Sterling A Brown

James Weldon Johnson praised Sterling Brown's use of "racy dialect of the Negro in literature". Johnson found moree to praise of his poems than that of more traditional poems in the same volume. Brown established himself as one of the two major poets of the Harlem Renaissance.His rival was Langston Hughes. Brown was born in Washington D.C. in 1901. His father Sterling Nelson Brown was a personal friend of Frederick Douglass and Paul Laurence Dunbar. His father was a professor at Howard University. Sterling Brown graduated from Williams College and earned his master degree at Harvard. In 1929, Brown joined the faculty at Howard University. He had a strong passion for blues and jazz that influenced his poetry. He considered it an honor to teach at Howard University and stayed despite better offers form other universtities. In 1971, Howard awarded him an honorary doctorate. In 1975, he collected his second collection of verse, The Last Ride of Wild Bill and reprinted his first verse, Southern Road, now titled Eleven Narratives; Southern Road. Five years later, Michael S. Harper brought out the Collected Poems of Sterling A. Brown. Sterling A. Brown died i 1989. HE wrote a poem titled, Ma Rainey, which was about the famous blues singer Ma Rainey. It spoke of how she captivated an audience. When she came to town people from all over came to see her. They were very sad to see her go. Another poem that he wrote Sam Smiley, was a very dark and grim poem about a soldier named Sam Smiley was sent home after the war and finds out that his sweetheart is in jail awaiting to be executed for killing a rich white man's daughter. She was executed for this crime and Sam Smiley killd the rich white man. A mob came after Sam Smiley and ultimately Sam Smiley was lynched. Very sad poem indeed. Man was off fighting for his country and instead of being welcomed as a hero he was an outcast in a society that hated blacks.

Response to Stephanie Sowell's Post#13 Countee Cullen

First I love your site form the image down to the font of the text that you use. Countee Cullen is an interesting and very intelligent poet. He is best remembered for those lines that he said that Langston Hughes blew out of proportion but his works should be considered memorable also. He is not my favorite writer of this period (Claude McKay) but his works invite you to think about race. Although he did not want to b e considered a "black poet" his works told otherwise because of some of the topics he chose. My favorite poem by him is Yet How Do I Marvel because of how it tries to ponder the question of GOD's intention and works. This is my favorite poem by him. Yet How Do I Marvel could have been written in Their Eyes Were Watching GOD because of Janie's relationship and interest in GOD. Also it could have been placed in The Color Purple also.

Claude McKay

Claude McKay was often considered the first major poet of the Harlem Renaissance. Did more than any one else to develop trends to shape the movement. He was born September 15,1889 and died May 22, 1948. His poetry tackled subjects like bigotry and oppression. His works satisfied and inspired two major groups of black readers. His favorite poetic form of writing was the sonnet. I see why he went with the pen name of Claude McKay because his full name was Festus(?) Claudius McKay. He was the youngest of eleven children to Thomas and Ann Mckay, a Jamaican family. Thomas Mckay's father was a former slave so he tried to instilled in his children a suspicion of white people and he also tried to pass on to his children the customs and traditions of the Ashanti (West African tribe) from whom they are descended. With the help of Walter Jekyll, in 1912, McKay published 2 books of poetry, Songs of Jamaica and Constab Ballads. He received the medal of the Jamaican Institute of Arts and Sciences and a substantial cash award that he used to fund his education in America. He arrived at Tuskeegee Institute in 1912 but left 2 months after his arrival in frustration at the conditions there for blacks. He studied agricultural science at Kansas State College for 2 years before resuming his career as a writer. He left for Harlem. In Harlem he was befriended by famed poet Edwin Arlington Robinson and Jewish radical novelist and cultural critic Waldo Frank, two prominent white figures. Short story writer, Frank Harris also made an impression on McKay. His first break came in 1917 when Frank published two of his sonnets, The Harlem Dancer and Invocation in the Dec. issue of The Seven Arts. In 1919, he traveled to England where he met George Bernard Shaw. After his return to America in 1921, he contributed some works of his to Garvey's Negro World. In 1922 he published Harlem Shadows, which inaugarated the Harlem Renaissance. He stated that he created the book out of an urge to place the militant If We Must Die inside of a book. In 1928, his novel, Home to Harlem became a best seller (the first for an African American writer). This novel brought him into dispute with Dubois whom hated its depiction of the seedier side of Harlem. In 1934, he returned to Harlem after 12 years abroad in Europe and North Africa. McKay died in 1948. I enjoyed his works and creativity because he simply told the stories that no one else wanted to tell or deemed unsellable. McKay didn't care about selling copies, he remained true to his artistic self.

Response to Nakisha Gibbs 2/26/09 Blog Post

You gave a good explanation of youjr poems in this post especially the Negro Speaks of Rivers. I love the way your blog site is set up with the different pics throughout the page. I love the way the book, The Big Sea gives an explanation of why he wrote the poems that he wrote and what was the inspiration behind them. The book, The Big Sea helps to appreciate Hughes' genius and impresses me for his skills as a writer. I love the way you place pics in your blog posts to help explain your posts. You have a beautiful site.

Response to Regina Simmons Post

I agree with you Regina. This book was very interesting and fascinating of how Hughes traveled the world visiting all of these different places but he left you wanting for more. His adventures were exciting but again the details were very sketchy. His relationship with Mary was clouded in mystery. I also would have liked to see what his relationship with the Russian dancer was about.He wrote a second autobiography and I would like to see if he was more detailed oriented in this one. You blog post was very good.

Countee Cullen

Countee Cullen, an interesting artist died at an early age but accomplished some feats during his brief career. He was born 1903 and died 1946. He was born to Elizabeth Lucas in Louisville, KY. Was raised by his paternal grandmother. He shied away form being labeled a racial writer. He was closely corresponded with Alain Locke's New Negro.Graduated Phi Beta Kappa and began working in his master's degree at Harvard. R2eceived Harmon Literary Award for the poetry anthology,Caroling Dusk. Yet Do I Marvel is a poem that voices doubt and confusion about the relationship between GOD and man and about the speaker's place world. This poem creates a metaphor when he suggests that huamns mirror the image of GOD. The poem, Heritage, speaks of what Africa means to the writer, Countee Cullen.This poem is very difficult to understand because of its use of so many metaphors. Incident is a poem about how racism leaves a permanent stain and imprint on African Americans especially the young.

The Big Sea

Langston Hughes' autobiography, The Big Sea is a book that seems to be getting interesting the more you read it and makes me take back some earlier statements I said about Langston Hughes' sexuality and lifestyle. It would be very exciting to just be able to go to Europe and imagine yourself in a place like France where there is so much art, literature, and cultural to absorb. I have met some French people before and at first sight they appear to have homosexual tendencies but aren't, that is just the way they act. Hughes' is being educated further after high school by going to these places because they give him the background information and creative inspiration for some of his great literary works that he later creates. A dream of mine is to visit Europe and in a few years I plan on doing so. Unlike Hughes I have responsibilities that don't enable me to just leave on the next flight to France. Langston Hughes is an adventurer that should be greatly admired because he takes life by the horns and experiences things that some of us can only dream of. He lives his life in the way I pattern mine by traveling and seeing this beautiful world and experiencing some of the things it has to offer. He doesn't let his financial limitations be his downfall and he doesn't rely on a father that is going to offer "I told you so" in exchange for money. He is to be admired because he is his own man. This book is something else it started off very slow but it is interesting in that it offers you insight into Hughes' life and the information to understand why he writes the way he writes and why he chooses the subjects that he chooses.