Checking Out Me History (CME)

Question 1

“Dem tell me

Dem tell me

Wha dem want to tell me”

Answer 1

• The speaker of the poem is introduced via their voice and dialect, repeating “dem” which refers to his white teachers, teaching him only what they want to teach him.
• This highlights how the colonial English curriculum was biased towards white history.

Question 2

“Bandage up me eye with me own history

Blind me to me own identity”

Answer 2

The speaker uses an extended metaphor of blinding to suggest how the education system covered up the history of colonised people, and the frustrated tone establishes the start of the speaker’s journey to find his own identity.

Question 3

“dem tell me bout Dick Whittington and he cat”

Answer 3

Each quatrain of the poem contrasts white historical figures or events with a black historical figure who is not covered in the curriculum.

Question 4

“Toussaint de beacon

of de Haitian Revolution”

Answer 4

The deliberate change of font highlights the difference between white and black history, and the metaphor of a beacon suggests that Toussaint illuminates the speaker’s true identity and history.

Question 5

“Dem tell me bout de man who discover de balloon

and de cow who jump over de moon

Dem tell me bout de dish run away with de spoon”

Answer 5

Agard juxtaposes references to simple childhood nursery rhymes with the compelling stories of powerful figures from Black history to show the cultural dominance of colonial education.

Question 6

“Dem tell me bout Lord Nelson and Waterloo

but dem never tell me bout Shaka de great Zulu

Dem tell me bout Columbus and 1492

but what happen to de Caribs and de Arawaks too”

Answer 6

• The repetition of “Dem tell me” illustrates the speaker’s frustration at being denied access to his history.
• The colonial control which has dominated his life is also reflected in the dominant stanzas in the poem.

Question 7

“a healing star

among the wounded

a yellow sunrise

to the dying”

Answer 7

Agard repeats the imagery of illumination and light in the descriptions of Mary Seacole, and the use of natural imagery suggests the longevity and power of these historical figures, like nature itself.

Question 8

“But now I checking out me own history

I carving out me identity”

Answer 8

• The speaker changes from “dem” to “I”, showing that he is now taking ownership of his own identity.
• The use of the present continuous “I carving” suggests that this is an ongoing process, which could still be both difficult and painful.