History has witnessed cases of oppression featuring different minority groups. When they lacked a channel to air their grievances, they turned to poets of resistance. These writers could capture the mood of the oppressed and send shivers down the spines of oppressors. Their words rallied the masses behind liberation struggles.

Langston Hughes is a famous social activist and columnist who hailed from Joplin in Missouri. He is famous for leading the Harlem Renaissance from New York City. He has a list of over 15 poetry collections to his name. Among the most famous poems is I Look at the World where he regards the world of the blacks as fenced and thus rallies them to rise up and build the world they envision.

Women resistance poets are led by the famous voice of a performer, author and memoirist Maya Angelou. She was from Missouri as well and is among the most decorated social justice activists with over 50 honorary degrees. Caged Bird is a verse that narrates the differences in the lives of free and oppressed people. The verse captures the life of a caged bird that only sings and another that is free to pursue its dreams. The imagery used in this poem is so powerful, sending the message home in a memorable version.

Denise Levertov uses her bullet pen to criticize the war in Vietnam. In her words, this is an injustice against masses with no gain or winner. She is known for using different artistic writing forms to pass her protest message. Among them are news casts, diary entries and conversations. They are formatted in form of a conversation between two individuals. In Making Peace she calls upon people to pause and reflect on peace and what it means.

Claude McKay was born in Jamaica in 1889 and lived during the Harlem Renaissance. His ideology was largely communist though he claimed not to have been an official member of any such group. He was an accomplished author of poetry, fiction and non-fiction works. One of his most celebrated poems is IF We Must Die where he advocates for death but a noble death where one fights. He terms it as shameful to allow the enemy to celebrate your anguish.

Birmingham Alabama is the birth place of Margret Walker who having been born in 1915 went on to rise to prominence because of her participation in the African American Literary movement based in Chicago. For My People is a verse addressing comfortable slaves suffering under ungrateful masters. Her message is for them to rise and push for change in their situation.

Jane Hirshfield is viewed as clear and simplistic in her writing. She was part of the pioneer Princeton University lot that included the first female grandaunts. She made her mark with Let Them Not Say, a verse warning oppressors that the public is watching.

The beautiful pieces were not meant to drastically change humanity but to awaken the consciousness of masses. It jolted people to action and warned disports that the oppressed subjects were watching. There are more poets who resisted different scenarios and sort to awaken social consciousness through their verses.