Personal Narrative: Myself As A Black Poet

The Black Arts movement refers to a period of “furious flowering” of African American creativity beginning in the mid-1960’s and continuing through much of the 1970’s (Perceptions of Black). Linked both chronologically and ideologically with the Black Power Movement, The BAM recognized the idea of two cultural Americas: one black and one white. The BAM pressed for the creation of a distinctive Black Aesthetic in which black artists created for black audiences. The movement saw artistic production as the key to revising Black American’s perceptions of themselves, thus the Black Aesthetic was believed to be an integral component of the economic, political, and cultural empowerment of the Black

Too black for the White kids, yet somehow too white for the Black kids, oh the perils of a cappuccino mixed race kid. But it’s true. My life since I was young, at least younger than my eighteen year old self, has been about which group do I most fit in with. Between the four school changes over the course of twelve years, all in white suburban towns I’ve molded myself into an array of characters.

Society seems to change and advance so rapidly throughout the years but there has always seemed to be a history, present, and future when it comes to the struggles of the African Americans. The hatred of a skin tone has caused people to act in violent and horrifying ways including police brutality, riots, mass incarcerations, and many more. There are three movements the renaissance, civil rights, and the black lives matter movements that we have focused on. Our artist come from different eras but have at least one similarity which is the attention on black art.

Langston Hughes was an African American poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright. His works are still studies, read, and, in terms of his poems and plays, performed. He is best known for being a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Within his works, he depicted black America in manners that told the truth about the culture, music, and language of his people. Besides his many notable poems, plays, and novels, Hughes also wrote essays such as The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain which Hughes gives insight into the minds of middle-class and upper-class Negroes. Prior to reading this essay, I never heard of, nor did I know, Langston Hughes composed essays, much less an essay that outwardly depicts aspects of life that most are accustomed to and see nothing wrong with. The Negro and the Racial Mountain formulated this view that Langston Hughes was more than a poet who wrote about jazz music as he is depicted within grade school textbooks, but instead, a man who had a great passion for the African American race to develop a love for themselves and for non-African American audiences to begin to understand how the African American race can be strong and creative despite struggles that may be occur. There is a possibility that this essay, The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain, is not more commonly known because it has the ability to make the reader uncomfortable, no matter if he is an African American or white. For the African American, one can find himself reflecting back

The worker contacted Misty Black who is a friend of Brittany Hardin. Mrs. Black stated “Brittany was in a situation where her ex (well she told me they were already broken up at the time) had assaulted her. Brittany had called me after Ronita Grady had hit her so I immediately called the police and made my way to Brittany. When I arrived the OCPD were already there speaking to Brittany. The officers also spoke to me and I told him I was the one who called them. After the police left Brittany and the boys stayed with me for a couple days because Brittany was still shaken up. The boys all seemed okay, I don’t think they really knew what had just happened. Brittany thanked me for helping her, because at the time we weren’t really speaking to

Through the use of old black newspapers and commentary, Sotiropoulos tells how black performers were able to use art in their struggle for equality. Through their performances, the black performers tried to put aside racial violence, segregation

In paragraph eleven of the essay, Hughes refers to his own artistic endeavours. The string of questions in this paragraph contribute to the development of his argument by anticipating some counterarguments, or objections to his argument. It also shows that he has faced a lot of criticism for doing what he loves, as have many other Black artists, yet he continues to do it. This contributes to his argument that despite criticism, Black artists will continue to paint, sing, write, and dance.

Although “The Negro Movement” has been over since, but the effects are still known today. African American artist engaged culture to work for goals of civil rights and equality. While it has been made clear that African Americans Literature has a stand which Harlem Renaissance, May still feel that the Harlem Renaissance did not redefine African Americans expression. Nathan Irvin Huggins, an American historian, also an

Due to their past loyal social constraint, numerous African American children saw this time as celebratory; they picked up an association with their legacy and to each other out of the

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.

African Americans are no stranger to discrimination. Children across American are taught about the horrific times of slavery. Following slavery, we learn about the discrimination African Americans face in the light of their bittersweet freedom. Due to this unstability, many amazing young African American artist emerged with breathtaking stories to reveal; the stories weren’t easy to expose because publishing companies and the alike were very

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

In the Africa American culture, there has been a longstanding discussion of the black woman’s physical appearance and how they identify themselves in society. Though there are many themes of the Black experience in the media that discuss the standard of beauty Black women should have. However, theatre has a creative and tactful way of exploring these topics that are considered taboo in the African American culture. During the Black Arts Movement, topics such as black empowerment and self-identity were the blue print for what the movement stood for. In reference to, A Brief Guide to the Black Arts Movement Writers, “African American artists within the movement sought to create politically engaged work that explored the African American cultural and historical experience” (A Brief Guide to the Black Arts Movement Writers.1). Prolific writers such as, Ntozake Shange 's, Amari Baraka, and Nikki Giovanni, just to name a few, were revolutionary in a creative and political movement, which allowed for writers and poets to demonstrate the pains and qualms of what African Americans faced in Western society. Two African American playwrights, Lorraine Hansberry and Adrienne Kennedy, expounded on these topics in their plays A Raisin in the Sun and Funny House Negro. In the further exploration of stigmas of African American female hair and self-identification through theatre, these plays will be used as a platform to

The Contemporary Black Poetry Project featured three award winning African-American poets from Michigan: Toi Derricotte, Naomi Long Madgett, and Herbert Woodward Martin. The poets ranged in age from seventy-five to ninety-three. The Contemporary Black Poetry Project featured four public readings this fall. I attended the fourth reading which took place on October first in Harbor Springs, Michigan, at the Harbor Springs United Methodist Church. All of the poets’ pieces and performances were exquisite, however in this essay I will focus exclusively on Mr. Herbert Woodward Martin’s work. African American culture, music, and history greatly influence Mr. Martin’s poems.

I like to believe that art was a way for Blacks to express their pain, hopefulness, and love that everything Black wanted and could just outright say was put into art; therefore, art was a happy place even though it expressed pain but in pain there is its own beauty. DuBois (1925:53) stated that even though Black art has both personal and universal aspects, that those two things are “combined with certain groups compulsion.” meaning that there was a Black person that spoke for the group through art. His thoughts would lead to black Aesthetic.