Voices of the Harlem Renaissance

Voices of the Harlem Renaissance

One of the most significant events of the Harlem Renaissance was the rise of the individual voice. While many African-Americans were struggling with identity in a shifting society, some writers came along and presented them with the image of an identity that was not just a dream but a reality that could be achieved. It may be difficult to imagine now how it might have been in a day when some individuals were seen a lesser people because of their skin color. The angst of the tension between those refusing to allow freedom and those demanding it put the country on edge in many ways. The war might have been over but the wounds were still untreated. Art is one way in which this kind of pain can be addressed and even soothed. Through poetry and fiction, we see a type of healing take place. Through art, people are exposed to certain truths, whether they accept them or not. In addition, people began to see that they were not alone and they did deserve freedom. Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, Zora Neale Hurston, and Booker T. Washington are just a few of the writers that emerged from this era, making considerable contributions to the identity of the African-American during the Harlem Renaissance when freedom still seemed elusive.

Langston Hughes is a prolific writer to emerge in Harlem during this time. Passionate and poetic Hughes had no problem expressing his beliefs. Michael Schmidt claims to Hughes was so popular and influential during this era that he was nicknamed the "bard of Harlem" (Schmidt 707). Hughes' poetry gained momentum and attracted poets and musicians alike because of Hughes' style. This style includes "two modes, one drawing rhythms from jazz and the blues, a poetry with ironies and radical reversals generally avoids staginess; and poems of racial protest and definition" (Schmidt 708). "Harlem" is one poem that stands out from Hughes' work because it focuses on the pain associated with what it meant to be African-American at this time. It was not easy. The American Dream lies at the heart of this poem because it lies at the heart of every American, regardless of race. The poet posits the question of what happens when that dream cannot come true. The poem is a form of social protest in its own right because it has the nerve to ask the question in regard to African-Americans, who are undoubtedly American but deferred by society. The additional questions the poet asks are impossible to answer but worth asking. For African-Americans during this time, the American Dream is an elusive dream that includes equality. When the poet asks if the dream will just "explode?" (Hughes 10), he presents the reader with a powerful image. The question can be seen as a warning for the future is something in the country does not change. The moral challenge of equality is real and from Hughes' point-of-view, should be examined carefully because people cannot live in that kind of state very long without some form of revolt. Harry Phillips writes that this concluding line of the poem, "contrasts mightily with the tone of earlier questions. It is designed both to shock and enlighten readers as to the explosive spirit and drive fueling an American dream and a determined people" (Phillips). The image of the small and insignificant "raisin in the sun" (Hughes Harlem 3), along with a "fester like a sore" (4), and the "stink of rotten meat" (6) are "incendiary devices in the service of this dream that will not die" (Phillips). Hughes wanted to open eyes, minds, and hearts with this poem. Hughes was hitting raw nerves with this message and Arthur Davis maintains that Harlem is a common theme in Hughes' poetry because it represents the changing perspectives of the time. In "The Weary Blues," the poet communicates a "Joyous Harlem of the New Negro Renaissance" (Davis 1937). In "One Way Ticket," Davis explains how Hughes captures the tension and trauma of the era, stating, "By the time of 'One Way Ticket' Harlem has gone through the Depression . . . It has become the 'edge of hell;' and yet it could still be . . . A refuge for the black folks who worked down-town and had to bow and scrape to white folks all day" (Davis 1937-8). He wanted to shock people into seeing what happens when people are not allowed to be free. Freedom is not just a word, it is a state of being and it should be available to all Americans.

Another creative and inspiring writer to surface from the Harlem Renaissance was W.E.B. DuBois. One of his most widely accepted pieces of work is the Souls of Black Folk, an examination of identity from the African-American perspective. DuBois explains the problems associated with the African-American identity by describing an unseen veil that exists between races. This veil was responsible for preventing African-Americans from gaining respect and meaningful occupations in their communities. DuBois knew the "problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line" (DuBois). He also knew that changing a law would not change the hearts and attitudes of man. Of emancipation DuBois wrote, "Then amid all crouched the freed slave, bewildered between friend and foe. He had emerged from slavery . . . classed the black man and the ox together" (DuBois). He knew prejudice was a terrible condition and wrote that those who are prejudice can be "met in but one way, -- by the breadth and broadening of human reason" (DuBois). Prejudice is a heart condition and a stumbling block when it comes to growth of any kind and it leads to a "double consciousness" (Dubois). He said, "The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife, -- this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self" (DuBois). Here DuBois challenges men to put injustices in the past and move forward. DuBois knew changing the hearts and minds of men would be one of the greatest challenges of all but he was convinced that it could be done and his voice became one of reason at a tumultuous time.

Another piece of literature that sprang from the Harlem Renaissance is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Again, a central focus of the piece is identity. Janie's personal struggle for identity occurs when readers might think African-American oppression was over. Hurston demonstrates how it is not and how the issues of slavery run straight down to the heart of every man. It is a deeply personal thing and Janie must find strength by turning away from those that cause her pain. She finally confronts and tells Jody he must die to in order to discover out that "you got tuh pacify somebody beside yo'self . . . You ain't tried to pacify nobody but yo'self. To busy listening to yo' own big voice" (Hurston 82). The valuable lesson she learns from Jody is that people, any people, will treat you bad if you let them. She also learns to ignore what others think. She learns to understand the complexity of love and explains that it is like the ocean because "it'uh movin' thing, but still and all, it takes it shape from the shore it meets, and it's different with every shore" (191). Janie also realizes her spiritual growth along the way. She tells Phoeby, "You got tuh go there to know there . . . Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh themselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh do fuh themselves" (Hurston 183). Janie does discover her identity at a time when African-Americans are still pushed and pulled in different directions. As a female during this time, she remains a heroine.