Compare/Contrast

Both the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement were significant time periods in black history and represent the African American culture. Both saw a "rebirth" in literary and artistic works because of the immense racial pride that was built during these times. Year after year more and more works were being published with each creators own take on African American pride. Each period saw great musicians like Louis Armstrong and Sam Cooke, artists such as, William Johnson and Robert Colescott, and writers like, Zora Neale Hurston and Lorraine Hansberry.

There were also a lot of differences in each of the periods. During the Harlem Renaissance all the works being created were showing a celebratory take on racial pride, however the Civil Rights movement saw works created in protest of discrimination and racism. Each has its own version of racial pride but one is a positive and one is negative.

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?

A Dream Deferred, Langston Hughes

Say it loud! - I'm black and I'm proud Say it loud! - I'm black and I'm proud Say it loud! - I'm black and I'm proud Say it loud! - I'm black and I'm proud - oow!

Say it Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud, James Brown

Robert Colescott

Known for his work of satirical nature, Robert Colescott is most known for his exuberant, comical, and often negative/bitter portrayals of being African American. Colescott was the first African American to represent America in a solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale. In George Washington Carver Crosses the Deleware Colescott switched out George Washington and replaced him with a black character. This is symbolizing how black people can do anything and could have been a part of American/World History.

Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Hansberry is an African American playwright most known for her play, A Raisin in the Sun. Most of her own life experiences were revealed in the play. A Raisin in the Sun borrows its title from the poem A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes and it portrays a black family growing up in Chicago. It was the first play written by a black woman ever to be produced on Broadway. This piece embodies the time period because it depicts the real-life struggles a black family faced in the 50's and 60's. The racism and poverty the family overcame was unimaginable and it showed black people that everybody could overcome racism, discrimination, segregation, and poverty if they put their mind to it.

Sam Cooke

Still today, Sam Cooke is known as one of the greatest African American and even American artists of all time. He is known as the founder of soul music and sometimes the "king of soul". He was shot dead during the prime of his career in December, 1964. Possibly his biggest hit "A Change is Gonna' Come" is a protest song to racism in America, and is also believed to be an answer to the rhetorical questions asked in Bob Dylan's song, "Blowin' in the Wind". "A Change is Gonna' Come" exemplifies the Civil Rights Movement in the sense that a change is going to come and its been a long time coming. Change has to happen and it is inevitable. The song also reflects Cooke's inner turmoil because he had always felt the need to address the situation of racism and segregation in America. The song still remains one of the greatest protest and sixties songs ever recorded.


"It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dXMjhdx3YO8

Civil Rights Movement

The American Civil Rights Movement was about a 13 year movement to end racial segregation and discrimination mainly against black people. The main goal was to end segregation and to restore suffrage in the Southern states. Numerous boycotts and sit-ins took place throughout the country. For example, the Montgomery bus boycott, the Greensboro Sit-ins, the Freedom rides, and the March on Washington were all famous protests by African Americans. Prominant leaders during this time were Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, W.E.B. DuBois, Rosa Parks, Coretta King, and Ezell A. Blair Jr. This period showed the same racial pride that the Harlem Renaissance did, however it didn't celebrate the pride but it tried to earn equality. Famous writers, musicians, and artists included; Lorraine Hansberry, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Chester Hines, Charles Wilbert Wright, Robert Colescott, Romare Bearden, John Coltrane, James Brown, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and even the white folk rocker Bob Dylan.

William H. Johnson

William H. Johnson was one of the foremost artists during the Harlem Renaissance. He was born in Florence, South Carolina in 1901 as the son of a working class family. He was heavily influenced by modern expressionists during the 1920's and 1930's. Johnson worked mainly in New York, Paris, and Denmark. In 1926 he moved to Paris to study modernist art, and he also developed his own style; a realist-Impressionism. He moved back to New York when the threat of World War Two was beginning. After he moved back, he became caught up in the mix of the Harlem Renaissance. His painting Cafe depicts a scene of daily life with great intensity and personality. Cafe life was Johnson's favorite modernist subject of the time. The painting shows that Johnson stayed true to his roots by painting in a direct, graphic manner.

Langston Hughes

It was on this day 41 years ago that Langston Hughes died. Hughes was known as probably the most famous writer to come out of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes' work has included poems like; The Negro Speaks of Rivers, A Dream Deferred, and My People. Hughes also wrote many novels such as; The Ways of White Folks, Sweet Flypaper of Life, Tambourines to Glory, and Simple's Uncle Sam. He also wrote with Zora Neale Hurston, Mule Bone towards the end of the Harlem Renaissance in 1931. The Negro Speaks of Rivers is possibly his most famous poem, and it symbolizes the Harlem Renaissance because it speaks wonders about people's roots and heritage. "My soul has grown deep like the rivers" shows Hughes' search for his identity. It begins with the beginning of man and goes through the Civil War era. The poem doesn't just speak for African Americans, but it speaks for all people of all colors instead.

The Negro Speaks of Rivers----http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15722
Langston Hughes

I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.