Brother To Brother

              Brother to Brother is a movie about the Harlem Renaissance based on the point of view of an old black writer who lived through it named Bruce Nugent. In the movie he makes friends with a gay young student who goes to an art school. In the film and in real life, Nugent had to struggle for equal rights as a black man, but also for being gay.
            It was difficult being gay during the Harlem Renaissance because that person would not only be ostracized for being black from the white community, but also shunned by the black community. Being gay in that time was a double whammy because not many people accepted them. Not only did Nugent have to struggle to have his work read, but also being accepted by everyone for being gay. The struggle can be seen carried on by Perry in his everyday classes. Although racism doesn't widely exist in society today, homophobia sometimes is. When Perry tried presenting his project to the class about gays, many questioned why they had to watch it. The males in his class did not see equality for gay people as a civil right.
             If I am not mistaken, during the Harlem Renaissance, blacks were often lynched by whites, and this does apply for Perry too in modern day life. Blacks were lynched because they were black and Perry was beaten up by boys in his class because he was gay. Many people say that "Gay is the new Black" and it really applies to these scenarios. They were being physically abused because they were being themselves.
              The blacks during the Harlem Renaissance should of helped the black gay men and women during that time. Why make a minority into an even smaller group so they could shun them from society even more? Blacks should know how racism and discrimination feels like, and they should work with the gays because they were equally being discriminated at. Why make their lives worse? That one man in the movie killed himself in the bathtub because he was gay and ashamed and shunned. That's horrible because being gay doesn't mean one should be an outcast. Gay black men and women in that time still supported fighting against black civil rights, but had to fight by themselves for gay rights. If more people were on board with helping fight against gay rights, maybe both would have been achieved at the end. What's the point of calling it equal rights when someone is left out at the end?
              

An Analysis of "Incident"

Incident

Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger,
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and called me, 'Nigger.'

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

            Incident is a poem written by Countee Cullen, a black writer from the Harlem Renaissance. The poem illustrates an incident where a young black child is riding a bus in Baltimore excited at what he is seeing there. He notices a boy staring at him on the bus. The black child smiles at him because he feels they are closely similar, the only difference being their size and age. When the white boy calls him the N word, he makes the black boy aware of how different they actually are.
             This slur is most likely the boys first experience of racism, and it ruins his whole trip to Baltimore. In the poem the boy seemed very eager to be friends with the white boy, but this was ultimately shattered by the other boys racism. He states "I saw the whole of Baltimore...Of all the things that happened there That's all I remember," showing he had seen it all just in that one incident and was devastated by it.
              This poem uses rhyme in the ABCB format, and it allows the poem to flow more. There does not seem to be any HR theme that perfectly fits into this poem but I would say the HR theme is "Determination to fight against opression" because the boy was crushed by the white boys racist slur which probably resulted in him feeling down enough that he would want to do something about it. It's not implied in the poem, but I'm just guessing what may happen after this.
               I chose this poem because it is narrated from the view point of  a young child which is different from most poems I have read. Even though the poem is about a more serious issue, it's dilluted due to the fact they are children. The white boy sticking his tongue out gives it a lighter feel, but still addresses the story. I also like the rhyme pattern in this, very unique.

A Brief Biography of Aaron Douglas

" Do not call me the Father of African American Arts,

for I am just a son of Africa,

and paint for what inspires me."

                 One of the many infleuential people of the Harlem Renaissance was the painter Aaron Douglas. Douglas was born in Kansas, and had an affinity to art ever since he was a child. He moved to New York shortly after recieving his B.A (Bachelor of Arts) degree from University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Within a few monthes of staying in New York, Douglas had already started illustrating for two of the most important magazines of the HR, and got to work with Alain Locke

                  Aaron Douglas is considered the "Father of African American Arts" because his pieces are so inspired by African Culture. His style is abstract and features flat objects and geometric shapes. What really sets his work apart from others is his use of glowing rings around important objects in his work. His work is inspired by ancient Egyptian and West African art.
                   Douglas was not only limited to illustrating magazines, he also made illustrations for important writers of the HR including Countee Cullen and James Weldon. Not only this, but he also made murals and attempted at starting a magazine that would feature talented young artists. Douglas was infleuential because his art had a sense of pride in it, celebrating African culture as well as the achievments of black Americans. This is why the HR theme that reflects his life is "pride" because this is feeling he conveys through his work. He is proud of his African roots and it inspired him to paint about it.
                   I chose to write about Aaron Douglas because he made really great art. They are just so nice to look at. Douglas always painted with a nice palette of colors, each one complementing each other. I also like when you first look at the painting, it just looks nice, but upon further inspection you can see his work expresses many of his ideas. One of my favorite things about his work is that all his pieces look like they have the same concept, and share many of the same washed out colors.

Art Analysis: Jacob Lawrence

         
                  This is a painting named Ironing by Jacob Lawrence. This work of art features an array of bold colors, and ethnic patterns on the pieces of cloth being ironed. The people are dressed in pale blue hats and matching dresses. The style is very simplistic and colorful.
                   This piece seems to be about preserving black culture. I can see this because the people in the painting are ironing cloth with ethnic patterns. Because they are also ironing modern day dress shirts, it shows they also care about the present.
                   One of the main HR themes used in the painting is "Identification with race." The people in the painting clearly care about their culture because they are ironing what seems to be traditional garb from Africa. Culture is something that can never be taken away, and because they have these pieces of clothing and blankets shows they want to hold onto it.
                    I like this painting because of how simple it looks. The blocks of color on the fabrics make them very bold, especially with Lawrence's choice of color. The only real shaded part of the painting are the workers. I also like how even though this was made in the 1940s, it looks so modern like it was painted in the 21st century.

Art Analysis: Aaron Douglas

                This is an art piece named Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction painted by artist Aaron Douglas, a black painter who lived during the Harlem Renaissance. The piece shows the course of black history.
                 As you see, the left of the painting shows silhouettes of black people with drums and some kind of crop growing in the background showing the time before slavery. Moving a little to the right we see people hunched over which represents opression and slavery. Next, the man standing up pointing shows to desire to fight against slavery, and to the right of him you can see people with their fists up ready to fight. The far end of the painting exhibits a man playing a trumpet and a woman dancing reflecting the events of the Harlem Renaissance where blacks had a chance to express themselves in several artistic ways.
                  Several HR themes are expressed in this painting. One of these themes is the "exploration of Negro heritage" because the painting from left to right shows the course of black history; from being in Africa to the explosion of art in the Harlem Renaissance. Another theme used is "determination to fight against opression." The center of the painting shows a man pointing and people with fists clenched. This shows the struggle against slavery. "Pride" is a more subtle theme in this piece of art. The painting wants black people to feel a sense of pride that they endured so much and acomplished a lot.
                    I like this piece because of all the cool colors. It gives a very refreshing appeal to it due to the lack of harsh colors, and the overall painting looks soft. The silhouettes work really well with the color palette which otherwise wouldn't work if the people were really detailed. I like the "glowing" areas because it really draws your eyes into it.

An Analysis of "As I Grew Older"

 As I Grew Older

It was a long time ago.

I have almost forgotten my dream.

But it was there then,

In front of me,

Bright like a sun--

My dream.

And then the wall rose,

Rose slowly,

Slowly,

Between me and my dream.

Rose until it touched the sky--

The wall.

Shadow.

I am black.

I lie down in the shadow.

No longer the light of my dream before me,

Above me.

Only the thick wall.

Only the shadow.

My hands!

My dark hands!

Break through the wall!

Find my dream!

Help me to shatter this darkness,

To smash this night,

To break this shadow

Into a thousand lights of sun,

Into a thousand whirling dreams

Of sun!

 source, poemhunter.com

           As I Grew Older is a poem written by Langston Hughes. The poem looks at the idea of  achieving dreams, and how it's difficult to get them because he is black. In this poem, the blockade which obstructs him from achieving it is a wall. The dream seemed very possible at first, but then the wall "rose slowly" showing that it seemed less and less likely as he grew up. He was then in the shadows until he realized that he needed to destroy the wall to obtain his dream.

          This poem expresses the idea of opression and fighting against it, which is one of the HR themes. Back in the 1900s racism was prevelant in society and it prevented blacks from achieving their dreams, and letting them believe they didn't have a chance. The line, "I have almost forgotten my dream," shows this because the dream seemed so unattainable that it wasn't worth trying. The wall in the poem is a metaphor for the white community, limiting the movement of the black community. It "rose slowly, slowly, between me and my dream" shows it could easily block the dreams of the blacks. He sees that he can no longer let the wall get in his way and breaks it with his "dark hands" and it helps him to "shatter this darkness," and finally get closer to reaching his dream, and having others reach their dreams, thus the "thousand lights of sun."

            This poem is very straight forward but there are different literary devices used, one being metaphors. The wall represents the opression of whites as mentioned earlier. The "thousand dreams of sun" shows that the sun embodies the brightly lit future when the "wall" is finally broken down, and the black people aren't in the shadows anymore. Hughes' choice of diction allows us to see the walls are "thick" and the hands are "dark" to give more clarity on the imagery of the subjects he is talking about. 

              I picked this poem because I enjoy reading poetry written by Hughes and this poem seemed relevant to the assignment. I do think this is one of his more easy to read poems because the meaning is very literal. I enjoy the simplicity of it as opposed to one of his other pieces, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, which is more heavy on metaphors.