Filthy Negroes was a poem written in 1939 by Jacques Roumain written after his exile from Haiti. The poem was written to showcase the frustration that all minorities were dealing with during that time but Roumain of course spoke from the view of black people. It was like an ultimatum to those oppressing blacks that it would no longer be stood for. Yet, is also doubled as a call to action to black people to stand up and no longer take this sort of abuse any longer. Strong words are used to invoke anger in those who are dealing with being helpless and asks them how much longer will they choose to be powerless.

 

When The Tom-Tom Beats is a poem Roumain wrote in order to address the identity issues that mixed children have when it comes to the culture they should adopt. The poem uses great imagery to describe the need to embrace their black culture because Roumain believes that the counterpart is not as deep or as responsible for who they are. It could even be said that Roumain was trying to get those who have discarded their black identity to realize that they can never get rid of it and instead should embrace it.