Essex Hemphill

           On April 16, 1957, an unapologetic star was born by the name of Essex Hemphill. He would become known as a poet, essayist, editor and fearless, legendary activist for gay Black men. Throughout his poem, Conditions, Hemphill expressed his views on society’s judgment against women, the ideology of men, and how society neglects the feelings of women

          By Essex being a new fresh face and an influential writer, he quickly became an advocate for the LGBT community with provocative social commentary. Hemphill wrote about his life experiences which was overly relatable to various people across the country. According to the Washingtonpost.com “E. Ethelbert Miller, director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University, said that Hemphill’s words “put an end to silence” in the black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.”  Hemphill was fearless in what he spoke and wrote, and that is what people truly loved and respected him for the most.

According to the Poetry Foundation, “a poet and performer known for his political edge, Essex Hemphill openly addressed race, identity, sexuality, HIV/AIDS, and the family in his work, voicing issues central to the African American gay community.” He did not care about what society thought or had to say, he let what was on his mind be known. 

He wrote during the era of Modernism, which can be explained as a “ break with purely representational aesthetics, with the familiar functions of language and conventions of forms.” He wrote about the modern world, and how things were in his world. By him being a homosexual Black male in America, he started the shifts of social norms in my opinion because he went into spaces that were not thought to be created for him. According to the Washingtonpost.com, “back in the 1980s, the poet and activist would fill the District’s coffeehouses and artsy theaters for his readings. He was the unofficial voice of the city’s black gay community — lyrical, charismatic and fiercely political.”

  The poem that I am going to be dissecting is from Conditions. In our text it starts at the twenty-first stanza, so that is where I will begin. The twenty-first stanza of the poem is very powerful and I feel even more compassionate for Black women. In so many instances Black Women are judged because of what they choose to wear for daily; if she walks out in a short skirt, a see-through top, or a crop top, some men take that article of clothing as an invitation to treat her badly, because she “asked for it”.

So many times Black women are seen as angry, spiteful, bitter, and cruel. Yet no one ever really thinks deeply about why they are this way.  People just rather run with the “angry Black Woman” narrative without searching for reasons any different than what is on the surface. When she does not want to speak to a catcalling man on the street, she instantly turns from a desirable beautiful being to a lowlife tramp that does not even deserve to be called by her name.

Hemphill’s next line of the poem states, “ you judge a woman by the job she holds, by the number of children she’s had by the number of digits on her check; by the many men she may have lain with and wonder what jive murphy you’ll run her on time.” In just a few short robust words he explains how men think and how they dictate a woman’s worth by things but not by character. If a woman is a bartender, a dancer, or even a fast-food employee, a man may look down on her. Most of the women in these positions are seen as “hoes” or women who can’t really take care of themselves, not women who are just trying to make a living. The amount of money a woman makes determines just how much a man can control her, and in some instances, if she makes too much money than she is just removed from the picture altogether. If a man finds a woman who is constantly struggling from check to check to make ends meet, and he spends money to take her out, get her nails done, and get her hair done, he then has a certain level of control over her if she allows him to. A man is allowed to be promiscuous in society, it is even praised and glorified. At young ages, boys are even socially pressured into having sex, yet when it comes to a woman it is easy to slander her name if she is too young. It is so easy to call a woman a hoe, where, slut, or fast yet you rarely hear these words directed towards men.

Hemphill also stated, “you judge a woman by what she can do for you alone but there’s no need for slaves to have slaves.” I like this quote because it is important for relationships to have balance, in order for them to truly work. Susan B. Anthony once stated,” Independence is happiness.” This quote relates because if individuals in a relationship were independent, versus trying to constantly figure out how the other person can help or benefit them things would run smoother.       

Essex Hemphill died at the young age of 38 on November 4 , 1995, due to the autoimmune disease, AIDS.  He passed away before he meeting his full potential as a writer and artist. Washingtonpost.com states that he passed,”just a month before the approval of the very first protease inhibitors, a type of AIDS treatment that made a manageable disease out of what was once a death sentence.” He is an amazing writer,  and he is still being celebrated and researched today.