Harlem RenaissanceJenkins

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Maya Angelou

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

The purpose of this poem is to show that African Americans only wanted to experience the freedoms that white people had. She is saying that they wanted to experience America the way it should be instead of being discriminated against because they were the same color as "Normal Americans". The embodies the time period because people were tired of being discriminated against and being segregated they wanted the freedoms that eveyone else had. They were sick of being looked down upon and they were going to do everything they could to gain the equal rights.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Harlem Renaissnace Jenkins

This blog is about music, art, and writing during the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement

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Romare Bearden

Romare Bearden was a painter during the Civil Rights Movement. She painted a Martin Luther King Jr. collage during the Civil Rights Movement. In her collage she painted a picture of a young Martin Luther King Jr. and then one as a man. Her purpose for doing this was because many people looked to Martin Luther King Jr. during the time of the Civil Rights Movement to help them gain their rights as citizens and to get away from the Segregation Laws. This embodies the time period because Martin Luther King Jr. was a big part of the Civil Rights movement and spent his life trying to help African Americans become equal in all eyes of America. He died trying to gain equal rights for his race.

Harry Belafonte

The purpose of writing the song "Back of the Bus", Harry Belafonte, is telling people that he is not going to deal with segregation any longer. He says if you look in the back of the bus you will not find me there cause I'll be in the front. By singing this song especially at this time it really gave black people a reason to try and overcome these segregation laws and not just give into them anymore. This song embellishes the Civil Rights time period because it is telling people to stand up for their rights and not put up with what American white people were trying to do to them at that time.

Maya Angelou

The purpose of this poem is to show that African Americans only wanted to experience the freedoms that white people had. She is saying that they wanted to experience America the way it should be instead of being discriminated against because they were the same color as "Normal Americans". The embodies the time period because people were tired of being discriminated against and being segregated they wanted the freedoms that eveyone else had. They were sick of being looked down upon and they were going to do everything they could to gain the equal rights.

Langston Hughes

The purpose of Langston Hughes' As I Grew Older poem was to show that he perservered even though he was black to fulfill his dreams of the black race having more of and importance to society in America. He says "I am Black" and " I lie down in the shadows." This really conveys his purpose because he doesn't want it to be like that anymore he is proud to be the person and the color that he is. This embodies the time period because many people were feeling the same way, they wanted their race and heritage to be important in American Society and they were going to persevere until this happened which it finally began to during the Harlem Renaissance.

William H. Johnson

William H. Johnson painted a piece called Harlem Street during the Harlem Renaissance. His purpose for doing this was to convey everyday life in Harlem and how life was beginning to change. The colors that Johnson used were very bright and made the emotions of the painting seem upbeat and happy. The painting shows that life in Harlem was very fast paced and there was always something new to be excited about. This peice embodies the time period be he was trying to show that the people living in Harlem were looking forward to and enjoying how life was changing and molding something new during the Harlem Renaissance.

Compare/Contrast of both Eras

History of Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement refers to the reform movements in the United States aimed at abolishing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring suffrage in Southern states. This article covers the phase of the movement between 1954 and 1968, particularly in the South. Many people such as Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and W.E.B Du Bois as well as many others worked to reach racial equality for African Americans. This was a time of segregation in the United States where the Blacks were not granted the same rights as whites and were looked down upon. Groups such as the NAACP and the SCLC were huge advocats in struggle to gain freedom of rights for the black Americans. Rosa Parks was also extremely important during this time because she disobeyed the law and sat in a white man's seat, when asked to move she refused. This gave people more of and encintive to gain their rights and start being treated equally. For the artists this time period really gave them a chance to express themselves and the way they were feeling about the way life was carrying on around them.

History of the Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was a time in which the art, music, and writing of the African-American culture was transformed. It was a time of rebirth for the culture of African-Americans in the Harlem district of New York. Some of the most influential authors from that time include Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Jessie Fauset, Arna Bontemps, Alain Locke, and W. E. B. Dubois, among countless others. Duke Ellington, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ma Rainey, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday, Josephine Baker, Bessie Smith, and many others contributed to the jazz and blues music of that time. Among the artists of the Harlem Renaissance are Aaron Douglas, William H. Johnson, Louis Mailou Jones, Sargent Claude Johnson, Jacob Lawrence, Archibald Motley, and Romare Bearden. The Harlem Renaissance was a period of cultural inspriration that led many African-Americans to the industrial promise in places such as New York City. During this time African-Americans sought to better themselves and many of the literary works of that time addressed the social and political issues of class, gender, race, and religion.

Harlem RenaissanceJenkins

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Maya Angelou

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Harlem Renaissnace Jenkins

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Maya Angelou

Civil Rights Movement

Which time period was more interesting The Harlem Renaissance of the Civil Rights Movement?