"...the coloured man looked at everything through the prism of his relationship to society as a coloured man, ....bounded by his rights and his wrongs, it has to be wondered at that he has progressed so broadly as he has. The same may be said of the white man of the south...in this respect I consider the conditions of the whites more to be deplored than that of the blacks...a truly great people..that produced great historic Americans from Washington to Lincoln, now forced to use up its energies in a conflict as lamentable as it is violent.
The coloured people....cherish a sullen hatred for all white men...[but] the race has been a world influence; all the Indians between Alaska and Patagonia haven't done as much."
From Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man by James Weldon Johnson
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
More quotes form "Ex-Coloured Man"
"The main difficulty of the race question does not lie so much in the actual condition of the blacks as it does in the mental attitude of the whites..."
"The burden of the question is not that the whites are struggling to save 10 million despondent... people from sinking into ...poverty ...in their very midst, but that they are unwilling to open certain doors of opportunity and to accord certain treatment to 10 million aspiring... people."
"Every race and every nation should be judged by the best it has been able to produce, not by the worst."
From Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man by James Weldon Johnson
"The burden of the question is not that the whites are struggling to save 10 million despondent... people from sinking into ...poverty ...in their very midst, but that they are unwilling to open certain doors of opportunity and to accord certain treatment to 10 million aspiring... people."
"Every race and every nation should be judged by the best it has been able to produce, not by the worst."
From Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man by James Weldon Johnson
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Extracts from "Autobiogaphy of an Ex-Coloured Man"
First published anonymously in 1912, then later with James Weldon Johnson as author,
it is not, as the title suggests, an autobiography, but rather fiction fashioned as an autobiography which allows the author to talk about controversial subjects.
"Do you know, I don't object to anyone's having prejudices so long as those prejudices don't interfere with my personal liberty."
"can you name a single one of the great fundamental ..achievements which have raised man in the scale of civilization that may be credited to the Anglo-Saxon? The art of letters, of poetry, of music, of sculpture, of painting, of philosophy, of logic, of physics, of chemistry, the use of the metals, and the principles of mechanics, were all invented or discovered by darker....races. We [Anglo Saxons] may have carried many of these to ..perfection, but the foundation was laid by others. Do you know the only original contribution ...we can claim is what we have done in steam and electricity and in making implements of war more deadly?...we are a great race...but we ought to remember that we are standing on a pile of past races .... We are simply having our turn at the game, and we were a long time getting to it. After all, racial supremacy is merely a matter of dates in history."
it is not, as the title suggests, an autobiography, but rather fiction fashioned as an autobiography which allows the author to talk about controversial subjects.
"Do you know, I don't object to anyone's having prejudices so long as those prejudices don't interfere with my personal liberty."
"can you name a single one of the great fundamental ..achievements which have raised man in the scale of civilization that may be credited to the Anglo-Saxon? The art of letters, of poetry, of music, of sculpture, of painting, of philosophy, of logic, of physics, of chemistry, the use of the metals, and the principles of mechanics, were all invented or discovered by darker....races. We [Anglo Saxons] may have carried many of these to ..perfection, but the foundation was laid by others. Do you know the only original contribution ...we can claim is what we have done in steam and electricity and in making implements of war more deadly?...we are a great race...but we ought to remember that we are standing on a pile of past races .... We are simply having our turn at the game, and we were a long time getting to it. After all, racial supremacy is merely a matter of dates in history."
Friday, March 14, 2014
A Good Outline on Harlem Renaissance Leading to Civil Rights
The Harlem Renaissance laid the foundations for the Civil rights movements of the 1960s
1) unprecedented black creativity in the United States concentrated in one area
2) affirmation of black folklore and culture
3) emerging educated black middle class
4) One of the goals of the Harlem Renaissance was to form a new society to meet the needs of the distinct cultural identity and serve their interests
5) Points 1-4 began to break the stereotype of the uneducated rural black to one of an independent and confident professional
6) black soldiers who served in the World Wars saw the integration of the races, and the love of jazz musicand ragtime in other countries. This formed a model for change they desired in the US.
7) white audiences and publishers began to patronize and publish black talent.
8) Harlem quickly became a major attraction during prohibition leading to more white people appreciating black music and society.
9) The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People was formed in response to the continued (illegal) practice of lynching, and to race riots. The NAACP was established in 1909 by a group of 60 people, seven of whom were Black to protect rights guaranteed by the 13th,14th, and 15th amendments and ensure social, economic, political, and educational equality.
10) The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was the first union led by blacks organized in 1925. The first presidents and vice presidents became civil rights leaders and the union continued to play a significant role of eradicating segregation
10) the topic of civil rights had a forum, and people heard various thoughts on the matter through the voices of Marcus Garvey (who led a Back to Africa movement) W.E. B Dubois, Langston Hughes
11) Don't Buy Where You Can't Work movement of 1928 (after the depression) was one of the first attempts to use consumer pressure to gain economic quality
The differences were
1) Harlem Renaissance was in the North, Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was in the south
2) The goal of the Harlem Renaissance was a distinct society, even autonomy, maintained separately from the white society, but Civil Rights wanted integration
1) unprecedented black creativity in the United States concentrated in one area
2) affirmation of black folklore and culture
3) emerging educated black middle class
4) One of the goals of the Harlem Renaissance was to form a new society to meet the needs of the distinct cultural identity and serve their interests
5) Points 1-4 began to break the stereotype of the uneducated rural black to one of an independent and confident professional
6) black soldiers who served in the World Wars saw the integration of the races, and the love of jazz musicand ragtime in other countries. This formed a model for change they desired in the US.
7) white audiences and publishers began to patronize and publish black talent.
8) Harlem quickly became a major attraction during prohibition leading to more white people appreciating black music and society.
9) The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People was formed in response to the continued (illegal) practice of lynching, and to race riots. The NAACP was established in 1909 by a group of 60 people, seven of whom were Black to protect rights guaranteed by the 13th,14th, and 15th amendments and ensure social, economic, political, and educational equality.
10) The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was the first union led by blacks organized in 1925. The first presidents and vice presidents became civil rights leaders and the union continued to play a significant role of eradicating segregation
10) the topic of civil rights had a forum, and people heard various thoughts on the matter through the voices of Marcus Garvey (who led a Back to Africa movement) W.E. B Dubois, Langston Hughes
11) Don't Buy Where You Can't Work movement of 1928 (after the depression) was one of the first attempts to use consumer pressure to gain economic quality
The differences were
1) Harlem Renaissance was in the North, Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was in the south
2) The goal of the Harlem Renaissance was a distinct society, even autonomy, maintained separately from the white society, but Civil Rights wanted integration
Thursday, March 13, 2014
The Harlem Renaissance = Great Thinkers
An educated Black middle class began to emerge in the early 20th century, and not only in Harlem. A similar renaissance occurred in Chicago, and on the international community of Caribbeans and Africans in Paris. The explosion of creativity produced by highly productive artists and musicians in the early 20th Century is now referred to as the Harlem Renaissance. While Black theatre, dance, music, and all mediums of art , fascinated America who could not get enough of its irresistible jazz and ragtime, Harlem also produced great thinkers.
In 1925, Harvard University professor Alaine Locke, (sometimes called The Father of The Harlem Renaissance) argued that African Americans should shake off their past as slaves and embrace their unique culture.
Langston Hughes made us laugh with his witty writing, but also drew attention to the
"Other America" that Black Americans experienced.
His poems A Dream Deferred and I, Too, Sing America, are on every high high school curriculum.
Countee Cullen, and Sterling Brown (who wrote in both Standard English and Vernacular), turned their experiences into poetry. W.E B DuBois wrote about "twoness" the dilemma of being Black and American.
Claude McKay was born in Jamaica, travelled to Russia and London, and ended up in Harlem. He also wrote about the African experience in the Americas and his response to intense racial violence was to explore the philosophies of radical groups.
Booker T Washington was born in slavery and recounts in his autobiography Up From Slavery how remarkable it seemed to him that there was a time and place for eating, and sleeping, and not just as opportunity presented. His Tuskeegee Institute was highly organized, focusing on order and industry. He was criticized by some Black activists of his time who thought he should have been more radical in his call for social change, but his institute gave many free Black Americans an opportunity for education, most famously the Tuskeegee Airmen.
In 1925, Harvard University professor Alaine Locke, (sometimes called The Father of The Harlem Renaissance) argued that African Americans should shake off their past as slaves and embrace their unique culture.
Langston Hughes made us laugh with his witty writing, but also drew attention to the
"Other America" that Black Americans experienced.
His poems A Dream Deferred and I, Too, Sing America, are on every high high school curriculum.
Countee Cullen, and Sterling Brown (who wrote in both Standard English and Vernacular), turned their experiences into poetry. W.E B DuBois wrote about "twoness" the dilemma of being Black and American.
Claude McKay was born in Jamaica, travelled to Russia and London, and ended up in Harlem. He also wrote about the African experience in the Americas and his response to intense racial violence was to explore the philosophies of radical groups.
Booker T Washington was born in slavery and recounts in his autobiography Up From Slavery how remarkable it seemed to him that there was a time and place for eating, and sleeping, and not just as opportunity presented. His Tuskeegee Institute was highly organized, focusing on order and industry. He was criticized by some Black activists of his time who thought he should have been more radical in his call for social change, but his institute gave many free Black Americans an opportunity for education, most famously the Tuskeegee Airmen.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Harlem Renaissance Art is Great Art
The Harlem Renaissance is famous for
great artists
great music
great literature
I laughed so much when I discovered Langston Hughes book "The Best of Simple"
and also loved his poems.
I enjoyed Countee Cullens poems, when I found them in high school.
I didn't know anything about the Harlem Renaissance back then, I liked them because they were good.
These works are not famous because their authors are black, but because they are great literature.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, writer of "The Great Gatsby"
named the years between WW1 and WW2
The Jazz Age
because the whole world was in love with Jazz
Jazz players like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were so beloved that it caused the United States
to think hard about questions like:
"How can you love the music and be afraid of the great artists who play it?"
great artists
great music
great literature
I laughed so much when I discovered Langston Hughes book "The Best of Simple"
and also loved his poems.
I enjoyed Countee Cullens poems, when I found them in high school.
I didn't know anything about the Harlem Renaissance back then, I liked them because they were good.
These works are not famous because their authors are black, but because they are great literature.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, writer of "The Great Gatsby"
named the years between WW1 and WW2
The Jazz Age
because the whole world was in love with Jazz
Jazz players like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were so beloved that it caused the United States
to think hard about questions like:
"How can you love the music and be afraid of the great artists who play it?"
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
A Short Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance
You will remember the US Civil War ended in 1865,
and recently freed Black Americans looked for better opportunities,
to put it mildly.
In The Great Migration
thousands of Black Americans from
the Rural South moved to the Urban North
starting as early as the 1890s.
In addition to the devastation caused by the US Civil War
and Union General Sherman's devastating March to the Sea,
this great migration was accelerated by the Boll Weevil Blight
which ruined cotton crops in the 1890s, further depressing the economy of the Southern States.
Are you looking all this up?
The greatest influx of immigrants to the North was during the years 1910 to 1930
with many arriving in the Harlem neighbourhood of New York City.
Renovation projects in metropolitan New York pushed additional residents to Harlem.
(See? Everything is part of some kind of domino effect. That's why the subject of history is so complex.)
Anyway, this environment brought these great minds together and we still benefit from the tremendous artistic output by Black writers, poets and musicians
The decade of the 1920's was originally referred to as The New Negro Movement, but we now call it
The Harlem Renaissance
and recently freed Black Americans looked for better opportunities,
to put it mildly.
In The Great Migration
thousands of Black Americans from
the Rural South moved to the Urban North
starting as early as the 1890s.
In addition to the devastation caused by the US Civil War
and Union General Sherman's devastating March to the Sea,
this great migration was accelerated by the Boll Weevil Blight
which ruined cotton crops in the 1890s, further depressing the economy of the Southern States.
Are you looking all this up?
The greatest influx of immigrants to the North was during the years 1910 to 1930
with many arriving in the Harlem neighbourhood of New York City.
Renovation projects in metropolitan New York pushed additional residents to Harlem.
(See? Everything is part of some kind of domino effect. That's why the subject of history is so complex.)
Anyway, this environment brought these great minds together and we still benefit from the tremendous artistic output by Black writers, poets and musicians
The decade of the 1920's was originally referred to as The New Negro Movement, but we now call it
The Harlem Renaissance
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