“This was the Coming” is undoubtedly one of the most impactful lines in Daniel Black's The Coming, especially because it captures everything the novel is dedicated to, namely “ the memory and celebration of African souls lost in the Atlantic Ocean”. This common theme of the novel is loosely based on a piece by Sonia Sanchez, in which Sanchez constantly repeats, "It was The Coming that was bad." What makes this idea intriguing is how a phrase open to interpretation like “next” can represent a historical period that changed West Africa and the Americas forever. The reader easily realizes that Black's language in this novel and the way it is organized is used in a powerful way that is not normally recognized in other historical fiction novels. Specifically, what stands out most in this work is Black's unique structure, combined with his engaging use of imagery and constant repetition; language plays a vital role in The Coming, and Black manipulates it in a way that makes this novel one of the most powerful narratives focusing on African lives through the Middle Passage. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first thing the reader notices about The Coming is Black's immediate use of collective pronouns and imagery. The novel begins with the words “We didn't know we wouldn't return” (1); Black begins the book by introducing how he refers to everyone in this novel as us, since he is an African American male who believes that this story resonates with all other African Americans because it is the story of how their whole life culture has changed in a matter of years. He also spends the first twenty or so pages constructing an authentic image of Africa that most readers are unaware of. For example, Black says that “We were warriors and hunters, poets and jali, farmers and soothsayers… We were lovers. And we were home. We loved the land and it loved us... We knew our strengths and weaknesses and we knew that we needed improvements so much. But we were home” (Nero 3). Black then lists some of the hundreds of tribes from which African Americans today descend, some are familiar to the general public while others are not so recognisable. This first section in particular provides so much new information about the lives of Africans before they were enslaved. Black gave an entirely new voice to a narrative that the general public thought they knew so well. This idea is very reminiscent of what Jacqueline Royster talks about in an article titled "When the First Voice You Hear Isn't Your Own." In this short testimony to the general public in an academic context, Royster writes about the importance of telling our stories without letting an authoritative voice dictate them. As for the creation of The Coming, most history programs dedicated to educating students in terms of slavery were not written or taught by people of African American descent, which is what Royster discourages in his article by pointing out that “we are always been happy to let voices other than our own speak authoritatively about our areas of expertise and about us” (Royster 11). It almost seems like Black's work in particular is tied to another statement made in Royster's work where he says, "It's time to speak for ourselves, in our own interests, in the interests of our work, and in the interests of our students". ” (Royster 11). Essentially, this is what Black does through language in The Coming; with such engaging and fluid imagery, he is able to tell a story that is often.