The poem "The little Black Boy" by William Blake is about a black child telling the story of how he came to know his own identity and to know God. I chose this poem because it is talking about black discrimination by a different way, from a black child's point of view. The persona is an African child who has to come to terms with his own blackness.
             This poem contributes my anthology by adding a different point of view to the social issue "black discrimination". Also it doesn't talk about only discrimination but also about friendship and persona's love to his mother.
             Blake builds the poem on clear imagery of light and dark. The contrast in the first stanza between the child's black skin and his belief in the whiteness of his soul. This becomes a problem of self-understanding. He uses similes to show his statement, for example, "But I am black as if bereav'd of light." This simile shows us that persona is aware of his skin color but in his mind he thinks himself as a white child. This thought makes him to have a dilemma being a black but having a white soul. This poetic device makes the poem more effective because the whole poem is about "black and white" contrast and this specific simile shows us how the persona sees himself and examines himself with a different point of view. Also there is another simile which can support this statement "White as an angel is the English child". This poetic device implies that his soul is white as an English child's skin which can cover his blackness.
             The black boy internalizes his mother's lesson and applies it in his relationship with the outer world, specifically, Black shows us what happens when the boy applies it to his relationship with a white child. "and thus I say to little English boy. When I from black and he from white cloud free, and round the tent of God like lambs we joy."
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