2. Harlem Renaissance Project 2016  Background  Poetry, Art, Music Choices

3. America was at a turning point during the Roaring Twenties! Old versus New Farms to Cities Prohibition Backfired Stock Market Boomed New Rights for Women Radio & Movies Harlem Renaissance

4. Harlem is a section of New York City where many African American artists, musicians, and writers gathered in the 1920s. What is Harlem? The neighborhood became a center of black culture through music clubs, art galleries, and literary events.

5. When did the Harlem Renaissance happen? 1865 -End of Civil War -Lincoln Killed -13 th Amendment (End of Slavery) Reconstruction 1865-1877 Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 WW I 1914-1918 Great Migration Roaring Twenties 1920s Harlem Renaissance 1920s-1940 Great Depression 1930s WWII 1939-1945

6. What’s so special about the Harlem Renaissance? The Harlem Renaissance is important because African American art, music, and literature reflected life at the time for many Americans, black and white. It also laid the foundation for popular American culture from the 1920s until today.

7. How did the work of the Harlem Renaissance artists reflect the changes happening in America in the 1920s?

8. First, let’s hear some music… Bullets and Bayonets by John Philips Sousa It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing by Duke Ellington

9. Next, let’s look at some artwork… American Gothic – Grant Wood Street Life, Harlem – William H. Johnson

10. Other Paintings by William H. Johnson

11. Harlem Renaissance Poetry

12. A few words about words…

13. Harlem by Langston Hughes What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?

14. Southern Mansion by Arna Bontemps Poplars are standing there still as death and ghost of dead men meet their ladies walking two by two beneath the shade and standing on the marble steps. There is a sound of music echoing through the open door and in the field there is another sound tinkling in the cotton: chains of bondmen dragging on the ground. The years go back with an iron clank, a hand is on the gate, a dry leaf trembles on the wall. Ghost are walking. They have broken roses down and poplars stand there still as death...

15. The White House By Claude McKay Your door is shut against my tightened face, And I am sharp as steel with discontent; But I possess the courage and the grace To bear my anger proudly and unbent. The pavement slabs burn loose beneath my feet, A chafing savage, down the decent street; And passion rends my vitals as I pass, Where boldly shines your shuttered door of glass. Oh, I must search for wisdom every hour, Deep in my wrathful bosom and sore and raw, And find in it the superhuman power To hold me to the letter of your law! Oh, I must keep the heart inviolate Against the potent power of your hate.

16. The Negro by Langston Hughes I am a Negro: Black as the night is black, Black like the depths of my Africa. I’ve been a slave: Caesar told me to keep his door-steps clean. I brushed the boots of Washington. I’ve been a worker: Under my hand the pyramids arose. I made mortar for the Woolworth Building. Continued…

17. The Negro (continued) I’ve been a singer: All the way from Africa to Georgia I carried my sorrow songs. I made ragtime. I’ve been a victim: The Belgians cut off my hands in the Congo. They lynch me now in Texas. I am a Negro: Black as the night is black. Black like the depths of my Africa.

18. Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar I know what the caged bird feels, alas! When the sun is bright on the upland slopes; When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass, And the river flows like a stream of glass; When the first bird sings and the first bud opes, And the faint perfume from its chalice steals— I know what the caged bird feels! I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars; For he must fly back to his perch and cling When he fain would be on the bough a-swing; And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars And they pulse again with a keener sting— I know why he beats his wing! Continued…

19. Sympathy (continued) I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,— When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core, But a plea that upward to Heaven he flings— I know why the caged bird sings!

20. Merry-Go-Round by Langston Hughes Where is the Jim Crow section On this merry-go-round, Mister, cause I want to ride? Down South where I come from White and colored Can’t sit side by side Down South on the train There’s a Jim Crow car. On the bus, we’re put in the back- But there ain’t no back To a merry-go-round! Where’s the horse For a kid that’s black?

21. Any Human to Another by Countee Cullen The ills I sorrow at Not me alone Like an arrow, Pierce to the marrow, Through the fat And past the bone. Your grief and mine Must intertwine Like sea and river, Be fused and mingle, Diverse yet single, Forever and forever. Continued…

22. Any Human to Another (continued) Let no man be so proud And confident, To think he is allowed A little tent Pitched in a meadow Of sun and shadow All his little own. Joy may be shy, unique, Friendly to a few, Sorrow never scorned to speak To any who Were false or true. Your every grief Like a blade Shining and unsheathed Must strike me down. Of bitter aloes wreathed, My sorrow must be laid On your head like a crown.

23. Harlem Renaissance Artwork & Music

24. Aspiration (1936) Artist: Aaron Douglas

25. Music It Don’t Mean a Thing [instrumental plus incidental vocals] Recorded By: Duke Ellington & His Orchestra Ivie Anderson – Vocals It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing It don’t mean a thing, all you’ve got to do is sing It makes no difference if it’s sweet or hot Just keep that rhythm, give it everything you’ve got It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing

26. Couple in Raccoon Coats (1932) Artist: James Van Der Zee

27. St. Louis Blues Ella Fitzgerald Music I hate to see that evening sun go down Just because my baby, he has gone and left this town If I’m feelin’ tomorrow like I’m feelin’ today Feelin’ tomorrow like I’m feelin’ today I’m gonna’ pack my truck and make my getaway I went to the gypsy to have my fortune told She said “Ooo, baby, all you need is a whole lotta’ soul…”

28. FIRE!! Magazine Cover Artist: Aaron Douglas

29. Struttin’ with Some Barbecue Louis Armstrong Music

30. Three Folk Musicians (1967) Artist: Romare Bearden

31. A Night in Tunisia Ella Fitzgerald Music The moon is the same moon above you Aglow with its cool evening light But shining at night in Tunisia Never does it shine so bright The stars are aglow in the heavens But only the wise understand That shining at night in Tunisia They guide you through the desert sand…

32. Harlem at Night Artist: Winold Reiss

33. The Migration of the Negro, panel 50 Artist: Jacob Lawrence

34. Strange Fruit Billie Holiday Music Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees Pastoral scene of the gallant South The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh Then the sudden smell of burning flesh Here is fruit for the crows to pluck For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop Here is a strange and bitter crop

35. Georgia Landscape (ca. 1934-1935) Artist: Hale Woodruff

36. Tar Beach (1988) Artist: Faith Ringgold

37. Choose a Piece of Art or a Song that you feel strongly relates to the poem you selected.