Ntozake, Hagedorn, and Histories

Shange and Hagedorn’s writings are similar, not just in style and in their use of language to
induce an experience for the reader, but in their criticisms of colonization and exertion of power,
which they highlight through the use of allusions to history. As a Filipina, Jessica Hagedorn, focuses
on the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. Similarly, Ntozake Shange, focuses on the ways in
which historical actions including slavery and colonization have impacted various Black
communities, globally. Through their allusions to history, the reader is able to gain an understanding
of the ways in which each work is indicative of actual physical experiences, but also the ways in
which the author expands on those experiences and delves into the impacts of those experiences on
individuals and their descendants, specifically the cultural impacts of those historical events.

In New World Core, Shange specifically alludes to the slave trade of the “new world” and
how that influenced and created new communities and cultures. She focuses on the slave ship and
physical journey of the slave, when she says, “we boarded ships/… on the atlantic side of nicaragua
costa rica”. However, she continues this exploration by noting the ways in which this slave trade
continues to impact the world. In her words, “locked in depths of seas our spirits”, she is noting the
loss of physical life along the slave trade, but also the loss of a connection to much of the culture
and history that was associated with various communities in Africa. Further, this can allude to a
common practice among slave traders when they practiced appendage removal. This often
symbolized a loss of spirit for African slaves who practiced religions native to many communities
throughout West Africa, in which they believed that body parts housed the soul. This was a specific
exertion of power that dehumanized African slaves and contributed to the creation of slave societies
within the so called “new world”. This historical allusion not only highlights historical realities, but
also their implications as it criticizes the transatlantic slave trade as a means of erasure of culture for
millions of people.

Hagedorn explores the colonization of the Philippines in Souvenirs, specifically by the
Spanish, in her examination by pointing out physical manifestations of their colonialism, but then
nods to the deeper association of those actions with the current culture within the Philippines and
Filipino communities. For instance, she mentions the “spanish missionary/who raped [her] great-
grandmother”, but then she complicates this story by adding, “i asked him if he was god”. Throughout the poem, she specifically highlights how Christianity, specifically Catholicism was used as a tool in Spanish colonization. In this specific point, however, she is seemingly mocking the Spanish religion and the Spanish who were going against their own religious teaching. She highlights the hypocrisy and twisted duality of a missionary raping her great-grandmother by equating his actions and his exertion of power over her grandmother to god. This not only showcases the story of her grandmother but echoes the larger power exertion associated with Spanish colonialism. This also
shows the ways in which Christianity and aspects of Spanish culture infiltrated generations of
Filipinos, which she exemplifies in the use of words like “sanctity n piety” and “the virgin mary”
throughout the poem, when she is focusing on modern Filipino people. This word choice and the
repetition of these words is purposeful and is meant to show the past and current implications of
Spanish colonization in the Philippines, and how it has shifted Filipino culture.