Cirque du Freak

Du Bois, W.E.B. “Criteria of Negro Art.” The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader, Penguin Books 1994: 100-105. Print In “Criteria of Negro Art”, Du Bois observes how art from African-American artists are pushed aside due to oppression. Du Bois states; “...the white public today demands from its artists, literary and pictorial, racial pre-judgement which deliberately distorts truth and justice...” (104) Du Bois argues that even if a piece of art or an artist is great, if they are black they are…

Langston Hughes, who is a dominant poet of the Harlem Renaissance, has been significantly influenced by both the sounds and traditions of the growing blues and jazz community. The Harlem Renaissance is a 1920’s movement in Harlem, New York that sparked an increased growth in the art scene/community, largely seen in music, literature, and fashion. Considering Hughes such a strong advocator and lover of both jazz and blues music, he then began to write poetry in a style which was very heavily…

Merely alluding to the economic problems that cause widows to work late shifts and parents to leave unemployed teenagers unsupervised, Langston Hughes focuses on the universal power of love and trust in "Thank You, M'am." Hughes portrays the nobility of common people and the vitality of his African American culture in his works. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, whose name ironically recognizes both slavery codes of the founders of the United States and the dignity of the common people, gives…

James Mercer Langston Hughes was a famous poet in America who was also known to be a, novelist, social activist, columnist from Joplin, Missouri and playwright artist. James was one of the earliest innovators of Jazz poetry which during his time was known as then-new literary form. Hughes is particularly known for his colorful, insightful portrayals of black life in America from the 1920’s through to the 1960’s. He wrote short stories, plays, novels and as well as poetry. James graduated from…

Poetry Explication on “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” Langston Hughes's poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is about becoming free. The speaker states that he has been to several places around the world. Each one of these places progressively gets more free. This is until the speaker ends with the time when “Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans”(7). Which was the final step for African Americans and their freedom. By doing this, Hughes’s speaker implies that the African American’s journey to freedom…

In the poem “Harlem,” Langston Hughes examines the repercussions that could result from postponing an aspiration. The aspiration Hughes is referring to is achieving racial equality in America. He uses similes with imagery to clearly show what can happen when a dream is put off by an individual or by society as a whole. The first image that Hughes uses is “a raisin in the sun”(Hughes, line 3). A raisin is something that was once fresh, but, due to being in a harsh setting, has decayed and…

bachelor’s degree at Fisk, he attended Harvard University. After completing his master’s degree he was selected to study abroad at the University of Berlin. Dubois was the first African American to achieve a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1895. Not long after that Du bois published his first writing piece published as “A Philadelphia Negro”: a social study in 1899. This was the start of his writing career. Dubois wrote 21 books, edited 15 more, and published over 100 essays and articles. Dubois also…

furnish teachers, ministers, lawyers, and doctors, do black people need nothing of the sort?” (Du Bois). Today, this question is a foregone conclusion for anyone. In the 1800’s and early 1900’s, this question might have been harder for some to answer correctly, not because they didn’t know the answer, but because their strong racial discrimination was standing in the way of common sense. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois dedicated his entire life to the betterment of the African community around…

During my research, it was discovered that the method to deliver hidden messages was not only done by musicians, but writers as well. Some writers were part of an esotericism group, which means these set of people have a special knowledge of coding in their art. Among these esoteric groups of Harlem Renaissance writers, one of the most important of which is James Mercer Langston Hughes. Hughes was American poet, columnist, novelist, playwright, and a social activist. Even more, he was the…

In this section, Du Bois described that life in America in general for African Americans was not easy. He believed in change starting with yourself. His plan was to the struggle black equality for abolishment of racism to the people who wanted to “separate black nation” He wanted the blacks to recognize themselves as “a nation within a nation” He didn’t want them to look for white people help to change. He wanted the blacks to see themselves as a nation who can work their way up. For example, he…