"Why is studying the Harlem Renaissance still worthwhile in the 21st century?"

I believe that studying the Harlem Renaissance is still worth while in the twenty-first century because it is so rich with history. Without the Harlem Renaissance a lot of influential and key talents would have never been discovered. For instance, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Toomer and Claude McKay probably would have never been discover if it weren't for the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance reminds us all of the struggle that many African Americans faced during this time period, and it proves how determination alone can be a powerful possession. However, through the struggles that many African Americans faced during this time period many of them were able to overcome their hardships by producing priceless works of art (poetry, painting, acting, etc.). It must also be said that without learning about the awful things that happened during this time period perhaps the struggles and horrific events that took place (lynchings) would still occur today. It is best to learn about these things so that history will not repeat itself.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

The conclusion of the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston took me by surprise. To begin with, I was completely shocked and confused when Tea Cake beat Janie. Obviously Tea Cake beat Janie to show his control and claim his domination over her. However, what struck me as bizarre was how Janie acted so passive about the situation. The entire beating, Janie did not say a word, she simply went along with it.

Throughout the novel Janie has been struggling to find her own voice. When she was with Jody, she never opened her mouth or spoke up for herself. Janie's silence with Jody symbolized his power and her weakness. As she quickly discovered with Tea Cake she was allowed to voice her own opinions and speak whenever she pleased. Perhaps this moment of silence from Janie signifies her strength, and her ability to sacrifice her own body to satisfy Tea Cakes need for power. It appears as if Janie was able to forget about the negative effects of domestic violence because she feels complete elation when she is with Tea Cake.

Although I understand how in love Janie is with Tea Cake I can not seem to get over how she could just brush this incident off. Personally, I can not even imagine how awful this must have been for her to go through. The entire act disgusts me. However, during the time this novel was written I suppose it was common for men to beat their wives.

Their Eyes Were Watching God- Chap. 6-15

Throughout chapters six through fifteen, Janie's life begins to change drastically. After her argument with Jody in chapter seven, Janie and Jody's relationship begins to slowly deteriorate. Not only does Jody move his things into a separate room in the house, but his health begins to collapse as well. Janie, on the other hand, has reached the point where she has lost all hope and begins to feel resentful toward Jody. Although both Janie and Jody seem to be complete opposites at this point in the novel, they both realize that they have constructed lives that haven't given them what they originally desired.

After Jody's death, Janie looks in the mirror and discovers that although she has aged, she is still a beautiful woman. "The young woman was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there(87)." From here until chapter fifteen Janie continues to live her life more freely, doing as she pleases. During this time of new found freedom, Janie meets a young man named Tea Cake, who seems to do everything to impress her and win her over. As Janie surrenders her true feelings and realizes how intense her love for Tea Cake truly is, Tea Cake wins Janie's love once and for all. "He could be a bee to a blossom-a pear tree blossom in the spring. He seemed to be crushing scent out of the world with his footsteps. Crushing aromatic herbs with every step he took. Spices hung about him. He was a glance from God (106)."

Although all seems to be going extremely well in Janie's life, I can't help but question if Tea Cake is in the relationship for something more than just Janie's love and affection. I suppose we will have to wait and see.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Already in the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston a lot of events have been described. In chapter one, the reader learns that Janie Starks, the main character, has returned back to her southern hometown. Janie explains to her friend Phoeby that after she discovered that she was not happy living in the Everglades with her spouse, "Tea Cake," she realized that it was time for her to go back home.

In chapter two, Janie begins to tell Phoeby a story of how she and her grandmother "Nanny" used to live in the backyard of the Washburns house (a white couple), and how the children at her school used to make fun of her for living in a white couple's backyard. Soon, Nanny buys land and a house because she believes that it will be better for Janie. As Janie begins to grow up, she lusts to kiss a boy, Johnny Taylor. When Nanny finds out what Janie has done, she informs Janie that she wants to see Janie get married to a middle-aged man named Logan Killicks. Nanny explains that she wants Janie to have protection, which she believes Killicks can supply. As Janie protests, Nanny tells Janie a story of how she too went through hardships in her life. Nanny then describes how she was raped by her master and became pregnant with Leafy, Janie's mother. When the wife of the master sees Leafy, immediately she realizes that the baby was a product of Nanny and her husband. The wife threatens Nanny and tells her that along with the beating Nanny will receive, when the baby turns one month old, she will send the baby away from the plantation. Scared, and determined to protect her child, Nanny wraps the child up and escapes into the swamps. A short time after the incident with the wife, Nanny begins to work with the Washburns and sends Leafy to school. However, at seventeen, Leafy is raped by her school teacher and becomes pregnant with Janie. Soon after Janie is born, Leafy vanishes and Nanny chooses to take care of Janie.

Although I have read chapters 1-5, there is too much information to write in this one blog. However, I believe that chapters one and two were perhaps the most important chapters so far in the novel. Both of these chapters set the stage for why Janie decided to return to her hometown (which is still unclear), and they include vital information that help the reader understand the following chapters.

As of now, I enjoy this book. However, the most difficult issue that I am being faced with while reading this novel is the dialect. I find the dialect forces me to ponder what I am actually reading. Even though this may be a good thing, at times it is frustrating because all I want to do is read and find out what happens. Instead when I come to the dialect parts in the novel I have to stop and read extremely slowly, or else I have to re-read the entire page (talk about annoying).

Langston Hughes

The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain is an intriguing piece of writing by Langston Hughes. This piece of writing was written with an internalized sense of equating culture with whiteness. Hughes describes how the "Negro middle class" are obsessed with whiteness, and how parents of this class are not teaching their children to see the beauty of the black race, "He is taught rather not to see it, or if he does, to be ashamed of it when it is not according to Caucasian patterns" (40). As the piece continues, Hughes outlines his own vision of what black poetry and art ought to be. Hughes states that black art should represent ordinary people with ordinary lives, explaining that these people are more creative since they are in touch with the artistic forms of the past (spirituals) and the present (jazz).

Reading some of Hughes' poetry in The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes it is evident that Hughes focuses a lot on jazz and rag-time with simple on the surface language. In Jazzonia, the land of jazz is described in a flowing, upbeat tempo. Throughout the poem repetition and variation are displayed ("Oh, Silver tree! Oh, shinning rivers of the soul!" L-1 and 2 "Oh singing tree! Oh, shining rivers of the soul!" L- 7 and 8). It is obvious that this poem was written with an experimental quality.

So far, I enjoy reading the poems by Langston Hughes. Not only are they simple to understand, but the idea that jazz and other musical styles are incorporated makes the poems easy to realte to. Being a jazz and blues listener myself, I enjoy reading the poetry that may have influenced songs created by musicians of this time period.

Countee Cullen

Cullen's poem "Heritage" reminded me of McKay's "Heritage." Both Cullen and McKay focus on Africa and the importance of Africa to their culture. However, Cullen's "Africa" is not portrayed as a place, rather a symbol. Cullen's description of Africa focuses primarily on an idealized land in which the Negro had once been happy and kingly. Although Cullen may not know what Africa truly is it is a poem related to the joy of a long-subdued African past.

As the narrator "listlessly" thumbs through a book about Africa, he becomes mused by a hidden snake that sloughs it's skin as naked lovers are concealed within the dampness of the rain forest. Suddenly, the speaker questions an ambiguously erotic impulse to slip back in time to Africa's past. The poem continues with the speaker in an imaginative state. Throughout the poem the speaker questions why one should ache for a land in which his ancestors left hundreds of years ago? As temptation is hinted upon throughout the poem, at the end the speaker becomes obsessed with "primal measures," an intense music that forces the body to nakedness and the feet to tread forbidden deprivation out of keeping with his Christian upbringing. As the speaker is confronted with a duplicity of identity and behavior ("With my mouth thus, in my heart Do I play a double part), the speaker realizes the danger of living a double life, especially if it makes one fiercely long for something.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this poem the most. Although I am not the best at deciphering poetry, this is what I got out of this particular poem.

The Best of the Brownies' Book

I really enjoyed reading this book. The pieces of writing in this book were lively and entertaining which allowed me to paint a vivid picture of what life was like for young African Americans in the twentieth century. The writing in this book addressed important issues for children that are still around today. It teaches children to respect and love everyone; that color should not matter. Since I am majoring in Childhood Education, this book would be an incredible book to have in my classroom to foster multiculturalism and diversity.

Many of the passages in this book had a range of issues that all children and young adults can relate to, such as dealing with parents and friends ("Turkey Drumsticks"), school work ("The Heritage"), and much more. This book also provides children and young adults with stories of African Americans who were influential during a time of slavery and struggle. For instance, "The Story of Harriet Tubman" provides the reader with an understanding that "The tributes to this woman whose charity embraced the whole human race, the slaveholders as well as the fugitives, were remarkable" (96). Through the biographies of historic African American figures, African American children are better able to comprehend their heritage and develop a sense of pride toward their race.

The variety of writing in this book was also intriguing how it addressed the intellects and spirits of African American children and young adults. Short stories are separated with fun poems about jumping rope (Salt! Vinegar! Mustard! Pepper!), and other games that children played during this time period (The Teasing Hoop, and The Runaway Kite). There are also sections devoted to "Little People of the Month," praising children for their heroic acts, "The Grown-Up's Corner," with letters and comments from parents, and "The Jury," featuring letters from young readers.

Overall, this book provides an accuracy of culturally centered images, stories and information about African Americans.

After reading the first seventy pages of Passing by Nella Larson, I could not help but think of how similar this book is to The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. The sense of not knowing your true self, as well as, a persistent sense of loneliness is evident throughout both novels. Perhaps it is best portrayed in Passing on page forty-six when Irene is at Clare's house for tea. Surrounded by women who are "passing" to be white, Irene begins to have "...a feeling of being outnumbered, a sense of aloneness, in her adherence to her own class and kind; not merely in the great thing of marriage, but in the whole pattern of her life as well." As the narrator in The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man continuously questions whether he should accept that he is "negro" or simply pass as a white man, Irene begins to question her life as well. Being in the presence of her passing friends, she discovers that she was the only one out of all of them that married a "negro," and had a dark child.

If this book is anything like The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, the questions penetrating Irene's mind will continue throughout the novel. I suppose we will have to wait and see.

Ethnic Notions

The film that we watched in class was based primarily around ethnic caricatures of African Americans. These specific caricatures depicted extremely hurtful stereotypes of blacks. Black women were portrayed as a "mammy" figure, who was viewed by the general public as fat, ugly and asexual. Talk about degrading! If I was in a black woman's shoes during this time period this image of ugliness would definitely make me feel useless. Not only were women portrayed as ugly, but men were stereotyped as irresponsible and stupid, while children were often compared to animals.

This film bothered me a lot. It boggles my mind to think that these images were used to justify slavery, lynchings, and other violent acts against blacks. Although many people are too ignorant to see the hate and racial hostility in a lot of these black caricatures, it is clear that the blacks were extremely dehumanized.

I really enjoyed reading the Jessie Fauset piece on "Mary Elizabeth." The way that the piece started out kept me intrigued to read more. When the narrator got into an argument with her husband, Roger, over her awful cooking ability for breakfast, I thought that Roger was a jerk. Roger knows that his wife is terrible when it comes to making breakfast food, yet he still insisted that she make him something. Obeying his request, the narrator cooked Roger some hot cakes and brewed some coffee. Of course, Roger took one bite then refused to eat anything else, then criticized her cooking and slammed the door on his way out. I thought that Roger's behavior was absolutely ridiculous, and the narrator had every right to be upset.

Although the narrator tried to cover up her red eyes from crying, Mary Elizabeth showed up, and immediately sensed that something was wrong. However, without saying a word, it was as if Mary Elizabeth knew exactly why the narrator was upset. Mary Elizabeth placed herself at the kitchen table and devoured what was left from breakfast. This calmed the narrator down, and allowed Mary Elizabeth to tell a story about her mother and father. The story Mary Elizabeth told was incredible. After twenty-six years, her mother and father found each other again (her father was sold down the river during the times of slavery), but did not get married. I feel as though by Mary Elizabeth sharing this story with the narrator it allowed the narrator to take a step back from the argument that she had earlier with her husband and realize that she does love him, and appreciate him. When the narrators husband got home he surprised her with a gift and then apologized after dinner. At this point in the story I was glad that Roger had apologized and realized that he was rude.

In general I really liked this piece of literature. However, I am just a little confused. I know that Mary Elizabeth is an elderly black woman, but what race is the narrator and her husband, and is Mary Elizabeth a friend or a house maid?

Although poetry is not my forte, I did not mind reading the book of Claude McKay Selected Poems. Throughout most of the poems that were read, imagery of lightness and darkness were emphasized continuously. However, the image of lightness was mainly portrayed in his poems that mentioned his homeland, such as "Home Thoughts" and "Tropics in New York." the darker images, on the other hand, related primarily to America ("Harlem Shadows"). Also in each poem written directly about America, and his experiences in America, McKay seems to keep a consistent tone of frustration. However, McKay's tone shifts dramatically to loneliness and even sadness when he becomes nostalgic toward his homeland. Both McKay's images, as well as, his shifts in tone made me question why Claude McKay decided to stay in America if he felt such intense feelings toward his beloved homeland. However, such extremes of lightness and darkness that were depicted in his poetry reveal that both images can be either positive or negative, but they are all very complex.

The end of the novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man aroused numerous emotions within me. To begin with, the conversation between the Texan and the old union soldier made me angry toward the Texans view point. It boggled my mind in reading that portion of the novel that someone, or anyone for that matter, could be so ignorant and ridiculous. When the old soldier came back with reliable facts to support his claim I could not help but smile. It is extremely appalling and sad that there was so much hatred in the South that eventually compiled to lead to lynching and other abuses toward the African American race.

The narrator decides once and for all that he is going to pass as white, but will not label himself as either or; that people can perceive him for what they view him as. With this decision the narrator finds himself back in New York City were he begins to live the "American dream."

However, with the life the narrator is pursing, I feel as though he is in conflict with himself over the prior decision he made to pass as white. It is as if he feels guilt for not declaring his African American heritage. I feel as though the narrator puts his own guilt at ease by laughing "...heartily over what struck me as the capital joke I was playing." I suppose this specific statement could also be viewed by the reader, or the Caucasian race in general, to be a slap in the face.

At the very end of the novel it is evident that the narrator is lonely and extremely disconnected. Even though it appeared that the narrator would eventually feel comfortable with who he is, he never discovered who he truly is, and in turn, never fully accepted himself. With him not being able to accept himself for what and who he is, it is remarkable to me that he was able to love another person (his deceased wife and his children).

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

In chapters six through nine in The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man the scene moves from Atlanta to New York City. Upon arriving in the City the narrator discovers the concept of gambling. Although gambling may be a fun pastime, the narrator chose to quit his job as a cigar maker and focus primarily on winning at the "crap tables."
So far in this novel, the narrator has convinced the reader that he definitely does not know what he wants in life, and at times, appears to be childish, weak, and extremely naive when making decisions.
However, it may be possible that these poor decisions being made by the narrator are essential for him to discover who he truly is. Without the poor decisions the narrator has made in New York City, perhaps he would have never discovered "rag-time music." This new discovery of music has encouraged the narrator to play music more, where he has "...developed into a remarkable player of rag-time; indeed, I had the name at that time of being the best rag-time player in New York (p.115)." In turn, the music "club" of which the narrator frequents, has allowed him to meet a variety of people.
Although there is a lot going on throughout the novel, it is bewildering as to why the narrator never refers to anyone by their names. Instead, the narrator simply labels them as "companion", "widow," "jockey" and many more. These specific labels the narrator has placed on the other characters throughout the novel makes the reader question if it has anything to do with his own personal struggle to label himself as white or black. It also brings into question why the narrator himself does not possess a name. One can only hope that these questions will be answered later on in the novel.

Let the blogging begin

Ciao fellow bloggers~
It appears as though it is time to begin the blogging, as well as, the assignments. Bare with me though, this is my first time setting up my own blog. Thank goodness it was easy as I am completely computer illiterate! As I stated in my title... Let the blogging begin!