User:NadiaCarneiro1/Wayde Compton

Wayde Compton

Personal Life

Wayde Compton via Wikipedia visual editor.

Wayde Compton, born (1972) and raised in Vancouver, BC. is a Canadian author, University literature professor, and community activist. Compton is one of the most progressive and experimental poets in Canada publishing his own books of poetry called 49th Parallel Psalm, Performance Bond, After Canaan: Essays on Race, Writing, and Region, The Outer Harbour Stories, and Blueprint: Black British Columbian Literature and Orature. Recently, in November of 2020, Compton published his first graphic novel for kids called The Blue Road. He is also the first publisher in the Commodore books, the first Black-oriented press in Western Canada. Compton currently teaches and chairs the creative writing program at Douglas College and was the former director of the creative writing program at Simon Fraser University (SFU) Continuing Studies. Aside from his writing and teaching, Compton also participates in performing sound poetry with his duo partner Jasen De Couto. Together, they are known as The Contact Zone Crew. In 2002, Compton also co-founded the Hogan's Alley Memorial Project which he dedicated to organizing a public memory of Vancouver's historical black community.

In the recently published interview with Compton and his former University SFU, he speaks about his poetry as a fusion of language with contemporary black politics. Compton's poetry is inspired through the rhythm of Hip-Hip and Jazz as these genres of music originate from the African-American community and have been significantly used and reflected upon during historical movements such as the Black Power Movement and the marginal Civil Rights Movement. Compton believes that Hip-Hip has changed the world in which it mirrors the African-American voice and is used as a trademark tone to express the seething aggravation amongst the people. He also confronts facts such as globalization and the commodification of black culture and history to today's issues of political charge. Compton thrives on bringing awareness by highlighting the history of violence against racialized groups in Canada that extends off of slavery, exclusion, persecution, and objectification through his poetic writing and performing.

Compton has also been the finalist and nominee for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and the City of Vancouver Book Award.

Basic Summary of "Declaration of the Halfrican Nation" Poem

“Declaration of the Halfrican Nation” begins with Wayde Compton as the speaker in a reflective state. In the opening line of the poem Compton uses hazel as imagery to reference his skin tone and he claims the term to be too definitive. Definitions and labels are thoroughly rejected in this poem and an emphasis is placed on halfness. Compton proposes an inquiry to the audience, calling for a contemplation of the meaning of a half. He asks the audience if a window is half closed or half open, or if a black rose is natural. He follows these inquiries with the claim that a semi colon is only a gutless colon and that the outsides of coconuts function more as a skull and it is their insides that offer their goods. Compton makes a rather large point of compartmentalizing the concepts that he presents and the audience is encouraged to reflect on the negative connotations of labels, their definitive nature and their validity as a result.

The line, “what is britannia / to me?” is repeated throughout the poem and works to address racism in white culture media. In the same light, Compton highlights racial underrepresentation as well as improvements. Compton's idea of halfness is highlighted in the poem’s narrative when he says “black hippies; black punk rockers; / black goths with white masks literally” black goths and white masks suggest there is a co existing of both black and white in the same illustration. Compton then touches on what he calls race management where he criticizes the Canadian Government for gatekeeping race in the country where mixed ‘hard working’ people are welcomed but full black or full Asian people are given the cold shoulder. In the closing of the poem, Compton has a call to action to other mixed and brown people to share their stories and fight back against the labelling of their race that is placed into a set category. Compton does this because he truly embraces the duality of his race and refuses to conform it into a singular matter.

Background of "Declaration of the Halfrican Nation" Poem

“Declarartion of the Halfrican Nation” is a short free verse poem that was written in 2004 and is apart of Compton's poetry anthology entitled Performance Bond. Compton’s intentions while writing the poems in this anthology was to explore how race is constructed, experienced, and navigated in Canada, as well as how race is related to the Black Atlantic. The “Declarartion of the Halfrican Nation” makes reference to Compton’s cultural experience in Canada as a half white and half black individual.

Compton’s poems are written in the style of free verse. His hip hop and musical background allows him to have artistic freedom throughout his work. Most of Compton’s work has a focus on the Black Experience in Canada and “Declarartion of the Halfrican Nation” is no exception.

The poem is semi-biographical and examines the subject of living as a mixed-race individual. The method in which Compton inserts himself into the poem is through first person narrative. His use of words like “my”, “we”, “me”, and “I” demonstrate that Compton is the speaker.  Throughout the poem, Compton makes reference to his own life through both the interactions he has had with others and his personal experience as a biracial individual. There are multiple references to skin colour/ race throughout the poem. An example includes “friend said she’s white except/ for having his brown skin”. The poem serves as a way for Compton to voice how biracial people are treated, the racism faced due to being biracial, and the other possible difficulties they may endure.

Significance of "Declaration of the Halfrican Nation" Poem

"Declaration of the Halfrican Nation" is a free verse poem that Compton wrote on the history behind understanding race and multiculturalism. He focusses on the representation of Canadians, and points out through numerous ways how Canada hasn't reached a uniform definition of what being Canadian means. On this note, disregarding race as a whole is not a way to bring awareness on diversity within the country. Compton believes that race has become performative as opposed to authentic. Additionally, this attests to the fact that the intentions to get involved in conversation about race in Canada are not genuine, especially when it comes to higher powers. Compton makes a mention of Frantz Fanon. Fanon is a man that created an in depth analysis on antiblack racism, which led him to discover the lack of rationale behind the justification of racism. Compton lets readers know in "Declaration of the Halfrican Nation" that he feels like Fanon. It puts Compton in a position where he is viewing the world around him through a critical lens; specifically a lens similar to Fanon's.

Politics / Human Rights

There are references to the ill treatment of people of colour in history. Specifically, Compton is referring to the ongoing injustices that people of colour face. The conversation around the oppression of people of colour in Canada is an uncomfortable conversation that Canadian residents avoid talking about, but this poem highlights issues that people are trying to keep hidden. For instance, he mentions the Oka Crisis through the mention of "Oka" (line 41), which was a dispute between white Canadiens and the Indigenous population over land rights that is continually being ignored. The idea is to put emphasis on the fact that racist British influence is still prominent in Canada and because of that, it influences behaviours at institutional levels where they make the decisions for the people as a whole. Having racist leaders that have racist ideologies continues to be a barrier in the attempt to eradicate racial prejudice.

Identity

His diasporic lens aids him in understanding racism in Canada from a "white" point of view and a "black" point of view. He views hip-hop as this universal black voice that is recognized. Music brings people together, the significance of hip-hop is that it reaches into people's minds where they can truly start thinking about the message being shared through the poem. With "Declaration of the Halfrican Nation", the words create important imagery that helps in understanding the poem. Reading this poem is an experience. He includes many puns. One pun reads, "as we pass..." (line 16), which suggests that people that are biracial experience instances of white passing and black passing often; it is called passing in accordance to racial identity. It is an ideology in society that Compton asks readers to rethink. The ideology suggests that there are people that conceptualize identity on people's physical appearance solely, but Compton suggests that physical image does not determine a person's entire identity. Labels are given to people by society before the individual gets to explore themselves.