Analysis Of The Poem Caucasia By Danzy Senna Essay

Caucasia written by Danzy Senna, is similar and yet different compared to Song of Solomon. In Caucasia, Birdie is a young bi-racial girl, in which she is the daughter of a black man and white woman. While Birdie appears and passes for white, she embraces her black identity even more so. Birdie is torn apart from those she loves, yet she undergoes a journey to find them. In Song of Solomon, there is an all black family- the Dead family, that struggles within itself and within an all black community. Milkman is born into a world that is divided between black and white. Throughout the novel he develops as a person with the help of a wise family member and his own experience. According to June Jordan, â€Å"Affirmation of Black values and lifestyle within the American context is, indeed, an act of protest.† (Notes Toward a Black Balancing of Love and Hatred, 47) Through affirmation of Black values and lifestyle, Caucasia and Song of Solomon show instances of Black protest in the f orm of Birdie’s and Milkman’s characters, their relationship to their black communities and family, and the adventures that they undergo to find answers. When Cole and her father leave Birdie, they leave her a box that her father had written â€Å"Negrobilia† on the side. Birdie holds this box very dear to her heart, adding to it as the novel progresses. This Negrobilia box represents and symbolizes Black values and lifestyle consisting of items that Birdie, her father and sister owned, and had used. The items in