Harlem Renaissance

James Mercer Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He was an African-American poet, columnist, dramatist, and novelist. Hughes is known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance in New York City. With a complex ancestry, Langston Hughes’s paternal great-grandmothers were enslaved African-Americans and both of his paternal great-grandfathers were white slave owners in Kentucky. (Wagner 12) Mr. Hughes was raised by his grandmother, Mary Langston. (Wagner 14) His grandmother…

The famous author Langston Hughes, born James Mercer Langston Hughes, was one of the most influential writers during the Harlem Renaissance. The life of Langston Hughes has influenced many people throughout history and his story is still changing lives. Hughes is one of the most influential writers of the Harlem Renaissance and possibly of all time. He was the voice of many African American people at this time. Their voices were not being heard, so he spoke out for them; through songs, novels,…

121). This was especially talked about in the context (“I, Too.” 103). What made Langston special was his use of culture, and how he helped other people experience it through his poetry. Professional writer and scholar with a doctorate in English Renaissance Literature Sheri Karmoil says, “In his poetry, Langston Hughes is able to depict reality in such a way that readers emerge from their reading of his poetry with knowledge about a world they may not have directly experienced in their lives”…

within their poems. The two early twentieth century authors delve into their writings during the Harlem Renaissance. During this time, African Americans were facing difficult challenges of their African heritage while still wanting to be apart of and accepted in the predominately white society. Between the two authors, they shared a common goal of racial equality and also supplying the residents of Harlem, New York an awareness of African American’s everyday lives. In both of their poems, “Yet…

painful history yet rich culture of African American people during the Harlem Renaissance. The message of the poem can be seen in the last line when the speaker says, “he slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.” (35). This implies that the musician in the poem is so passionate towards his music that only his music labels him. What I mean is if the musician stops playing his music, he loses his identity. A facet of the Harlem Renaissance is the attempt by African Americans to identify what it…

The Harlem Dancer is a short poem that focuses on a woman’s beauty and a scene inside a bar. The title indicates that the location of the bar is in Harlem which was considered a common place during the Harlem Renaissance. McKay has also described the woman in this poem to be a young, black prostitute and he observes the impact that she has towards the crowd. After a while the speaker notices that the dancer is unhappy due to the lack of respect she is getting from the audience. He incorporates…

Black art thrived in the 1920’s during the Harlem Renaissance. Smooth jazz soothed the ears of a race trying to find a place in the world; vivid art displayed the vibrant and successful birth of black excellence in a society that crushed any evidence of black people transcending “barbarity”. Just as this renaissance was in decline, one of the most pivotal literary works materialized. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, depicts a woman searching for enlightenment and…

Claude McKay’s “If We Must Die” is a bold poem written during an eventful time for civil rights history, the Harlem Renaissance. During the Harlem Renaissance the African American community endured extreme racism and degradation. McKay wrote this poem with the intent to display his feelings as an immigrant who moved to America for a better life but instead was thrown into a situation where he was treated like an animal instead of a person. He chose to write this poem in the form of a…

Similar to kings’ beliefs on equality stood Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was an American poet and social activist whose poetic themes targeted African American Culture, furthermore bringing about his conurbations to the Harlem Renaissance. Two of his poems titled, “Harlem” and “Negro” Hughes uses several elements of poetry to portray the theme, such as similes, diction, imagery and tone. His theme goes to show when you give up on your dream, consequences may arise. Langston wants people to…

The Harlem Dancer by Claude McKay was written in 1922. It serves as a historic insight about the realities of African Americans culture that was meant to be used as a means of empowerment serving as entertainment for the white oppressors of the time. In the 1920s the music scene became a huge part of African American culture and a means of self-expression and empowerment for those in the community. With the rise of the Harlem renaissance there grew an appreciation or more so an infatuation with…