Harlem Renaissance 2007

Studying the Harlem Renaissance today, so many years later, is important for the same reasons it's important to learn about anything in history. From the positive artistic influences that continue to inspire today to the remnants of the hatred the writers of the Harlem Renaissance addressed that are still present in our country.

Also, there are the brilliant works of literature that some of us in the class may have been familiar with prior to taking the class and others who were not. If discovering one writer, out of the various authors covered in class, whose work you truly enjoy was the result of this course, then that alone makes it worth it.

From this class I take a new understanding of some favorite writers and an awakening to works of writers I'd never heard of, but am very glad I did. My best to everyone, have a blessed holiday break.

Their Eyes Were Watching God continued...

Janie is finally asserting herself and not taking anyone's garbage anymore. There is a great deal of discussion of the "horizons" especially on page 89 in chapter 9. We are told of the hatred Janie has for her grandmother and how her mind has been manipulated and discouraged by her grandmother's words. As she has become a widow she wears black and tells off Ike Green for his advancements when he begins pressing her to get married.

What follows is an affair with Tea Cake which Janie stumbles into and she become jealous of him later on as he seems to have an affair with Nunkie. Janie confronts Tea Cake and is not satisfied until she presses him to speak ill of her.

There Eyes Were Watching God

I have seen the movie on which this book was based. I believe it was an Oprah's Book Club movie and Halle Berry played the leading role of Janie. I love reading the realistic dialect of the south. When writers go that extra mile for authenticity it says a lot about the story as a whole.

The story is based mainly around Janie, the judgment hanging over her head and the relationships with men she has. The family history and what happened with her mother is explained to her in a way that shows the lasting impact of atrocities visited upon a family and how she will still have to live it down.

The character of Joe tells Janie how she should be lucky that he trusts here when most men wouldn't if they knew who her parents were. The feelings of shame and inadequacy will most likely haunt her for many years.

I'm looking forward to seeing where her relations with these men ultimately take her.

Langston Hughes

If there is one book I held onto that I bought in college (and that's probably what it'll come down to) it's this. I've been looking forward to November for two reasons, Thanksgiving of course, but also because I could see in the syllabus that it was this month that we would finally get to Langston Hughes.

His words are what I think of when I think of the Harlem Renaissance. And while I am far from anything resembling an expert, he most certainly is and he makes you feel like you're standing by his side as he takes in these perceptions and transposes them into words.

Whether there are many lines or few it matters not. He conveys feelings and emotions and annoyances and general observations perfectly through his words and effortlessly connects you to them. "Summer Night" "Mother to Son" "Song." These are compelling images that put what he's talking about in your ears and your nostrils and right in front of your face.

He sings through his words. Just as much musical lyric as poetic his poems pull from multiple influences to create something that is fresh even these many years later. The heartbreaking "Drama for Winter Night (Fifth Avenue)" and "Prayer for a Winter Night" exhibit the plight of the poor and the compassion that lives on in hopelessness.

Perfection.

I'm enjoying these if you didn't notice.

Countee Cullen Poems

These first few Cullen poems show a great amount of religious conflict stirring within the writer. These are themes that can transcend any social or economic background. Crisis of faith and the loss of innocence.

The latter of the two coming within the short simple heart breaking "Incident" where a cheerful wide-eyed youth venturing to a new city is dealt the first cold hard stinging blow of an abomination of hate that will plague the youth for a lifetime.

In "Simon" and "Pagan Prayer" there is a longing for faith, but a distance that is yet to be overcome to achieve it. The honesty of "Prayer" in the uncertainty with which Cullen approaches Christianity is very moving. Cullen simultaneously lays bare the feelings of doubt in the faith with the feelings of admiration for those who follow the teachings of it. A truly evident conflict displayed with honesty resulting in some top notch poetic work.

The Best of the Brownies Book

It was nice to see more work from Fauset's pen this week. The "Spring Songs" were excellent children's fare that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. "The Runaway Kite" and "The Teasing Hoop" are excellent fantasy poems, with "Kite"'s description of the fairies using the kite to "sail for their fairy barks that patrol the seas." "Adventures On Roller Skates" is another fantastical concept that encourages children to dream of venturing to far away lands and use their imaginations in everyday games.

My favorite aspect of The Best of the Brownies Book was definitely the Br'er Rabbit stories by Julia Price Burrell. When I was a child my mother used to read me Br'er Rabbit stories from the Walt Disney company like "Br'er Rabbit and the Briar Patch." It was really cool to see where these stories originated from. They were great moral stories teaching sharing, cleverness and staying out of trouble.

Passing

This is an interesting story as we are now seeing the lives of two black women who live an affluent lifestyle different from the one we've seen lived by blacks of this era in other works from other authors. The familiar theme of passing for white when one truly knows them self to be black is an intriguing deception brought about with considerable ease by Claire and Irene. Claire especially, married to a white racist and having a child with him. The psychological effects this has on her are the most interesting to see, as she lives this lie day in and day out and longs to be with blacks once again and almost risks everything to be with other members of her race again. I'm looking forward to future developments.