Du Langois Criteria Of Negro Art Du Bois Summary

A newspaper article about what William Edward Burghard, a civil rights activist, thinks about the current state that black people are in. It entails ways of how art should be used to raise the status of black people in America. W.E.B. Du Bois helped others understand the thinking of people, especially African intellectuals, during the Harlem Renaissance.

The Harlem Renaissance was a period that started in the early 1920’s in which the concept of “the Negro” was intended to be changed (History.com). This period witnessed the thrive of African American art. White stereotypes had influenced not only the way African Americans were perceived in society but also their relationship between themselves and others. Participants like Gwendolyn Bennett, Langston Hughes, Paul Lawrence Dunbar and W.E.B. Du Bois were some of many authors of creative pieces that reflected their points of views. Like George Hutchinson writes in his article, The Harlem Renaissance brought many African Americans from South to North which helped the rise of literacy and the creation of organizations dedicated to promoting African American civil rights that resulted in the uplift of the race and the availability of socioeconomic opportunities (1). The distinctive expression through things like poetry and music during the Harlem Renaissance reflected the reality and experiences black people were going through. This essay is going to focus on the relationship between poetry, politics and representation while relying on the poem “We Wear the Mark” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar. At the same time, this paper will be supported with works from Langston Hughes, Alain Locke and W.E.B. Dubois.

Starting around 1918, and progressing through the 1920s and 30s, a section of New York City called Harlem began to be the center of a group of talented African American artists, composers, poets, and dancers. This period of time, with all the literary works, music, art, and poetry coming out of the Black experience, was called the New Negro Renaissance, or the Harlem Renaissance. This was a time just after World War I when there was again hope hope that Whites and Blacks could coexist and appreciate the gifts each had to give, particularly in the arts. What united participants was their sense of taking part in a common goal and their commitment to giving artistic expression to the African American experience (Watson 1995, introduction, 1-14).

The Harlem Renaissance is best known for the rebirth of African-Americans, it was between world war l and the mid-1930 that all the African-Americans form of arts occurred. On the background essay the write said “…In his essay, ‘Criteria of negro art,’ W.E.B

it was difficult to get recognition or exposure in the literary community. But W.E.B. Du

I think W.E.B Dubois was and still is a ponder in the African American culture. I feel that W. E. B. DuBois had a dream of how he might want the African American race to introduce itself. However, he needed the way of life and history of the race to be put aside. The society part of this culture uncovers how the African-American persisted changes both intentionally and automatically. Something as enthusiastic as a piece of art work is not free from the passionate state it originated from. Artists must be propelled to make art and that motivation cannot be unbiased. All artists have a type of motivation that can be seen through their works. Regardless of whether they are a painter, author, or an executive, their own background, contemplations, and convictions affect how they deliver art. The messages may not generally be deliberately, but rather they are there. DuBois imagined that every single imaginative work by African American are somehow a type of promulgation, be it deliberate or inadvertent. His idea on this depended on the substance of the economic wellbeing of blacks at the time and that all centerpieces by African Americans had a more noteworthy importance to it.

"The Negro wants to be everything but himself… He wants to integrate with the white man, but he cannot integrate with himself or with his own kind. The Negro wants to lose his identity because he does not know his own identity." (Black Nationalism 1962 Elijah Muhammad). In the 1950’s the races were divided, black people were disadvantaged in education, work, voting and other opportunities. However one man had a dream, Martin Luther King took a stand against racism and the Civil Rights Movement was born. A fight for equality to change the future for all people. Good morning, I am Stefanie Clark and I am here to discuss how art, such as literature, has influenced progression of the ideologies of the Civil Rights Movement.

A significant part of this artistic movement was to give the power back the Black Americans, to define who they are in order to over shadow previous offensive caricatures created to promote oppression. W.E.B. Du Bois saw all art as propaganda and as such saw that the artist had a moral obligation to use that power to propagate a diverse and beautiful Black America. Both arguments are valid, in an environment that is flooded with falsehoods, images that are lies about who Blacks are as a people can be combatted with images of real Blacks who are exceptional. On the other hand this begs the question of who is worthy of uplift, if we only depict one kind of black person, what does that say about those who do not fit this mold? Both sides recognize that the New Negro is a complex individual, someone who is not monochromatic, as previous depictions might have had people believing, the debate is about how complex should the image of the new Black America

However in the summer of 1919, the white community became fearful and uncomfortable with the Great Migration and retaliated with violence. The KKK engaged in several riots and lynching’s that resulted in 83 deaths of African Americans ( Mann HRC). Yet, from those terrible tragedies came great civil rights leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Gavvery. Their work, believes, and programs inspired racial pride throughout the black community. “Du Bois believed that artistic and literary work could be used as a form of propaganda to help combat racial stereotypes and gain new respect for the race”( Mann HRB). This political agenda sparked change and inspiration for Black entertainment and culture because artists were using their talents to proclaim freedom from the inequality in the country.

David L. Lewis presents an entertaining and thought-provoking examination of a growing cultural and social movement in his book, When Harlem was in Vogue. Although his title isn’t very extensive, Lewis cleverly uncovers a variety of topics related to this period in American history. Each topic is tied to starring character, ranging from Langston Hughes to Countee Cullen and Claude McKay. Lewis’s aim is to awaken readers to the influence of Harlem, Manhattan on the nation’s literature, music, and acting. He analyzes the roles of black frontrunners in the arts as well as the roles of white counterparts. Using vast amount of primary literature, author Lewis is able to expand on the idea of racial advancement through the arts, the major characters and motivations behind it, and its role in American culture. This task may seem daunting, but the author excels in engaging readers into a vivid account of the lives of black artists in early twentieth century.

During the late 19th and 20th centuries Blacks in America were debating on the proper way to define and present the Negro to America. Leaders such as Alain Lock, W.E.B. Dubois, Marcus Garvey, and Tuskegee University founder Booker T. Washington all had ideas of a New Negros who was intellectually smart, politically astute, and contributors to society in trade work. All four influential leaders wrote essays to this point of the new Negro and their representations in art and life. In “Art or Propaganda”, Locke pleas not for corrupt or overly cultured art but for art free to serve its own ends, free to choose either "group expression" or "individualistic expression.” (National Humanities Center) In W.E.B. Du Bois speech "Criteria for Negro

W. E. B. Du Bois’s classic The Souls of Black Folk is an African American heritage text that explores the history of race relations, black education, post-Civil War issues, and the ongoing war between white Americans and black Americans. The Souls of Black Folk, is a collection of thirteen different essays and short stories written between 1897 and 1903 by Du Bois. All of the essays link together by providing common themes; the existence of the veil or the separated black and white populations, the importance of education, and “double consciousness”. The theme of "The Veil" is one of the central pieces Du Bois touches on.

The book is overflowing with powerful images of black art from photographs to paintings to cover the story of black Americans. The book begins with the history and imagery of slavery through the Civil War and liberation, then traces the cultural influences of the civil rights movement, the black power period, and ends with the hip hop era. Through each period, the writer offers historical context for the artistic expressions and examines how more current sensibility shaped remembrances of historical occurrence. She explores the ways that context and historical interpretation influence the artist's perspective and is subject to great difference over time. Although most of the art that were presented after mid twentieth century. it reflect a broader historical period as black

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, otherwise known as W.E.B Du Bois, accordingly introduced the idea of “double-consciousness” which he described to be a person whose identity can be “merged into a unity that they and the nation could be proud,” as stated in The Norton Anthology of African American Literature by Henry Louis Gates and Valerie Smith (Gates and Smith, page 682). Throughout history, the stories behind the lives of African American’s has been recognized as a tough, ongoing battle. The fine line between white and black, has been the core reason of prejudice beliefs. Beliefs such as African American’s being inhuman, aggressive, unworthy of equality and liberty, etc., have lead to misconceptions of them as individuals. Being that

Art is something that can only be achieved with the manipulation of the imagination. This is successful when using objects, sounds, and words. Richard Wright and Amira Baraka brought the power of art into the limelight. Wright’s perception of art was for it to be used as a means of guidance, one that could uplift the Negro towards bigger and better goals. Baraka’s perspective of art was for it to be used as an active agent, one that could kill and then imprint society permanently. Baraka and Wright both wanted the Negro to see that there was a much brighter future ahead of them. Both wanted art to leave a stain, a stain that could not be easily erased, washed, or bleached. Both believed that Black Art had no need to be silent but instead daring.