Etheridge Knight is an African-American poet born in Mississippi. His serious involvement with poetry came after his imprisonment which was a result of a drug addiction which was a relief from pain because of an injury he received while serving in Korea war.
Knight described poetry as his resurrection, as his saving after being imprisoned. He used to dabble in poetry prior to that which was an added benefit for his writing. His poetry serves to represent the black arts which were highly negated in the western society at the time. Its main purpose is to show the truth meaning of art which is to unify instead of separate.
“For Malcolm, A Year After” is a poem in which Knight pays tribute to Malcolm X in which exclaims that the memory of him will not be lost. His poem “A Wasp Woman Visits a Black Junkie in Prison” serves the theme of unity where the woman of higher social standing visits a black drug-addict in prison and the man leaves the conversation walking softly indicating that it was a pleasant encounter despite the differences.
The main message Etheridge Knight conveyed in his poems is the message of bringing people together, to see pass the differences, a universal message of unity which has its place even today. He died in 1991.
