The lyrics challenged the traditions of poetry with their sensuous nature. Critics hailed the book, and Cullen's success helped to promote the work of his fellow African-American writers. Cullen also contributed to the Harlem Renaissance a sense of poetry as a tradition. That is, although his topics were often controversial, he wrote many of his poems in the form of the Shakespearean sonnet, and critics often discuss the influence of English Romantic poets, such as William Wordsworth and William Blake on his
The Harlem Renaissance was a series of African-American thought and cultures in the African American society formed in Harlem, New York city. The period that the Renaissance occurred was between the years 1920 and 1940. According to Bolland, cultural mediums such as dance, music, literature, politics, poem and theatre were used to achieve the objectives of the African-American. Rather than using the previous direct political means in conveying their message (2009). African-American artists and writers used the cultural approach in achieving their civil rights and goals in the society.
Other novels and autobiographies by McKay include Banjo (1929), Banana Bottom (1933); A Long Way from Home (1937), and Negro Metropolis (1940). McKay’s viewpoints and poetic achievement set the tone for the Harlem Renaissance and gained the deep respect of younger black poets, including Langston Hughes (Academy of American Poets). Another notable figure during the Harlem Renaissance was Countee Cullen. He was born in 1903 in Ney York City. In 1922, he entered New York University.
To start, Hughie lived in the townhouse right next door to mine, at 20 East 127th Street. During the Harlem Renaissance, life there had its goods and bad. It was generally cramped, thousands of African Americans migrated to New York's Harlem district, but there wasn't nearly enough room for them. But the reason so many people went was because Harlem was becoming a mecca for African American intellectualism and self-determination. People like Hughie and I, who came to express our interest in poetry, publish them, show our talent but most of all inspire others.
In essence, it revolutionized American culture and society to what it is today, perhaps one could argue forcefully that, had it not been for the Renaissance, America would not have a Black President today. This leads me to examine Langston Hughes posit that the common folk blacks held their own individuality within America’s standards even though there were those who doubted where they actually belong. Within the multiple readings we have been provided with relating to the topic of the Harlem Renaissance I found it necessary to mention first, ‘The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain by Langston Hughes’ who became legendary in the literary world, for possessing a passion for music and functioned as a medium by showcasing the importance of traditional black folk music. This text discusses the existence of the black artist, who wishes to be white, or at least wishes to be not considered black or wishes to be considered more American. However, by Langston Hughes, this notion was met with distain.
Several writers, including Hughes, Hurston, Larsen, and Toomer relied particularly on the rich folk tradition (oral culture, folktales, black dialect, jazz and blues composition) to create unique literary forms. Other writers, such as Cullen, McKay and Helene Johnson wrote within more conventional literary genres as a way to capture what they saw as the growing urbanity and sophistication of African Americans. The literature of the Harlem Renaissance, therefore, reflects the multiple ways that black experience in America was perceived and expressed in the first decades of the twentieth
2011). Through fiction, poetry, essays, music, theatre, sculpture, painting and illustration, participants in this first Black arts movement produced work that was both grounded in modernity and an engagement with African-American history, folk culture and memory. In the 1920s the African Americans culture arose and was viewed and accepted by many whites in America. Music was very important to society in this decade with Jazz music being the soundtrack of the decade. Jazz music was a combination of African American traditional styles (blues) with the ragtime beats.
Hughes cast off the influences of white poets and wrote with the rhythmic meter of blues and jazz. Claude McKay urged African Americans to stand up for their rights in his powerful verses. Jean Toomer wrote plays and short stories, and poems, to capture the spirit of his times. Book publishers soon took notice and patronized many of these talents. Zora Neale Hurston was noticed quickly with her moving novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.
If they moved here to be free, then why did the white race treat all of the black people so badly? To me, if the white people have a problem with another race in the United States, then they should move out of the country, instead of creating the turmoil that racism causes. Overall, the Harlem Renaissance was a very productive movement. It resulted in better education, employment opportunities, and chances in the performing arts for the African Americans living in the United States. Several blacks became famous for their poetry, novels, and music that they created during this time period.
Teal Chancellor Dr. Cynde Gregory English 1102, Section 40899 21 April 2012 The Harlem Renaissance Era In New York’s 1920’s, African American culture became redefined as the Harlem Renaissance. It exhibited a mixture of culture that flourished in the arts of music, dance, and poetry. New York Harlem neighborhoods came alive during an era of unequal justice for Negroes. Black cultural industrialized a movement recognized as "The New Negro Movement" and later called the Harlem Renaissance”. (Dorman).