Citizen: Initial Impression

               I will preface my initial reaction to Citizen with an understanding that my knowledge on the subject of the Black Lives Matter campaign has been tainted by media coverage and social media exposure.  That being said, my impression of Citizen as a work of protest was that of general confusion.  Perhaps the culmination of many genres was simply overwhelming to me because Claudia Rankine is obviously an esteemed poet and writer, but I found myself lost mid-poem; I caught the idea/topic/scenario but got confused among the syntax that I had to read some sections multiple times to no avail. She clearly knows the content and her writing has been clearly recognized as effective.  However, I was expecting more clarity.  I was anticipating arguments prefaced by precise titles and associated with related works of art that were explained with relevance to the protest.  Instead, I read what seemed like a long artistic script that ought to have been accompanied by an inspirational video.  I realize now that the vague “chapters” may incline the reader to follow up search to learn the background of the issue in particular.  The poetic pieces that I could comprehend whose subject I understood were enjoyable. I figured that the poem on page 112-113 is likely in reference to the unnecessary controversy surrounding President Obama as a citizen. Although I recognized the context of the poem regarding the head-butting issue that happened at the World Cup, I had a very difficult time dissecting the connection to Rankine’s protest.  I feel that the book makes the assumption that the audience knows the context and both appreciates and understands a very particular type of poetry.  I am curious as to who Rankine made this book for and who is accepting this as viable protest? The book portrays a sense of struggle paired with collective identity surrounding that idea, but I was not left with an impression to stand up to support the cause.  Protest is about urging change, but not always nor necessarily at the level of picking up a sign and shouting on the street corner; perhaps Rankine’s protest goal is simply to get her readers to consider their own role in racism.