One of the most intriguing elements attached to Martin Espada’s “Another Nameless Prostitute Says the Man Is Innocent” is the fact that NPR refused to release the poem due to its subject matter. The poem centers around the story of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a journalist who was “…widely believed to have been framed in the death of a Philadelphia police officer because of his strong defense of the oppressed-particularly the MOVE group whose house was bombed 12 years ago by the Philadelphia police” (INFONEWSSERVICE). NPR seemed to think that it was too risky to release such a poem. They seemed to believe that it was too risky to take a certain side. On the other hand, Espada boldly wrote of the story in his poem and he seemed to have no fear in expressing certain experiences and perspectives that surrounded the entire topic. The poem screams elements of Whitman due to the fact that it unapologetically works with risky topics and also speaks from the perspective of figures outside of the poets own perspective. The poem speaks for a division we’ve seen in this class, a division between the poet and others and also a division between “normal” individuals and a larger group such as a media corporation. The poem harkens back to the ways in which Whitman spoke of human experience and the ways in which the “every-persons” experience shines.
The first stanza of the poem reads “The board-blinded windows knew what happened; the pavement sleepers of Philadelphia, groaning in their ghost-infested sleep, knew what happened…” (Espada). These first lines create a haunted atmosphere. The silent inanimate figures such as the windows watch and see. This idea of the atmosphere being “ghost-infested” already begins to paint a picture in which figures within Philadelphia, and in a greater sense America, are haunted by some sort of figure or past. We continue reading, “The nameless prostitutes know, hunched at the curb, their bare legs chilled. Their faces squinted to see that night, rouged with fading bruises. Now the faces fade” (Espada). These lines also speak to this haunted idea. The legs of the prostitutes chilled, their faces fading away, and their bruises fading away. As we move up to the final moments of the poem we see that it paints a picture of these individuals in Philadelphia who seem to be forgotten ghosts. Like the windows, their perspectives of these situations go unnoticed, they’re silent, and they fade away. Espada does an interesting job of speaking for these individuals. Even though Espada speaks in a way that might not fully and truly represent the thoughts and opinions of the prostitutes of Philadelphia, he speaks for them in a way that hopes to represent them in this scandal. Espada’s voice was not recognized, and he speaks for others who have not been recognized as well. These types of elements remind me of Whitman due to the fact that Espada is seeking to understand others perspectives and experiences. Espada is also trying to reach some sort of truth by exploring these different perspectives and experiences.
As we move through the poem we finally reach the points in which Espada speaks directly about Mumia Abu-Jamal. As he did earlier in the poem, Espada explores every factor he can by dissecting the different elements and factors attached to Abu-Jamal. He writes, “Mumia: the Panther beret, the thinking dreadlocks, dissident words that swarmed the microphone like a hive, sharing meals with people named Africa, singing out their names even after the police bombardment that charred their black bodies” (Espada). I think that the word “dissident” is essential in these first lines. Espada speaks of Abu-Jamal, admiring the way in which he keeps pushing despite the setbacks in front of his efforts. His words move like bees, questioning and upsetting a sort of authority figure. “The executioner’s needle would flush the poison down into Mumia’s writing hand so the fingers curl like a burned spider; his calm questioning mouth would grow numb, and everywhere radios sputter to silence, in his memory” (Espada). These lines express this idea of silencing. Mumia’s writing hand is destroyed, his mouth numbed, and silence is his final legacy. In these words Espada moves to the side of Mumia in the fact that he presents his figure as a “calm” questioner. One who’s voice is not able to be heard. His character moves into place with the others on the poem due to the fact that it is silenced.
It’s interesting to me that this poem was denied by NPR due to the fact that the whole poem seems to center around this idea of silencing. In the end there is slight hope in the fact that the “nameless” prostitute will testify, but at the same time, Espada highlights the fact that these nameless figures rise to the status of hero. Like Whitman, Espada speaks for experiences that he hasn’t necessarily had. Despite Whitman, I believe that Espada spoke for these individuals because they weren’t being listened to. He spoke so that their story could be heard. This poems raises nameless individuals to a higher status. It’s sad to read that this poem was silenced because Espada himself seemed to be talking about silence itself.
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