Portrayal contributes to Perception

 In the poems written by Smith and Sanchez, readers are confronted with a clear theme: the need for social change.  However, both poems take different approaches in commenting on this issue, as "Dinosaurs in the Hood" focuses on portrayal in the media in acting on double-time, and "For Sweet Honey in the Rock" focuses on a more urgent form of double-time.  

Smith's poem develops the characteristics of an ideal movie--an ideal fictional, yet revolutionary cinematic narrative.  Like Sanchez' poem, which is more directly about a battleground, this film he describes is like a revolution: "where a cop car gets pooped on by a pterodactyl, a scene / where the corner store turns into a battle ground" (stanza 2).  Smith imagines a movie that "is not a vehicle for Will Smith and Sofia Vergara" (stanza 3), which suggests that it needs to be relatable and a social commentary on the social challenges/inequalities of minorities in society.  He also asserts that this "can't be a black movie," "can't be dismissed / because of its cast or its audience," "can't be a metaphor / for black people and extinction, and "can't be about race."  I gathered from this poem that perceiving challenging realities of double time truly depends on the portrayal and the discourse. 

Sanchez' poem also addresses this notion of developing a strategic discourse with her portrayal of double time.  She uses a battleground as the key image in the poem, but nonetheless maintains a hopeful tone.  She expresses a sense of urgency: "it is time to move us all into another country / time for freedom and racial and sexual justice..." (stanza 3), yet conveys positive images like "carrying life in my eyes," and "eyes delirious with grace."  Her positive tone brings people to understand her urgency and the prevalence of double time, as everyone's experience of time as different.  We are all connected, and because we experience the grand scheme of time together, she encourages, "come, sister, brother, to the battlefield...the rain forests...the hood...the abortion clinics...the prisons" (stanza 8).  Perception brings us close to experiencing the realities of double time, and in this poem specifically, Sanchez brings us to the battleground she describes, which exists within all these little areas mentioned in the eighth stanza.  Literature creates a perception within us through portrayal; thus, it is through the methods of portraying double time that interactive readers are able to understand and perceive it.

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