Lucy Dunn
‘ war on drugs ’ campaign in the 1980s by sending masses of disproportionately black men into prolonged periods of incarceration over minor offences , if any at all ( Alexander 2012 p4 ). Thus , in representing black suffering in her writing , Angelou effectively exposes and critiques institutionalised as well as societal racism , which categorically grounds her poem in the field of protest .
Angelou also critiques the intersectional burden for black women , who have endured patriarchal oppression while trying to safeguard the black community from white violence . ‘ Junkie Monkey Reel ’ uncovers the dilemma for black women to remain silent about their black male rapists to avoid perpetuating the ‘ black rapist ’ stereotype , which has long been used as ‘ justification for lynching black men ,’ as noted by Danielle L . McGuire ( 2011 xviii ). The oxymoronic imagery of ‘ murder ’ as a ‘ sweet romance ’ ( l . 19 ) in this poem illustrates Angelou ’ s criticism of deeprooted white mythologies around white women being rape victims of black men , highlighted by Angela Davis as ‘ fraudulent ’ and ‘ one of the most formidable artifices ’ of racism ( Davies 2019 p155 ). The narrator here satirically takes on the tone of the oppressor in criticism of this murder , calling it a ‘ romance ’ of protection given by white men to white women , as in reality , it is black women in need of protection . The struggle for black women is further evidenced by the ‘ pull of weighted needling ’ ( l . 2 ), transmitting to the reader violent imagery of a piercing force weighing on the victim . Through a metaphorical lens , ‘ needling ’ can be perceived
20 as forced penetration during rape , along with the ‘ pull ,’ or pressure , to remain silent about it . The consonance of ‘ l ’ is linguistically reflective of this silencing , as in phonetics , the tongue is known to almost close the mouth over when this sound is spoken . Furthermore , Angelou ’ s use of end-stopping after ‘ needling ’ signals a separation in the middle of this stanza , emphasising that black female rape victims are immediately prevented from speaking out . Robin E . Field also identifies that black women speaking out against black male rapists have been innately ‘ frowned upon .’ ( 2009 p151 ). Unlike the previous point that identifies silencing as physical , the silencing of black women in this instance is associated more with social pressure . It is emblematic of Angelou ’ s childhood ; she endured rape within her family home , suffering muteness due to guilt for her perpetrator ’ s murder . In this light , her poetry can be perceived as autobiographical ; in I know Why The Caged Bird Sings , for instance , Angelou notes that after Mr Freeman rapes her , ‘ I felt the wet … and my hips ’ were ‘ coming out of their sockets .’ ( 1969 p85 ). This experience is seemingly reflected in the next two lines of stanza one ; ‘ Arms drag , smacking wet in soft bone / Sockets ’ ( ll . 3-4 ). The enjambment between ‘ bone ’ and ‘ Sockets ’ imitates a pause , like a moment of silence , resembling Angelou ’ s own experience of muteness after her assault , a common trauma response for black female victims as an indirect consequence of racial stereotyping . Although critics like Lyman B . Hagen have insinuated that Angelou ’ s poetic tone is ‘ somewhat