Brother To Brother

The movie Brother to Brother is about a young African American gay men named Perry. In the movie you see all the struggles Perry phases at school and within the black community for being gay. In the movie Perry also meets an old man name Bruce Nugent a gay writer and poet from the Harlem Renaissance. Throughout the film you see Perry and Bruce become very close. Bruce shares all his stories from when he was young. Bruce also tells Perrry about how he worked with very famous artist and tried to create a magazine where they told stories about their black community that lived in Harlem. And he tells him how their worked got turned down because it didn't speak to the white community


In the movie the publisher liked Thurman and Hurston's work but he wanted them to make minor changes in order for him to publish their work. He wanted them to make adjustments to their writing to make it more marketable "the public wants danger, sex and violence from Harlem stories." the publisher tells Thurman. He also tells Thurman that the white community sees Harlem as a dark place and he should maintain this image and that "a good writer has to make concessions to what the public wants" in order for their work to be successful.  But Thurman rejects this offer because he wants to stay true to his black community. Additionally the publisher tells Hurston that she needs to rewrite her work so that the white audience would understand it. "You are not writing in easy to read English that people can understand. How do you expect people to get it?” She tells him that this is English and that the people that she is writing to would understand it, "I am not speaking for these people, I am these people." Hurston say and she also refuses to change her work because she says she is not trying to write for the white community, she is writing for African Americans that live in Harlem.

The publisher wants them both to write to the white audience.  He knows that that is where they will make more money.  Hurston and Thurman refuse because they are not trying to write to the white audience and they want to stay true to their story the black community.  I think that the writers were right to refuse to make these concessions to their writing. They were not trying to write to the white audience, they were trying to write to the people that knew what Harlem was like and who live there. Even though they could of went far with their writing if they would have changed it, they didn't and I respect them for that.

In my opinion neither the writers nor the publisher were wrong. I feel that the publisher was only trying to help them become successful and go far with their writing. Sometimes for someone to accomplish where they want to be in life they have to make sacrifices. In this case the publisher felt that Hurston and Thurman should change their work for it to published, and that would be their sacrifice. Its not that the publisher was racist nor he disliked their work, but he felt that their work wasn't what the audience that would buy it wanted. However I completely understand Hurston and Thurman, they weren't trying to change their stories just so that the white audience would like it or understand it. They weren’t trying to speak to white people; they were speaking to people like them, African Americans from Harlem.  

I Dream A World

I dream a world where man No other man will scorn, Where love will bless the earth And peace its paths adorn I dream a world where all Will know sweet freedom's way, Where greed no longer saps the soul Nor avarice blights our day. A world I dream where black or white, Whatever race you be, Will share the bounties of the earth And every man is free, Where wretchedness will hang its head And joy, like a pearl, Attends the needs of all mankind- Of such I dream, my world!  Langston Hughes In this poem James Langston Hughes writes about the world he dreams of. Although the poem is very short it really speaks out and gets the point across. In the poem he talks about about how he wants freedom and how he wishes for peace and love in the world his lives in. When Langston Hughes writes, "A world I dream where black or white, Whatever race you be, Will share the bounties of the earth And every man is free" this is the part that really stands out to me. He is saying that he just wants equality for everyone on earth no matter if they are black or white, he just wants everybody to be happy and free. The HR theme that this poem is trying to portray is determination to fight against oppression. By writing this poem Langston Hughes hopes that society feel his pain and feels the need to change the way things were back in the 1920's. This poem show that Langston Hughes is desperate for change and he just want everybody to be treated equally. Another HR theme in this poem is desire to reconstruct the meaning of negro, by writing this poem Langston Hughes is trying to change the way African Americans are treated in society. He is trying to make it so that everybody is seen with the same fairness. He is trying to change it so that people aren't treated differently because of what race they are. Basically he is showing that no matter if you are black or white you are worth the same. Black or white people should be treated with respect and have equal opportunity.  I chose this poem because its really touching to me. I like how he writes about the world he dreams of, because i can imagine how many people this poem spoke to back then. I'm sure that many people were feeling the way he was. I feel that someone is talented when they can show their pain and their points of views across a very short poem.

Chain Gang

William H. Johnson

William H. Johnson created the picture above. This picture really stands out to me. The way the people are in chain gangs and look like their suffering. The guy hanging down looks miserable; he is a metaphor for African Americans that were being put down by society. The fact that the guys in the picture are wearing prisoner clothing shows how African Americans were prisoners and had no freedom.  The shovels represent how hard black people were working to be accepted within society. The colors in this picture catch my attention, i like how the background its very simple and just made of three colors, but when it comes to the three guys in the picture the they're clothing and skin look very intense and it stands out.  

In this painting you can see how much suffering African Americans went through, and how brutally they were being treated. You can see how unhappy and miserable they were by the look on they're faces. African Americans were trapped and the chain gang symbolizes that. The HR theme that is reflected in this painting is negro heritage & history. I say this because in this painting William H. Johnson shows African American's history, by showing how much they have been through. He uses all this metaphors like the chain gang, shovels, and jail clothing to show no freedom, hard work, and no independence. This is bits and pieces of what African Americans had to phase throughout their lives, this is African American History.

I choose this picture because as soon as I saw it, I knew what it a to me in my eyes, and I felt like I got the concept of the picture. I also thought it would be easy to analyze but when I tried it was harder then I thought. I like the picture because of the exaggeration the painter uses; the colors, and I also like that there are many different ways that this picture could be portrayed.

Harlem Reinassance

Immortal Technique 

 "Some of ya'll forgot what the Harlem Renaissance was, We had revolution music, and artisans, But the movement was still fucked up like Parkinson. Cuz while we were givin birth to the culture we love, Prejudice kept the old people outa the club, Only colored celebrates in the party, And left us a legacy of superiority" The song above talks about what was happening during the 1920's. It talks about people getting kicked out of their properties,  how they separated the black people from the white people, how colored people weren't allowed in the club. It also talks about how African Americans were being used, people that owned the clubs were making money of their talents. So while African Americans were very happy to be performing they were being taken advantage of. Also the community didn't want to make housing affordable for African Americans, they didn't want to give people loans. The community was just unfair with African Americans. 

The HR themes illustrated in this song are anger at racism and pride. The rapper talks about how he is proud of how talented African Americans were back then but he also talks about how angry he is that black people were being discriminated against and were a minority to the community, yet they used them for entertainment and to make money out of them. He talks about how angry it makes him that people were being discriminated against because of their situation economically.

I chose this song because I really like the fact that there are rappers like Immortal Technique that actually care about what went on during the 1920's in Harlem. Another reason why i chose it is because a lot of the music i found about Harlem Renaissance was jazz, but when i found a rap song that spoke about it, it got my attention way more. I feel that rappers now a days should be rapping about this kind of things, important historical things that went on. I like this song because it makes me understand what happened way more and in a faster way, this song is actually educational. 

Jammin' At The Savoy

Romare Bearden

Romare Bearden who was a very talented man made the painting above. In the picture you see a large group of musicians who look really joyful to be playing music. The colors represent the bright and exiting spirit and energy there is going on the stage while the music is being played. This painting is a beautiful way to portray the way African Americans appreciated their art and talents during the Harlmen Renaissance. As you can see every man in this picture looks like their giving it their all on the stage, you can tell that this is what they love to do. When you perform it gives you the opportunity to express how you feel and where you come from. African Americans took advantage of this during the Harlem Renaissance, since people didn't listen to them art was a way they could make people listen and communicate with the white community.

Out of the six HR themes this picture represents pride. They are showing people that they love whom the are and what they do. By what I see they are they are proud to be on that stage making people happy and also showing people a good time. But most important they are showing the crowed what they are made of. Backs then crowds were usually white people and they thought of colored people as minorities so I feel that for African Americans when they performed it was they're time to shine. And also they're time to feel like they were appreciated for who they were. 

I like this picture because I love how you can see how much this people love what they are doing through the painting. I also like how the colors illustrate the life on the stage. As a dancer I know what it feels like to be performing, and I feel that this picture lets people see that feeling and that happiness you get while performing. 

Hellzapoppin (1941)

Lindy Hop

Lindy Hop is a more complicated style of swing dancing. It began in Harlem, New York city during the 1920's. The dance contains of very complicated steps and high energy from the performer. Usually African and European dance traditions are used in this style of dance. It includes a lot of acrobatics, and a lot of it has to do with connecting with you're partner. In the video above you see many different couples dancing Lindy Hop, this video is from the film Hellzapoppin. White people would go to Harlem to watch people dance, they enjoyed it a lot because it was like nothing they've ever seen before. 

The HR themes shown in this video is pride. You can tell that this people are proud to be doing what their doing. Not many people could dance like this during the 1920's, so if you could do it, it was truly a talent. The fact that white people were so amassed by this style of dancing was also a very big deal during these times. This video shows this people enjoying themselves, and being proud of being able to do this type of complicated dancing.

I like this video because I am truly stunned at this style of dancing, the people in this video are so good at it, and they make it look so easy. But in reality this is probably one of the most complicated styles of dancing I've seen so far. I just love the energy that is put into this style of dance. While I was looking for videos I watched a lot of people dancing Lindy Hop and I did not see one person that didn't have a fantastic high energy. I am also amassed at how people can be doing so many different steps at the same time. I just feel that if you can dance like this, you truly have talent.