'Million man March poem' was written by Maya Angelou, is one of her creations which talk about the anguish of the slave days and apartheid and set in 1938 USA. Here the main themes are suffering. Strength, unity and most importantly a revolution- to create a new order of equity.

“The night has been long,
The wound has been deep,
The pit has been dark,
And the walls have been steep.”

These lines have been repeated throughout the poem, to emphasize on the horrors of slavery. Note that here the poet is just remising in the past and has not witnessed it herself. Words like- “night-long, wound deep, pit dark and walls steep”, say that these very conditions have formed what is called identity of the African-Americans. These horrific memories define them. “badge of shame” the  term used by the poet throws light on the identity given to the African-Americans, because traditionally the color black was associated with various negative attributes.

“But today, voices of old spirit sound
Speak to us in words profound,
Across the years, across the centuries,
Across the oceans, and across the seas.
They say, draw near to one another,
Save your race.”

However, what we see here is that, instead of submitting to these unfavorable conditions, instead of accepting the identity and status given to them, the poet urges the African-Americans to rise above and beyond this. She asks them to redefine boundaries and meaning. Moreover she urges  a unified effort to surpass these unprogressive conditions. There is no better way to preserve one's identity accept redefine the various parameters. Care needs to be taken that she is not merely accepting the identity given to the African-Americans, but is emphasizing on an effort to surpass them.

“The hells we have lived through and live through still,
Have sharpened our senses and toughened our will.”

These lines celebrate the present identity formed by the colonial past and say that these very horrifying memories have made them thick skinned and hence now are more equipped to lead the revolution.

“Clap hands, call the spirits back from the ledge,” this line calls upon the African-Americans to use these harsh memories to their advantage and use it to draw strength. Here the memories are personifies as the ancestors.

Attention also needs to be paid to the orientalist assumptions, that underly slavery. The orientlist assumptions worked to legitimate and assert the supremacy of the colonizers. In fact orientalism had become an institution then, where its principles like the orient is strange and uncouth, and the concept race intertwined with colour and these very principles were made to legitimate, buying and selling of these African-Americans, like cattle.

Through the poem we can see the development of a major concept called 'negritude', where attempts are made to redefine 'blackness'. Even here the poet urges the people to rise above these demeaning interpretations and redefine what they are made of. Also that past is also glorified in the sense that it is being here used to draw strength. However, I notice some level of acceptance of the colonial past, but not celebrating it. But I don’t see any acceptance of the identity given to them

Therefore, form the above analysis, the concept called 'empire writes back' is also very clearly explained. Also that Fanons phases of the creation of a cultural identities can be traced in the poem-with unqualified assimilation ie learning the English ways, in this case the language English, to 'turning backwards' towards cultural history and finally reaching the final 'fighting phase' with the people using culture to draw strength to lead the revolution. Therefore the horrifying memories are here being then used to draw strength to surpass these very conditions.

The following is the link of the poem-

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/million-man-march-poem/