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.

Response to Rhanita Oneal Blog Post of February 26, 2009

Hello Ms. Oneal. I liked your insightful commentary about Theme for English B and Mother to Son. You hit it directly on the head about how the instructor stated when giving the assignment to the students for them to "let the assignment come out of you, then it will be true". I also believe that this poem is also backing up Hughes' beliefs in the essay that he wrote, The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain. I totally agree with Hughes in that you should not have to conform to a standard when creating art or writing literature. You should be who you are because that will make it more genuine. Mother to Son, another poem by Langston Hughes was about a mother trying to impart some knowledge to her son in helping him to become a man. Which was alot harder to be back then with the hardships our people went through. I believe that because of the generation that this young man listened to his mother because she was a big influence on his life (contrary to what other people think) and that he became that man she would have been proud of. You are doing well with your blog posts. I know that you are tired (as am I) but the mountaintop is almost there, homegirl. Hang in there!

Response to Joe Grinage Blog Post#10

Very insightful and creative blogsite. I enjoyed reading your blog post. While reading it, I pictured those zoot suits you were talking about with everyone dancing all night long to the sounds of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, or Bessie Smith. They celebrated back in those times the way I believe that you and I would like to have celebrated. Not having to worrying about guns or getting killed, everyone was out to have a good time. There were some bad apples in the bunch but it seemed to be alot more contained back then. Nice picture dude keep up the good work!

In the early 1940's, Langson Hughes creeated a character named Jess B. Semple. This character represented the black man of that age and told stories and stated social commentary that was quite funny. One of his commentaries was named Semple on Indian Blood which talked bout my race and how we claim to having Indian blood running through our veins (which we do claim). I have been known to claim this as my maternal great grandmother was fullblooded Cherokee Indian. She had long beautiful black hair that my grandma told me she liked to brush. Anyway in the story Semple states that we use this claim of Indian blood as a reason for our getting into fights. This lecture also talks about women and how we want them to act and look (old fashioned and modern at the same time). Talked about Creole women and how beautiful but crazy they are. States a pretty woman will get a man into trouble. Also states that everyone should take other people as they are-the world would be alot simpler. Last Whipping is a story about love of family, respect for your elders, and caring for the people who care for you. Simple tells us about his Aunt Lucy, who raised him after his mother died, who is forced to whip Jesse for stealing one of her prized pullet hens—a hen that Jesse gave to a girl for a Sunday School picnic. When Simple hears that he’s going to be whipped, he resists because he’s a man, going on seventeen and big as an ox. But when his Aunt begins to cry, saying things like she thinks she’s failed in raising Jesse to be good, Jesse submits to the whipping and promises to behave himself. He tells us that “from that day to this, I have tried to behave myself.” He then stated, "That was his last whipping!" Very funny story indeed. Semple was a unique character that dealt with racism using honesty, humor, and determination.

Readings for 3/3/09

The readings for 3/3/09 first dealt with the history of jazz and blues. Jazz and Blues are intertwined and blues is like the grandfather of jazz. Blues originated in New Orleans, Mississippi Delta, and Memphis, TN while jazz originated in New Orleans. Blues involved a compelling rythmic sound between that relied on patterns of call and response between singer singer and audience or singer and instrument. Jazz was primarily instrumental music that was impacted by the voice.Jazz and blues both dealt with the dim circumstances of life. Both genres of music involved improvisation of music on your instrument. The music is not as structured as say classical music where you read and play what is on the sheet music but inolves the feelings of the musician towards the music and how he allows himself to get caught up and absorbed in the rhythm and rich beats of the song. The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes is a poem about a musician playing the song Weary Blues all night. The song was very relaxed and low key. Some of the lyrics in the song was that "I got the weary blues, and can't be satisfied, I ain't happy no mo, and I wish that I had died". After playing the song all night the musician went up to his room and went to bed and slept very heavy like a man that's dead. The Blues I'm Playing by Langston Hughes is a story about Oceola and her benefactor Mrs. Ellsworth. Oceola was being taken care of by Mrs. Ellsworth because of her musical talent. Mrs. Ellsworth sponsored piano lessons and trips to Europe for Oceola so she could further develop her musical talent but Oceola kept going back to what pleased her the most which was playing jazz which frustrated Mrs. Ellsworth. Also Oceola had a boyfriend, Pete that Mrs. Ellsworth didn't approve of because she believed that it took some of Oceola's focus away from her music. In the end Oceola chose decided that she would juggle her impending nuptials to her boyfriend and her musical career but Mrs. Ellsworth wanted her to shoot for the stars as far as her music career could go without outside distractions. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) by Duke Ellington (1931) was a wondefully written jazz song. The song has a fast beat that makes you want to pat your feet and sing along with it. If you watch TV you have seen the song being used in commercials for years.