Last Entry!

I think studying the Harlem Renaissance in the 21st century is necessary to understanding American history. It has to do with African American history and culture as well as their struggle and life style. Their strength and determination shines through the literature from the 1920’s as blacks searched for their identity and ways to improve their lives. Other influences from the Harlem Renaissance include music and dance. Clearly jazz music made impression in history as it led to other forms of musical expression such as hip hop and rap. I also find it interesting that there are still lindy hop dance competitions being held today! I never would have imagined an art form like that was still being practiced. That just goes to show the long lasting impact that African American artists had on today’s world.

Ending of Their Eyes Were Watching God

I have to admit I wasn't thrilled reading Their Eyes Were Watching God. It was especially difficult to understand the black vernacular and it took a while for me to actually get into the book. I think that point was when Janie and Tea Cake got together. The excitement and happiness of their relationship made the book more interesting for me.

I was happy when Janie found herself and true love with Tea Cake. After all that she had been through, growing up without her mother, loosing her grandmother and having been in two horrible marriages, I think Janie defiantly deserved it. However the one thing I can’t seem to get out of my mind is the way Tea Cake died. It was even heartbreaking for me to find out from the doctor that Tea Cake would not be able to pull through this illness and essentially get violent, possibly hurting Janie. After hearing that, I had a feeling that Tea Cake’s death was going to be a tragic and dramatic one. It didn’t surprise me that Hurston had Janie kill Tea Cake in the end. I say this only because Janie always seemed to have strength and courage to do what she felt was best (ex: leaving Logan for Joe without divorcing him), even though she was on a quest for her self identity. I think Hurston used Janie's character to display black women of this time period as courageous, powerful and beautiful (no matter what age).

Their Eyes Part 2

As I continued to read Their Eyes Were Watching God, I paid particular attention to a few of the themes that we discussed last class. I feel like Janie didn’t have a sense of identity when she was married to Logan or Joe (Jody). It seems like she was confined to the roles that women should play, especially while in Eatonville. Joe had such high expectations for Janie and she had to fulfill those shoes of the mayor’s wife for his sake. Janie must have felt inferior to her husband on a daily basis due to his strong influence and power he possessed as the mayor of Eatonville. One thing that stuck out to me was the continuous reference to Joe being a king figure. “You have tuh have power tuh free things and dat makes you lak uh king uh something” (58). Mrs. Tony also stated “Thank you, Mist’ Starks. You’re noble! You’se du most gentlemanfied man Ah ever did see. You’se uh king!” (73). I think that the town’s people admiration and need for Joe’s guidance, got to his head. He wanted everyone in town to look up to him and his wife so badly that he molded and controlled Janie to make her into his trophy wife. Everything had to be done his way, her hair had to be pulled back, she had to run the store, and she couldn’t think or speak for herself or women in general. At the end of their marriage Janie couldn’t contain herself anymore. On page seventy-five she spoke up for women and in return was told she was “too mouthy.” Janie’s emotions showed on page seventy-six. “The years took all the fight out of Janie’s face. For a while she thought it was gone from her soul. She was in a rut in the road. Plenty of life beneath the surface but it was kept beaten down by the wheels.” Clearly the wheels represented Joe and no matter how many times she tried, Janie couldn’t escape being held down by them. I don’t think she felt like she had won an argument until Joe’s final moments before he passed because at that point he was too weak to control Janie. She finally stood up for herself without being hushed by Joe and it seemed like she was celebrating his death and her freedom by taking her hair down and burning her ‘head rags’ after the funeral.

I feel like gradually Janie gathered the strength to speak up, take charge of her life, and find herself after Joe died. I think that one of the main themes of Their Eyes Were Watching God is about self identity and individuality, which can be linked to most of the other authors we have studied this far.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

What I found interesting about Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God was the way critics and other authors perceived this novel. I thought this would be a good topic for this week’s blog because we have been focusing on author’s writing styles and themes.

It’s amazing to me that books now, such as Their Eyes Were Watching God and Passing, are so highly praised and seen as such influential books from the Harlem Renaissance, even though they were criticized years ago. I always read the foreword to get a better sense of the author, book, and critics ideas of the book.

When this book was first published in 1937, Hurston was criticized for not depicting the true life of southern blacks. “Hurston made black southern life appear easygoing and carefree” (x). Years later she was noted for her writing and as “a woman on a quest for her own identity and, unlike so many other questing figures in black literature, her journey would take her, not away from, but deeper and deeper into black traditions” (xi).

Surprisingly in 1937 a white reviewer favored Hurston’s book, but “had difficulty believing that such a town as Eatonville, ‘inhabitated and governed entirely by Negroes,’ could be real.” This doesn’t surprise me because racist ideas and beliefs were still a huge part of society then. While some celebrated Hurston’s achievement, others disapproved of Their Eyes Were Watching God because it didn’t follow the way fictional literature was traditionally written, mainly black male critics. When I read this I was not surprised because it seems that people of the same race can be harsher when critiquing an author. We saw this with Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” where he disagrees with Cullen’s style of writing. He states that Cullen shouldn’t be a free poet and that he should stand up for his race. I think Hughes was over analyzing Cullen’s work and being extremely contradictory. He wants black writers to stand up for their race, but at the same time they should stand up for themselves and create new and different works of literature if they chose. I think this applies with Hurston as well, as black critics were harsher on her because she too was of the same racial background. I also think that her unique writing is one of the main reasons why she eventually received praise for Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Langston Hughes' Poems 11/12

Langston Hughes’ “A Song to a Negro Wash-woman” and “Song” stuck out at me this week. I found a similar connection between these two poems, the references to color and race that Hughes’ used. “A Song to a Negro Wash-woman” describes the type of work and long hours that African American working women endured. To me, it seems that Hughes’ used “white suds”, “Miss White Lady’s kitchen”, and “white clothes” to emphasize the power of the wealthy white class. This poem focuses on the hard work that black women did to get by and provide for their families ("I know how you send your children to school, and high-school, and even college. I know how you work and help your man when times are hard.") I think the lines, "And I've seen you singing, wash-woman. Out in the backyard garden under the apple trees, singing, hanging white clothes on long lines in the sun-shine. And I've seen you in church a Sunday morning singing, praising Jesus..." can also represent the purity that black women held and how religion helped them through the hard times. In the last stanza, Hughes' describes the wash-woman as a "singing little brown woman", "singing strong black woman", and the "singing tall yellow woman" with "arms deep in white suds." This stands out to me because I think the use of color, brown, black, and yellow highly contrast the woman's "arms deep in white suds." The wash-woman obviously works for whites because she has to, but there is still a strong sense of uplift to Hughes' poems as well.

I also found color references in the poem "Song" with the words dark, light, night, and brown. In the beginning Hughes' is talking about a black woman.

"Lovely, dark, and lonely one,
Bare your bosom to the sun.
Do not be afraid of light,
You who are a child of night."

I think dark represents the skin color of the woman, but also emphasizes the loneliness and hard life she has led. "Do not be afraid of light" could mean don't be afraid of whites or don't be afraid of life.

"Open wide your arms to life,
Whirl in the wind or pain and strife,
Face the wall with the dark closed gate,
Bear with bare, brown fists-
And wait."

Again, I believe Hughes' message is not to be afraid of life and the world. Although times are hard and fight back ("Beat with bare, brown fists" and wait for change.

Cullen Poems

As I read Countee Cullen’s “Heritage” it reminded me of Claude McKay’s poems. Stylistically I think they are similar in that they both are traditional writers, but the content of their poetry is also on a similar level. McKay and Cullen’s “Heritage” embrace their African roots and answer the question, “What is Africa to me?” (Cullen 24). However I think that the imagery of Cullen’s “Heritage” matches McKay’s “The Tropics of New York” in more ways. Cullen, although his writing is difficult to decipher, it is easy to see how his imagery links to Africa. He uses words like “jungle star,” “strong bronzed men,” “wild barbaric birds,” “jungle herds,” “great drums,” and “jungle boys and girls in love.” Similarly, McKay describes the fruit, colors, and landscape of Jamaica in great detail just like Cullen.

Negro Youth Speaks & The Best of The Brownies' Book

As we have recognized before, the writing pieces from the New Negro are full of hope and opportunities for African Americans to better themselves as a whole race. I have found this similar theme apparent through The Best of the Brownies’ Book. At first I had never heard of The Brownies’ Book and when I researched it, I found out it was a children’s magazine published by the NAACP in 1920-1921 (founders include WEB DuBois, Augustus Granville Dill, and Jessie Fauset). It gave a sense of racial uplift through folklore, stories, poems, letters, sketches, and photographs. “Dolly’s Dream” is an example of instilling racial pride in young children as the little girl determines that she does love her “cwinkly black curls” (43). It exposed children to racist stories but at the same time brought them hope for the future by successful stories. I think that’s the point of the column “Little People of the Month” (70). I think one of main goals of The Brownies’ Book is to motivate African American children to achieve more than their parents did, to especially take advantage of educational opportunities. “The Heritage” found on page thirty-four shows this idea as Mother Mason explains to Julie that she has it easy compared to her ancestors and “owes” it to them to complete her schooling. I think both the New Negro and The Brownies’ Book encourage African American’s to think and take a look at what they’re up against (reality), but that they can overcome this obstacle and prove to whites that they are a hardworking and intelligent race, capable of anything.

Passing

Passing by Nella Larsen is very similar to Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson due to the theme of passing. Both authors depict the positive and negative sides to passing. The narrator in Autobiography lived a pleasant and leisurely life while traveling Europe with his millionaire friend, but he felt he was missing something bigger than that. He was longing to find himself and where he belonged in society. Even after he decided to pass, marry a white woman and have children, he still felt lost and fearful of others finding out about his true identity. Larsen uses Clare to illustrate these same ideas, but down plays the fear. Irene shows more fear for Clare and her daughter Margery than anything. This just goes to show how selfish Clare is. She isn’t concerned about Margery or her husband and how her life would be ruined if anyone was to find out about her situation. It emphasizes Clare’s characteristics of being tough and “stepping always on the edge of danger” (pg. 4).

The difference I found between Larsen and Johnson’s novels is that Johnson’s character had a reason to pass, for his music career, while Clare didn’t. I think she just wanted to live the wealthy life and enjoy all the perks of it. At the same time Clare does express feelings of loneliness and missing her race especially when she invited herself to the Negro Welfare League dance. Her frequent visits after the NFL dance also support this idea.

The Gift of Laughter

I think the movie Ethnic Notions emphasized the situation of minstrels as discussed in Fauset’s “The Gift of Laughter.” It’s ironic how black actors had to blacken their faces to actually fit into the stage life. This idea is contrasting to Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man due to the fact that he decided to pass for white for he felt he would be limited as a black musician. I’m curious as to how other African Americans (who weren’t minstrels) felt about those such as Bert Williams who decided to be presented as the “funny man” of America. Blacks made jokes about themselves and gave into the racism, discrimination, and what whites wanted to see in the entertainment business.

From what I saw in Ethnic Notions, the acts that black minstrels played were degrading to all African Americans, but especially males. (due to the fact that black males played minstrels on stage) They made themselves look foolish and act as though the black race was a joke, which is how whites saw them instead of human beings. This reigns true for the ethnic caricatures that were displayed in cartoons and greeting cards during this time. Throughout slavery and the civil rights movement, blacks have felt inferior to the white race and these are just more examples of how they were degraded.

Cane: Selection 2

The second selection of short stories and poems from Cane seemed to be more abstract and more difficult to understand. However I noticed a few interesting details among the pieces. Toomer repeats the same words or phrases throughout his short stories to emphasize his ideas. In “Blood-Burning Moon”, he continues to make reference to the “evil face of the full moon” and how it is an “omen.” In “Rhobert”, he repeats that as a child Rhobert had rickets and now “he is way down, down.” Toomer describes “Avey” as a woman who uses men for their money and leaves them when it runs out. As a result the men are “sore.” The following phrase is also repeated, “The moon was brilliant. The air was sweet like clover. And every now and then, a salt tang, a stale drift of sea-weed.” Lastly in “Theater” the author I think foreshadows by continually saying “keep her loveliness and let her go.” It makes sense because at the end of the story, Dorris is embarrassed after she dances her heart out for John, but doesn’t seem to get anything back from him (“keep her loveliness and let her go”).

Toomer continues to look at the lives of African American women in the South. Each short story has a new woman and a different message to go along with it. I think that “Blood-Burning Moon” Toomer used the words “omen” and “evil face of the full moon” to symbolize what was going to happen that night between Tom, Bob, and the angry white mob. I wonder if Toomer used the moon to represent the white race and the racism and cruelty that they behold (evil). I wonder if I’m even interpreting this right. Any thoughts?

Cane: Section 1

I have to say that after reading the introduction to Cane, I am still confused on who Jean Toomer is. It didn’t focus on his childhood much and with that vital piece missing I could not get a good sense of who he was and where he came from. However, the introduction broke Cane down into three sections where each focused on a different topic. The first section as we can tell from reading, looks closely at the lives of various women and how their actions were opposite of what society thought was “right” or “moral.” For those who didn’t read the introduction (because it is three times as long as any other book’s introduction) I recommend taking a glance at it. Especially pages XXI – XXII because many of Toomer’s writings are described here as well as the topics associated with them.

The short stories of "Karintha", "Becky", "Carma", "Esther" all have to do with how society sees and reacts to each of these woman’s behaviors and situations. Although McKay’s poetry was filled with anger and his longing for a place to feel at home, I believe that a similar theme of loneliness, feelings of an outcast, and separation from both races can be detected in Cane. I paid especially close attention to "Becky" and how Toomer uses specific wording to continually reinforce the theme. He writes “her eyes were sunken…her eyes, harsh, vacant, staring” which I think is describing Becky’s initial reaction to her baby and what the town had to say about her (5). It seems as though she was in shock and feelings of emptiness and loneliness began to develop as her town looked down upon her and cast her out. Toomer continues by describing her new home as the “ground islandized between the road and railroad track” (5). Using the word “islandized” emphasizes Becky’s distance from the rest of the town. “Pushed up where a blue-sheen God with listless eyes could look at it” also indicates the lack of interest and enthusiasm that the towns people had for Becky and her children (5). The last thing I want to point out can be found on page seven where I believe Toomer wanted to reference religion and how God judges an individual. I gathered this from where Barlo “threw his Bible on the pile” where they believed Becky to be laying. Much of Toomer’s short stories in the first section have to do with judgement, society’s views of what is right and wrong, and how racism and prejudices come into play.

McKay Poetry Blog #1

In high school I used to HATE interrupting poetry, but I actually enjoyed the McKay poems. The White House on page twenty-nine waved extreme interested to me. The way I read it I thought of it as the African American’s journey through life and how they dealt with racism. In the first few lines, I believe McKay talks about the black race having the “door” of opportunity shut on them by the whites. They keep their composure and courage as they continue to walk down the hard road of life (“The pavement slabs burn loose beneath my feet”). McKay walks down a decent road where a “chafing savage” or an irritating and cruel white person lives. He seems to find strength or “superhuman power” to contain his anger. The last two lines where of most interest to me:

“Oh, I must keep my heart inviolate
Against the potent poison of your hate.”

I think the African Americans want to be undisturbed while they swallow their pride and try to be the bigger person in this situation of racism and oppression. They refuse to give up and even though the white people’s hearts are filled with hate, the blacks will not allow it to affect them.

First REAL Assignment

There are a few parts that I found intriguing throughout this section of the book. The first can be found on page ninety-two where the author talks about the use of the word “nigger.” He sounds very innocent in this passage because he is not used to the new people and new environment. His innocence shows through when he admits that he learned the use of “nigger” is absolutely prohibited to white men. I thought he would have known this considering he lived in Connecticut as a boy.

The second thing that caught my eye was on page 109 where he discusses the white woman and black man that came to the club together. At first I thought it was odd how surprised he seemed at seeing them together and as he states, “I never exactly enjoyed the sight.” After thinking about it I realized that seeing them together could bring back memories of his mother and father because they too were of different color. That could also spark painful memories of his childhood when he realized he was mulatto due to the fact that his mother was black and father was white.

First Assignment

Hey everyone, my name is Ashley. I am a junior at St. Rose, majoring in Early Childhood Education with a concentration in American Studies. I love photography, music, cooking and reading. I also enjoy volunteering and planning events for various causes and organizations, especially Invisible Children.