The speaker represents a Black American poet experiencing contemporary America. Bound by western literary traditions, they use the rigid structure of the sonnet to express their reality and confront systemic racial injustice. Seeking to produce art in a society that often commodifies true experiences, the speaker assumes the persona of a crow inside a high school gym to illustrate their survival.

"You" is the unnamed addressee of the sonnet, referred to in the title as the past and future assassin. This entity shifts in meaning throughout the text, encompassing the reader, mainstream white America, and potentially an internal alter ego. They function as a passive observer watching the speaker from the bleachers, representing the perpetuation of systemic racial inequalities.