Movie: Brother to Brother

The film Brother to Brother made its debut in 2004, at many film festivals and had a limited theatrical release in late 2004. The story primarily fallows a young art student, Perry Williams, and his relationship with Bruce Nugent, an older homeless man who was once reguarded as a great writer, artist, and an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Although the two men grew up in very different times and situations, they have faced a lot of the same struggles as they try to make it as gay, black artists. The film is set in the 21st century, but there are many “flashback” scenes that take place during the Harlem Renaissance and showcase the lives of well known writers such as Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston as well as lesser-known but equally important figures such as Wallace Thurman and Bruce Nugent and their creation of the controversial magazine, Fire!. The juxtaposition of these two storylines serves to accentuate the fact that many issues and themes of the Harlem Renaissance are still very prevalent today.

The African-American Community has been fighting for rights and respect for many years. The fight to attain equality for homosexuals has also been going on for just as long, but is much less known and appreciated by America as a whole. It is the belief of many activists fighting for their cause, that one cannot be mixed with the other: you’re either for the blacks or the gays, but not both.

In their Magazine, Fire!, the young artists tried to challenge that idea by trying to fight oppression in their own style. They told the stories of gays, whores, and other disrespected minorities within the black community who threatened the sophisticated image many black activists were trying to put out to the white world. In response many black critics burned and blacklisted the magazine in protest of the artists and everything they stood for. Similarly, Perry’s views about a correlation between black oppression and gay oppression are not respected by his teacher, classmates, and even his family, who kicked him out of his own home after learning that he was gay.

Throughout the story, Perry and Bruce both struggle with their racial identification. They are both black men who’s family, culture, and race have greatly influenced who they are. Yet the two are also rejected by the same communities that have helped to shape them simply because of their sexual orientation. The two men are both striving to find their place in the world as gay men who are also a part of the black community. Along with anger at this unjust homophobia, anger at racism is another prevalent HR theme throughout the film. Perry, his friend Marcus, and the other artists of the Harlem Renaissance struggle to get exposure and recognition of their work without having to sacrifice their culture and identity by conforming to white standards.

Overall the parallelism of the two men’s lives compares the experience of black men during the Harlem Renaissance with those of youth today. The challenges faced by Perry and his peers are also widespread throughout the black community today. Many of the controversial questions that were discussed in the 20s and 30s have been resurrected by the film and presented again in a new way. This shows that these questions about freedom, race and equality are still just as important now as they were then and many of the themes and concerns of the Harlem Renaissance still remain crucial to our society.

Poetry: Black Woman (Motherhood)

Don't knock at my door, little child,
I cannot let you in,
You know not what a world this is
Of cruelty and sin.
Wait in the still eternity
Until I come to you,
The world is cruel, cruel, child,
I cannot let you in!

Don't knock at my heart, little one,
I cannot bear the pain
Of turning deaf-ear to your call
Time and time again!
You do not know the monster men
Inhabiting the earth,
Be still, be still, my precious child,
I must not give you birth!

After graduation from Atlanta University, Georgia Douglas Johnston moved with her husband, a lawyer and civil employee, to Washington DC where she lived for over 50 years. However, her husband died in 1925 and left Johnson to face a life full of challenges as not only a widowed, single mother of two, but also a black woman, struggling to make it as a writer. However, her writing caught the attention of many and despite her geographic separation from the major literary circles of the time in Harlem, she was still able to become one of the most famous female poets of the Harlem Renaissance.

Her poetry and other writings reflect the hardships she faced in her life as well as those experienced by her peers. Her poem, “Black Woman,” Johnson expresses the pain experienced as a black woman in society and her reluctance to bring a child into that “cruel” world. This poem is deeply emotional as the speaker is torn between the love of her child who she longs to be with and the need to protect him or her from the harsh realities and “monster men” that are an inevitable part of negro life. She goes so far as to beg for her unborn child to “be still.” This is a morbid wish that conveys the only the deep torment of these contradicting desires. She believes that she is protecting him or her because sometimes it is better to have never been born at all than experience the agony of life’s trials and tribulations.

Johnson utilizes poetic techniques such as rhyming as in “birth” and “earth” as well as repetition and alliteration as in “cruel, cruel, child” and along with a fairly steady structure that is broken only on occasion for emphasis. These elements combine to give an effect similar to a lullaby, as the speaker is trying to calm the unborn child. The poem a smooth and tranquil flow sets the mood as if, although distraught, the speaker has already come to terms with the unfortunate sacrifice she must make.

With this poem, Johnson is expressing identification with race as the speaker speaks not only from personal experience, but from the collective experiences of all African-American women of the time. She is also demonstrating her anger at racism that is the rout cause of her suffering and the reason she does not want her baby to be brought up in such a hateful and sin filled society.

http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/johnsonGeorgia.php
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/douglas-johnson/life.htm

Dance: Lindy Hop & The Savoy Ballroom

The Savoy Ballroom opened its doors on March of 1926 in Harlem. The quality of the Savoy's jazz dancing and music gave it an unrivaled international reputation. Unlike other popular clubs, such as The Cotton Club, The Savoy Ballroom was the first integrated dance hall. Both black and white musicians, singers, and dancers came together and took a stand against the oppression and segregation of blacks. It was here that people of all different classes, creeds, and races came together for one common purpose: to dance. It was known as "Home of the Happy Feet" and it was here that the floors bounced and dances such as Lindy Hop became famous.

In conjunction with swing jazz, the Lindy Hop began in the late 1920's. The style emerged as another fusion of the the natural freeform style of African dance with the European notion of partnered or coupled dancing. The African influence can be found in the asymmetrical fluidity, shoulder and hip movements, stamping and hopping, and free spirit of improvisation.

Lindy Hop originated on the dance floor in places such as the Savoy Ballroom as hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dancers would compete to out-shine one another with newly developed “break-away” dance steps. This new dance absorbed and integrated many other forms of dance, such as the Charleston, and gave the dancers the freedom to try new things, take risks, and take dancing to new heights. As Jazz and Swing music evolved, so did the the dancing as new air steps were and fueled the Lindy Hop fire that eventually made its way from competitions into dance companies and feature films around the world.

http://www.savoyballroom.com/index.htm
http://www.kclindyhop.org/history_a.htm#savoy

Poetry: Incident

Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger,
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and called me, 'Nigger.'

I saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That's all that I remember.

Countée Cullen was a an American poet who was a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance. He was abandoned by his mother at a young age and adopted by a reverend in Harlem and went on to graduate with a Masters in English from Harvard University.

Cullen’s poem, Incident, was written in the 1920’s and is part of a collection called color. In the poem, Cullen uses poetic devices, such as rhyme, that give the poem a light tone while portraying a heavy and critical moment in a young boy’s life. Cullen is also able to concisely express a world of emotion relating to the adversity of racism in very few words. The poem is about an eight-year old boy’s unfortunate experience on a public bus in Baltimore, yet it can also be a metaphor for the many hardships being faced by black people at the time.

As the young boy is taking in the sights and sounds of an unfamiliar yet exciting city, he is greeted by stares from another child. The other boy is about the same age and size and therefore the speaker sees little difference between the two. He smiles at the other boy, as they seem very similar and is taken aback by his racial slur. This was a defining point in this child’s life as he comes to the unfair realization that what matters most in the distinction between people in our society is race. He starts to understand the true nature of black identity for the first time and the hope of friendships is forever shattered by racism.

The poem embodies the Harlem Renaissance theme of “anger at racism.” The little boy now understands that racism exists, but does not understand why. Why there is a difference between such otherwise alike people, and why he has to be hated because of it. This poem illustrates the experience that many have had to face of growing up and having to go from a childhood naivete of race relations to ultimate resignation.

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/cullen/life.htm

Music: It Don't Mean a Thing

It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing
It don't mean a thing all you got to do is sing
It makes no difference
If it's sweet or hot
Just give that rhythm
Everything you've got

Duke Ellington was one of the most influential and principal jazz musicians of all time. With the inventive uses of his orchestral unit, Ellington and his "big band" revolutionized jazz and helped to define the music of the Harlem Renaissance. 

In 1931, Duke Ellington wrote, composed and arranged one of his most famous hits, It don't mean a thing (If it ain't got that swing). Its simple lyrics and catchy tune introduced the term "swing" into everyday language that eventually lead to the swing era of music. 

It is a simple song about the music that defined a generation. Ellington himself described his song as, “the expression of a sentiment which prevailed among jazz musicians at the time.” The straightforward and concise lyrics express the core of jazz music and what it was that made this type of music so special. Although no specific lyric points to the themes of the Harlem Renaissance, its underlying motif is one of pride. The song itself is a celebration of the music created and inspired by the black people of Harlem. Jazz was the “Negro Music” that excited the nation, or as Ellington liked to call it, “American Music.”

The song's iconic tune is still prevalent today with its appealing rhythm and melody that simply make you want to get up and dance.

http://www.dukeellington.com/ellingtonbio.html

Visual art: Nightlife

Archibald John Motley, Jr. was a black painter who is famous for his colorful chronicling of negro life in the 1920s to the 1940s. While considered one of the major contributors to the Harlem Renaissance, he actually never lived in Harlem. He was born in New Orleans but lived in Chicago and attended the Art institute of Chicago. In the 1910’s, his modernist-realist style estranged him from the conservitively-bent style of his peers and his unique abilities wouldn’t of had the chance to be widely recognized without the new views about art brought about by the Harlem Renaissance. His paintings often depict Chicago’s Bronzzeville neighborhood, which was similar to Harlem in the sense that it offered a safe haven for migrating blacks.

I was drawn to this particular painting, Nightlife, because of the stunning use of color and movement. The warm colors and curved lined that are used give the impression of a relaxed yet spirited atmosphere. Motley’s painting also has a lot of details, such as the clock in the top corner striking one-o’clock in the morning, that, while not dominant features, help to add to the holistic quality of the painting. It is the culmination of all these seemingly minor details that gives real life to the painting. When You look at the painting, you can practically hear the music blasting from the jukebox and drunken chatter. You can almost smell the cigarette smoke mixed with the sweat from the dancing couples on this warm summer night. Most importantly, there is a rhythmic tone to the painting that mirrors that of the dancing and vivacity of the jazz joint.

Motley’s Nightlife was actually painted in 1943, after the Harlem Renaissance was over. However, the jazz-influence is undeniable and the general themes are congruent with those of the Harlem Renaissance and Motley’s other previous work. This painting is about Motley’s identification with and pride in the negro race. This is demonstrated in the the positive and lively aspects of negro culture Motley chooses to depict. It is a culture that is exciting, dynamic, and purely their own.

http://www.areaofdesign.com/americanicons/motley.htm