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After reading The White Card by Claudia Rankine, I knew I needed to check out Citizen. It is hailed as an essential text and one of the first poetry collections that stirred the pot back in 2014 when the Black Lives Matter movement was on the rise.

because white men can't
police their imagination
black men are dying

Written in a sharp and commanding tone, Claudia Rankine interrogates whiteness. By showcasing the constant micro-aggressions Black people face in life and the media, Claudia Rankine never fails to demand the attention of her white audience as well. I admire that quality of her work since more often than not (judging from what I have read) white people (oddly enough) are not held accountable. When discussing racism and race relations, most authors claim racism to be the problem of Black people only. They ask themselves why Black people are treated differently, how Black people behave in public spaces, what Black people encounter and face, what the history of Black people in any given country is. All of these are vital questions but more often than not, we forgot that racism is also the problem of white people.

Claudia Rankine demands answers: What did you just say? Did you really just say that? Did that really come out of your mouth? Why do you think it's okay for you to talk to me like that? Why don't you write about this? Why do you feel comfortable saying this to me?

Looking on the current events and the bullshit Black Americans have to endure on the daily, Claudia Rankine is angry in her portrayal of American society. She details Serena Williams' career and many of the instances she was unrightfully policed simply for being a dominating Black women on a tennis court. Surprisingly, she also references the black-blanc-beur (the French football team which is predominantly made up of Black and Arab players) and Zinedine Zidane's chestbutt on Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final in 2006. Athletes, artists, citizens ... pushed to their limits but having to hold their anger in because "this is how you are a citizen: Come on. Let it go. Move on."

Claudie Rankine refuses to let this go. She refuses to be silent and simply move on. I really appreciate this poetry collection (even though I would personally consider this as prose) for its bluntness. Claudie Rankine doesn't sugarcoat anything. However, in terms of the actual writing I have to say that I was somewhat underwhelmed. The passages in which she describes everyday racism are really quite sharp and brilliant, however, we also get many other interludes in which she tries to be overly lyrical, and these passages didn't work for me at all. I'm glad that Citizen exists and was able to start this conversation, but I'm also glad that since then other voices have joined the chorus, voices that simply put it better (like Don't Call Us Dead by Danez Smith, for instance).