Sometimes, the best way to deal with serious truths is with a dash of humor and a splash of wit. That’s exactly what makes Checking Out Me History by John Agard such a memorable piece.
The poem unpacks issues of identity, erasure, and cultural pride — all while weaving a poetic rhythm that feels both powerful and playfully provocative.
In this post, we spotlight 80+ quotes from Checking Out Me History, full of biting commentary, sharp irony, and bold reflections. Some make you laugh, some make you think, and many do both at once.
Quotes Highlighting Historical Erasure
- “Dem tell me / Dem tell me / Wha dem want to tell me.”
- “Bandage up me eye with me own history / Blind me to me own identity.”
- “Dem tell me bout 1066 and all dat / Dem tell me bout Dick Whittington and he cat.”
- “Dem never tell me bout Mary Seacole.”
- “But now I checking out me own history / I carving out me identity.”
- “No dem never tell me bout Shaka de great Zulu.”
- “Blind me to my own identity — but still expect me to see clearly.”
- “I was taught the shape of kings’ crowns, not the strength of resistance.”
- “History is written by the winners — and edited by the ignorant.”
- “Apparently, Columbus discovered everything — except that people were already there.”
Sarcastic Takes on British Curriculum
- “Dem tell me bout Florence Nightingale and how she lamp light glowed / but not about the heat of battle Mary Seacole showed.”
- “Dem history books forgot page numbers with my people on them.”
- “Somehow, every lesson sounded like a royal wedding speech.”
- “No pirates, no poets, no queens of the Caribbean — just kings of cold.”
- “They served me history like bland porridge — tasteless and white.”
- “My textbooks skipped more pages than a lazy reader.”
- “Apparently, black history happens only in February.”
- “Shakespeare got chapters. Toussaint got a sentence.”
- “I know more about Henry VIII’s wives than any African queen.”
- “So many kings and queens — not one rebel with a cause.”
Quotes Embracing Cultural Identity
- “I carving out me identity.”
- “Toussaint / A slave / With vision / Lick back / Napoleon.”
- “Mary Seacole / From Jamaica / She travel far / To the Crimea.”
- “Shaka / De great Zulu / A man who survived / With spear and pride.”
- “Me history / Me own / Black / Brave / Bold.”
- “Dem tell me nothing / So I tell me self everything.”
- “I looked in their mirror / Saw nothing of me / So I built my own reflection.”
- “Identity is not gifted — it’s reclaimed.”
- “Culture is not just carnival — it’s courage, war, and wisdom.”
- “They gave me silence, so I filled it with rhythm and roots.”
Irony and Wordplay
- “Wha happen to de real heroes? / Get lost in translation?”
- “Their version of history came with a filter — grayscale and royal.”
- “I learned about Dick and his cat, but not my ancestors with claws of resistance.”
- “Apparently, history rhymes — but only if it’s European.”
- “They gave me timelines / I gave them back time bombs.”
- “I wrote my history on walls / They erased it with whiteout.”
- “For every king in their stories, I found a warrior in mine.”
- “Truth don’t rhyme with monarchy.”
- “Their history had medals / Mine had machetes.”
- “I sat in their classroom / But left with my culture.”
Bold Political Commentary
- “The system don’t forget — it just never cared to remember.”
- “I wasn’t erased / I was hidden — and now I speak in capitals.”
- “Erasure isn’t an accident / It’s a curriculum choice.”
- “Dem tell me who to praise / But I found who fought back.”
- “Their silence about black heroes was loud.”
- “The colonized must do the rewriting.”
- “History written in ink can’t drown out truth written in blood.”
- “Taught obedience / Learned resistance.”
- “A country that forgets its empire is one that repeats it.”
- “I studied their history / So I could rewrite mine.”
Empowerment Through Voice
- “I’m the narrator now — and I’m not asking permission.”
- “No more whispering my name through someone else’s story.”
- “I stand on the shoulders of those never mentioned.”
- “They told me to sit still / I decided to speak up.”
- “The pen is in my hand now — and it’s got rhythm.”
- “I’ve got history on my tongue and fire in my breath.”
- “You can’t mute a voice that’s been silenced too long.”
- “Poetry is protest when truth gets censored.”
- “Each stanza is a drumbeat of memory.”
- “They wrote textbooks — I’m writing legacies.”
Quotes That Mix Humor with Truth
- “Apparently, all my people did was wait for the 20th century to arrive.”
- “Their version of history skipped the good parts — and the true ones.”
- “Thanks for the Tudor facts — now where’s the revolution section?”
- “I was told about the Battle of Hastings like it was my family drama.”
- “They taught me where Churchill stood — never where Malcolm walked.”
- “Shakespeare spoke in verse / My ancestors spoke in fire.”
- “So many maps / Not enough stories.”
- “I knew more about British tea than Haitian blood.”
- “I was colonized in the classroom before I knew the word.”
- “Turns out, resistance isn’t taught — it’s inherited.”
Quotes from Poetic Imagery
- “Dem tell me bout Columbus and 1492 / But what about de ones he sailed over?”
- “Beacon of light / Florence Nightingale / But where was Mary Seacole’s flame?”
- “She heal / She brave / She born in de Caribbean sun.”
- “Lick back Napoleon / With vision / Toussaint rose.”
- “Freedom’s story whispered / Between the lines they left out.”
- “Me identity rise / Not from textbooks / But from tales untold.”
- “Dem words / Dem chains / Dem forget me name.”
- “I dig through silence / And found my history humming.”
- “My past ain’t lost — it’s just been hiding in verse.”
- “I read between the lines / And found resistance rhyming.”
Modern Reflections on the Poem’s Message
- “Still checking out me history — and still not in the curriculum.”
- “The poem ends / But the search for truth doesn’t.”
- “Today’s history class still needs a rewrite.”
- “John Agard wrote it in 2007 — and it still hits harder than most textbooks.”
- “One poem taught me more about identity than a decade of school.”
- “Every student deserves to see themselves in history.”
- “We’re still taught kings / not courage.”
- “His verses are loud / because our history was muted.”
- “This poem isn’t in the past — it’s a present protest.”
- “History is power — and we’re still checking out who’s missing.”
Conclusion
Checking Out Me History is more than poetry — it’s a poetic mic drop. With biting wit, lyrical defiance, and unapologetic clarity, John Agard flips the classroom narrative and demands that we look deeper, laugh louder, and question harder.
These quotes, packed with irony and edge, remind us that reclaiming identity isn’t just personal — it’s political.
Which quote made you pause, smile, or smirk? Share your favorites in the comments below, or drop your own take on rewriting history with humor and truth.
Pass this on to someone who still thinks Dick Whittington was the most important figure in world history — and don’t forget to come back anytime you need a poetic reality check with a side of sass.