The Black Panther's 10 Point Program in Jazz Poetry by Connor Guarnieri

     Black advocacy was present in many places in the BAM, and jazz poetry is no exception. Marked by its unconventional prose, its rhythmic tendencies, this form of art is very important in black culture. This form of poetry also sees its fair share of Black Power and Black Liberation ideals entrenched inside. In this post, I hope to show how the Black Panthers 10 point program is present in these poems, showing how popular this belief was at the time. 

One example of the ten point program being present in BAM poetry comes in the jazz poem a/coltrane/poem by Sonia Sanchez. In the poem, she quite bluntly talks about her anger about rich white men, such as the Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts, who seemingly ruin day to day life:

“YEH. U RIGHT THERE. YOU ROCKEFELLERS. MELLONS VANDERBILTS FORDS. Yeh. GITem. PUSHem/PUNCHem/STOMPem. THEN LIGHT A FIRE TO THEY pilgrim asses.”

Sonia Sanchez is expressing a hatred towards these oppressive figures in the way of jazz poetry. The constant switching of the capitalization of the words depicts this poem as almost a jazz solo by John Coltrane, and depicts what his music means to black people. His music itself is a protest, and Sonia Sanchez is honoring his legacy by making one last song. 

How does this poem relate to Black Power and Black Liberation? Well the first point of the “10 Point Program” written by Black Panthers, was “We Want Freedom. We Want Power To Determine The Destiny Of Our Black Community.”, and I feel that this is very appropriate for this poem. Earlier in the poem, Sonia mentions how these millionaires “HAVE KILLED” and “WILL CONTINUE TO KILL US WITH THEY CAPITALISM/18%/OWNERSHIP”. She is depicting exactly what the Black Panthers want to rid their community of. These millionaires, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Carnegie-Mellon, are destroying black communities with their power, and the Black Panthers wish to end it, they wish to lead their own community, not be owned by some millionaire. Sonia Sanchez expertly weaves jazz poetry with black liberation, and shows just how multifaceted the BAM can be.

Another example of a poem expressing Black Power can be found in How Long Has Tran Been Gone by Jayne Cortez. In this poem, Jayne shows the need to recognize black history and black artists, in the form of a memoriam for the late John Coltrane.

Near the beginning of the poem, Jayne writes: 

And the musicians that

write & play about you

a black brother groanin

a black sister moanin

& beautiful black children

ragged . . underfed laughin

not knowin

There are two examples of the 10 point program I could uncover in this stanza, one was the 5th point, which stated “We Want Education That Teaches Us Our True History And Our Role In The Present-Day Society.” This aligns with this stanza, and the main point of the poem itself. Jayne is frustrated that black musicians and historical figures are not getting the proper recognition by anyone in the black community. “Not knowin” refers to the kids growing up not knowing about black musicians that write about the black community, growing up ignorant of this fact. The second, more subtle point fits with the 10th and final point, “We Want Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice And Peace.” In the end of the stanza, she mentions the black children to be “ragged” and “underfed”. Jayne Cortez paints a picture of black children growing up malnourished, in food, clothing and shelter, but also malnourished in the ideas of black culture. This idea is expanded upon at the end of the poem, where Jayne boasts to:

Rip those dead white people off

your walls Black People

black people whose walls

should be a hall

A Black Hall Of Fame

so our children will know

will know & be proud

Proud to say I’m from Parker City—Coltrane City—Ornette City

Pharoah City living on Holiday street next to

James Brown park in the State of Malcolm

The idea of ripping down the dead white people is a perfect encapsulation of her point. Black people should not recognize dead white people in their history, as their history is unique to them. She claims that there should be a “Black Hall of Fame” to honor important black figures, as well as to educate children in their history.

This poem simultaneously exists as a tribute to Coltrane, but also a message from Black Power. Jayne rightfully believes that black children should be clothed, fed and sheltered, as well as educated on black figures that existed long before they were born. While seemingly not extreme, these are both points within the 10 point program written by Black Panthers, and depicted as such from the US government at the time. Jazz poetry is an excellent example of black advocacy, serving as both a tribute to a black created medium, but also a form of advocacy to their group.