in this movement.
Concentrating on the title of the poem, “kitchenette building” (title). To better understand what a kitchenette is a definition taken from the Encyclopedia of Chicago, around 1916 in Chicago “a kitchenette featured “Pullman kitchens” and “Murphy in-a-door beds” to conserve space, and connoted efficiency and modernity” (Plotkin). This poem was written in the 1960s during the civil rights movement, which marked the end of segregation and hopefully would be a new beginning. Gwendolyn Brooks shows readers right from the beginning that this is not the case. The title of the poem, “kitchenette building,” is all lowercased (title). This gives readers a small, cramped sense and shows how people did not see African Americans as an important part of society. African Americans living in kitchenette buildings lived in horrible and filthy conditions. At first kitchenette buildings were supposed to be “single-family houses and houses meant for two and three families,” but this was not the case (Plotkin). The Encyclopedia of Chicago states “entire families occupied single rooms, sharing with other residents an inadequate number of bathrooms and kitchens, exceeding the plumbing capacity, and leading to a serious deterioration in sanitary conditions” (Plotkin). The picture provided depicts a kitchenette in use and is a prime example of the cramped living space that families had to deal with on a daily basis.
Image from: Charles White and the Black Chicago Renaissance
Post-Civil War America, especially in the South, was never a friendly place for the black communities that began to crop up during the times of slavery. This made the people who were called “things” (line 1) to want out of this situation. However, the situation they found themselves in was no better than the lives they lived in the southern states. They were less than human in the South by the choice of the white people living in the area, and they were less than human in the North because of basic necessities lacking in the areas they were forced to move to by racism. Unfortunately, Gwendolen Brooks says that these people are still being treated as animals more than 100 years after the end of the Civil War, and they still find it hard to be seen as people. While it was illegal to own slaves, most black people were still treated as slaves by most southern whites. In order to again free themselves from the racism that persisted in the south, many African Americans looked north to areas like Chicago and Detroit. This area would later be known as the “Black Belt”. However, these new areas were still very harsh on the now migrant black population they now held. Unfortunately, most of the areas, despite being large cities did not have the resources to support these migrants. In Chicago, according to Jim Crow Nostalgia: Reconstructing Race in Bronzeville, “The social service and welfare agencies that dotted the South Side did not have the financial or organizational capacity to service the more than 200,000 black migrants that came from the South between 1900 and 1930” (Boyd pg. 50). These large cities were supposed to be a safe haven for the newly freed people, but in reality, they were just a continuation of the misery they endured during the time of slavery. They very rarely had all the amenities that many of their white neighbors, and despite being welcomed with open arms by some, others did not want them there, and these migrants were forced to endure the same racist behavior they were trying to escape in the first place..
Image from: Vox
Information
-Abigail
When Gwendolyn Brooks mentions that they were the “involuntary plan” in the kitchenette building poem, she is talking about the African Americans in North America (line 1). The involuntary plan refers to the African Americans not having a choice to be segregated from the whites or to be mistreated in the 1960s. They have been judged since they have come to America. National Park Services says, “Declaration of Independence to condemn the institution of slavery that evolved after the first Africans landed involuntarily at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619.” (page 4). National Park Services explains how African Americans has been in an involuntary object since slavery, when they were forced to come to America and not by choice. The African Americans’ jobs were dictated by the, “Responding to charges that many blacks were the “last hired and first fired,” the Roosevelt administration instituted changes that enabled people of all races to obtain needed job training and employment.” (Salvatore 10). They were based on the Americans plan of employment and could not choose when they wanted to work. There are many time periods where African Americans were forced to do things by Americans that they did not ask to be a part of. An example of an event during the civil rights movement, is the Montgomery Bus Boycott, where African Americans were forced to sit in the back of the bus. They did not ask to be segregated from the whites.
Jim Crow Laws Photo By: Freddie Ra
The word Dream can mean a couple of things. It could be meant in a literal sense as a dream that you would dream at night or day dreaming. It could also refer to the American Dream. Since the speaker is referencing the civil rights movement the speaker could be referencing the American Dream. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the American Dream is “a happy way of living that is thought of by many Americans as something that can be achieved by anyone in the U.S. especially by working hard and becoming successful.” To the speaker of the poem they have surely heard of the American Dream and this sounds delightful. However, the speaker doesn’t have this life even though they have worked hard. When dreaming they see this life but they think that it will never come to fruition. As it is depicted in the poem it is very hopeless and the speaker does not see a way out of the situation.
Image: The American Dream Webquest
Despite being in the more progressive north of the United States, Chicago has been known to have a somewhat dark past when it comes to how its African American communities have been treated in the past. When Brooks writes the line “Yesterday’s garbage ripening in the hall” (line 6), one immediately thinks of the garbage can they have in their kitchen, bathroom, or anywhere else you may have to dispose of garbage. However, given the time the poem was written, 1963, and the place where the poem was set, Chicago, could there be another meaning behind such an important line in this poem? Unfortunately, given the circumstances of African Americans in Chicago in 1963 the answer to that question is of course there could be. In 1963, most of the schools in Chicago were terribly over populated and there were not enough classrooms to hold all of the extra students in each school. In response to this the superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools, Benjamin Willis decided it was time to act; however, instead of moving some of the African American students from their historically black high schools into historically white ones, he decided to keep the schools overcrowded, but to save some space in the schools he would place “aluminum mobile school units” – in other words, trailers” (63 Boycott) in the parking lot of schools. This trailers eventually became known as “Willis Wagons” named after the superintendent. These “Willis Wagons” were purposely placed by Willis to keep the black children segregated from the white children even longer. These children were treated like “Yesterday’s garbage ripening in the hall” (line 6). They were placed in hot trailers and forced to try to learn in what was essentially a garbage bin for learning. They were thrown into these trailers for several years, and instead of being allowed to just go to school with the white children, who in some cases went to school a block away from these trailers” they were forced to rot away in these “Willis Wagons”.
Image from: 63boycott.com
kitchenette building
We are things of dry hours and the involuntary plan,
Grayed in, and gray. “Dream” makes a giddy sound, not strong
Like “rent,” “feeding a wife,” “satisfying a man.”
But could a dream send up through onion fumes
Its white and violet, fight with fried potatoes
And yesterday’s garbage ripening in the hall,
Flutter, or sing an aria down these rooms
Even if we were willing to let it in,
Had time to warm it, keep it very clean,
Anticipate a message, let it begin?
We wonder. But not well! not for a minute!
Since Number Five is out of the bathroom now,
We think of lukewarm water, hope to get in it.
As mentioned before in a kitchenette building there is not much room and the kitchens are not very large as can be seen below. For a large family the size of the kitchen would not do well at all. And if the speaker were to take this dream in and warm it (in a literal sense) there would not be much room. Not only does this speak for the literal sense of taking care of it and not having enough room in their small apartments, it could also be a figurative translation of not having enough room in the head to focus, as the speaker alludes to in the beginning of the poem when they talk about having to worry about ““rent,” “feeding a wife,” “satisfying a man.”” (Brooks). There were many problems in tenement/kitchenette buildings during this time. Many had poor ventilation, leaky roofs and other health and structural problems with these buildings (Garb). To have to take care of and worry about another thing, would most likely have been too hard and not very conceivable for many families.
Image from Flashback photographs
Focusing on the words “Number Five” in Gwendolyn Brooks poem, “kitchenette building” (12). At the end of the poem, the author refers to an actual person as a number, which is very impersonal. These words make readers think that the person doesn’t matter because they are just a number (12). African Americans who lived in Kitchenette Buildings lived in very poor conditions and with multiple other families, often sharing living quarters. The “Bulletin of the Chicago Housing Authority” reports on two stories of "Eleven People Living in Two Rooms" and "Fourteen Families Share Toilets." Both stories reveal horrible conditions in which people and numerous families lived in. For example, in the story “Eleven People Living in Two Rooms,” "a family of 11 persons are living in two small rooms. Seven children sleep on a filthy cot and day bed in the room in which there are cooking facilities. The toilet is shared by two families, totaling fifteen people, and there is no provision for maintenance" (Bulletin of the Chicago Housing Authority). Not only do they live with many other families, but also "the house is infested with roaches" (Bulletin of the Chicago Housing Authority). This image/article shows readers that not only did African Americans live in such horrible conditions, but also how people thought of them…not important.
Image from: Bulletin of the Chicago Housing Authority
In the early 60s, of America, the kitchenette buildings did not have lukewarm water to bathe in or to wash your hands. When Brooks says, “We think of lukewarm water, hope to get in it,” is she saying that everyone dreamed that one day they would have lukewarm to bathe in (line 13). Alex Nitkin explains that in the sixties the apartment buildings in Chicago did not have any warm water. As he says that in his article, “back in the early '60s, you had slumlords operating all these big projects that didn't even have hot water.” (Alex Nitkin). These buildings were called “cold water flats”. During this time period, the slumlords that owned the kitchenette building were mainly whites. Only African Americans lived in these apartments, because it was all they could afford in the past. The owners of the buildings were primarily white so they did not pay the extra money for the apartments to have warm water. People she knew along with herself dreamed this, because in Chicago during the civil rights movement the African Americans did not have access to the warm water that the whites did. They had to heat water up by using the stove just to shower or take a bath. African Americans dreamed they did not have to do that anymore. They did this knowing only African Americans were living in the cold-water flats. Eventually, Gwendolyn and others’ hopes of lukewarm water became true.
The media our group chose was Prezi to present the poem. This aspect of our project is very important because our group chose to lead readers where to go. The order of our project is essential because it depicts Gwendolyn Brooks thought process throughout the whole poem. Prezi also allows us to show the annotations in a way that is like delving into the words. The background of our Prezi is a picture of a Kitchenette Building in which many African Americans lived in during the civil rights movement. This background is a continuous reminder of the time period. The kitchenette building photo showed clear windows, which we needed to showcase our information. We also liked the photo because not only was it the kitchenette building, it also showed a family that lived inside and helped to illustrate the idea of crowded areas. As you go through the slides we draw audience members into a window or a doorway as if they are in the poem, along for the ride. The windows and the doorway symbolize us zooming closer into the poem to show the audience the meaning of kitchenette building. It also helps to put the reader in a place where they can read the poem from another We put the critical introduction into the doorway as a way to enter the house like the readers about to enter the poem. The poem is in an upstairs window as a way to show that the reader is going throughout the house with the poem. For the rationale we chose to put it in another window to stay in the house and keep everything together. Finally, the bibliography is back near the beginning like you are leaving the house and are therefore done with the poem. The neon green font color does not symbolize anything but was the only color readers would be able to read on this type of background but comes to represent a deeper understanding of the word or phrase used in the poem. As readers click through, these highlighted words and phrases begin to unwind their meaning as audience member start to grasp the true meaning of Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem. Inside of each green word is our annotation. This helps to visually illustrate going deeper into the words.
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