Second Half of Voices from the Harlem Renaissance

In the second half of Voices from the Harlem Renaissance the focus went from critical essays to a more artistic/poetic look at the African American struggle. In this half there were pictures of sculptures and paintings produced by African American artists. There is also a focus on poetry in the second half of the text that I feel was not focused on as much in the first half. The art and poetry of African Americans helps the reader to understand their distinct and equally important culture and also how to appreciate it as valuable and "High Culture."

The first paintings by Aaron Douglas titled "Aspects of Negro Life" depict three panels of what is considered to be the important periods in the collective life of the Negro. The set of panels starts out with an African setting, where the Negro's are partaking in what looks to be a ritual dance or gathering. This is the heritage of the Negro and is ultimately what the return to Africa is a striving for.

The second panel is a look at what has occurred to the Negro people from the time that they were brought to America as slaves until the reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, and an overall period of artistic and cultural growth both in music as well as in traditional art forms. The third and final panel, to me, represents the movement "Back to Africa" as proposed by Marcus Garvey. The shining star which is being watched by the Negro's in the third panel is the light which will guide them back to Africa.

I feel that these panels are important to the overall theme of the second half of the text because they are a visual representation of the ideals behind the Negro movements. The panels illustrated the process of African American struggles as seen through their eyes. For me this became important because I had never really studied African American art before, so it was a new experience for me when I was trying to read the pieces in relation of the ideals set forth in the first half of the text.
The other important piece that I want to talk about is the poem by Countee Cullen titled "Incident."

I feel that this poem was especially impacting on me when I was reading because it clearly defines what it is like for an African American child to experience racism. Because the boy in the poem is only 8 years old there is a certain innocence that is trumped by the experience of the white child calling him "nigger." At the time it was not acceptable for black children to play with white children, so to a white person from the period reading this it would not seem strange that the white child called him this. The interesting and compelling aspect to this poem is that we get to understand this "everyday occurrence" through the eyes of the Black boy, seeing how it affects him. Lines 9-12 state;

"I saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That's all that I remember."

This final stanza is very successful in displaying to the reader that the "incident," which to many would be exactly that (simply a moment in time), has become a lifelong memory for the child, and that even one "incident" can effect a person. One of the definitions of incident on Dictionary.com is "A usually minor event or condition that is subordinate to another." This definition is what most people would think of, but to the Black 8 year old boy it is an instant in time which will forever effect his way of thinking about himself and White people.

The second half of the text Voices from the Harlem Renaissance I felt was more interesting than the first half. I am a person who is very interested in art and poetry, so being able to read the poems of Langston Hughes, Helene Johnson, and Countee Cullen, and view the art of Aaron Douglas, Sargent Johnson, and William H. Johnson, presented a good opportunity for me to experience art that I may have otherwise not experienced. The critical and theoretical essays from the first half of the text were informative, and I feel the art and poetry in the second half helped to further display to the reader that African American Culture is highly valuable and should be looked at as closely as society views White culture.