Harlem Poets and Writers

The Harlem Renaissance, otherwise known as the Great Migration, was a massive movement of African Americans from the Deep South to Harlem, New York. The movement began around 1890, shortly after the abolition of slavery in the United States. The installment of the Jim Crowe laws along with the uprising of numerous hate groups in the South encouraged many African American to relocate to the North. Many African Americans found themselves segregated into urban slums. The largest was Harlem. Many found that they shared similar experiences while being enslaved, and as a result, they embraced their heritage and a cultural eruption ensued. The result was the emergence of jazz music, ragtime music, writers, poets and actors, all of whom, for the first time, embraced their African American heritage.

Source: http://www.ushistory.org/us/46e.asp

                Claude McKay was born in Jamaica 1889. By 1912, he had already published a book of verses called the Songs of Jamaica. He then traveled to the United States where he attended both Tuskegee Institute and Kansas State University (“Claude McKay,” 1). McKay later wrote on issues concerning the political and social injustice that the African American population faced (“Claude McKay,” 1). He also wrote extensively about his homeland in Jamaica (“Claude McKay,1”). In the 1920s McKay traveled abroad to Russia and France to study communism (“Cladue McKay,” 1). In 1934, he returned to the United States and moved to Harlem, New York where he continued to write for the remainder of his life “Claude McKay,”1). McKay’s writing in the early years of the Harlem Renaissance helped to set the tone for many writers and poets of the great movement.

Source: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/25

               In the Tropics of New York, McKay is reminiscing about the beauty of his homeland. He longs to be under the blue skies and fruit trees of Jamaica once again. As he looks out the window, he realizes that New York is no paradise. It does not contain the vibrant colors and beautiful sounds of the tropics. The realization brings him to tears, for he does not hunger for the sweet fruit of the trees, but his homeland itself.

               In The Harlem Dancer, McKay begins by describing the lavish Harlem night clubs. The prostitute dances as young men watch and applaud. Though her job seems harsh, her voice is compared to a soft flute. He also adds a picnic day to his description, which is completely opposite of the night club. His other comparison is to a palm tree, “grown lovelier for passing through the storm.” This suggests that she is very strong as has most likely gained this strength due to the hardships of her job. The end of the poem brings a reality to the night club. The prostitute is objectified and is truly a victim.  

James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1871 (“James Weldon Johnson,” 1).  At a fairly young age, he attended Atlanta University and became a principal in Jacksonville for a few years (“James Weldon Johnson,” 1). He moved to New York in 1901 to work with his brother as a composer, where he became a songwriter for Broadway (“James Weldon Johnson,” 1). Soon thereafter, Johnson became a civil rights activist for the NAACP. He also acted as a diplomatic consul to both Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Source: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/72

In his novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, Johnson follows the life on an African American man who faces the issue of racial identity in the time of the Harlem Resonance. The description that Johnson gives of New York City is one which is beautiful on the surface, yet hidden beneath this beauty lies corruption and injustice. In this small excerpt, the narrator gives a detailed description of his first night in New York. He describes his experience at two different apartment clubs, which he tours with a group of young men. The first was a home that had been converted into a bar. It is here that the narrator has his first experience with gambling. He describes how he initially had no interests in the game, yet upon winning first game, he gained an intoxicating thrill from his actions. He described how such feelings were what led men to become addicted to the game. This inevitably led many men to lose all of their possession. He hints that, over time, he was consumed by this game as well. The second home the group visited had been converted into a night club. The narrator was elated with the idea of the glitz and glimmer of this New York lifestyle. The narrator spends a great deal of time discussing ragtime music, which was playing in the club. This form of music was novel at the time of the Renaissance. He describes the musicians as immensely talented, yet despite all of their talent, this genre was often ignored by many, especially the Caucasians. In Johnson’s words “The fact is, nothing great or enduring, especially in music, has ever sprung full-fledged and unprecedented from the brain of any master” (Johnson, 394).  In his final words, Johnson describes Harlem as having the same unrest as the ragtime music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFeF_yFtssk

Langston Hughes, a poet and playwright and writer of the Harlem Renaissance, was first recognized during this time. He was born in Joplin, Missouri, and eventually moved to Mexico with his father. At just thirteen, he moved to Illinois, to live with his mother who then settled in Cleveland, Ohio. He acquired many jobs, including an assistant cook, launderer, and busboy while studying in Columbia University in New York City. In 1924, he moved to Washington D.C. and wrote his first book of poetry called The Weary Blues. In Lincoln, Pennsylvania, he finished his college career and wrote his first novel, which won the Harmon Gold Medal for literature.

Source: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83

In one of his autobiographies, The Big Sea, Hughes provides a summary of his experience in this era and the distinction between blacks and whites at this time. He describes the shows, music, and African culture that were signature to Harlem, which, at the time, was a place untouched by tourists and the rest of society. Hughes then describes the impact the whites had on this culture. The white patronage at Harlem clubs was typically received happily by owners, but blacks did not feel they were welcome. According to Hughes, once the white tourists began to discover the night clubs, entertainment shifted to appeal to them, and African culture lost its authenticity. As he states, “The old magic of the woman and the piano and the night and the rhythm being one is gone,” (Hughes, 634). This was also true for writers, as they began to focus their literature on amusing white people. In order to avoid tourists, he spent weekends at house-rent parties, which were becoming very popular at the time. According to Hughes they were more amusing than any night club in town.

In addition to a changing Harlem society, Hughes describes how the Negro Renaissance was not as extravagant as it seemed, and people often had the wrong idea about it. The negroes themselves had not even heard of this renaissance. 

              

Discussion Questions:

1.      How does McKay’s poem, The Tropics of New York, imply what New York City may have looked like in reality? How does this contrast with the fantastic descriptions of New York during the Roaring Twenties?

2.      Is the prostitute the only victim in the night club? Who else may have been a victim?

3.      Johnson states, “The fact is, nothing great or enduring, especially in music, has ever sprung full-fledged and unprecedented from the brain of any master” (Johnson, 394). Do you think that Johnson is not only describing ragtime music, but the equality of African Americans during this time as well?

4.      Johnson describes New York City by stating, “She sits like a great witch at the gate of the country, showing her alluring white face and hiding her crooked hands and feet under the folds of her wide garments (Johnson, 487). What corruption could he possibly be referring to? How does this description relate to the mindset during the Harlem Renaissance?

5.      Hughes describes how “everything goes, one way or another.” The 20’s are gone and Harlem lost its unique charm when it became a commercial place for tourists. Does this still happen today? Where are some examples?

6.      How do the feelings the American Americans had towards the whites compare to today? Do you think that African Americans still believe that their cultural explosion was suppressed by Caucasians?