The Harlem Renaissance began 55 years after the end of the Civil War. Some would say that this is plenty of time to heal and come together as a nation. White and Black people should be living together in harmony, side-by-side. This was not the case in the 1920s when the Harlem Renaissance began. There was still much violence and segregation between white and blacks.
Margaret Walker and Angelina Weld Grimke poems relate both to each other as well as to the idea of Black and White lives being intertwined and that Black people are still fighting daily to be allowed in. However, they were also fighting to reclaim their ancestry, heritage and identity. The Harlem Renaissance began because Black people immigrated to Urban areas to get away from the violence in the South. They wanted to find a safe space in order to celebrate themselves and to create a community.
The line from Margaret Walker’s poem “For My People,” that says “…drinking when hopeless, tied, and shackled and tangled among ourselves by the unseen creatures who tower over us omnisciently and laugh;” (46) reminds us that those in Harlem still relied on White people in order to make a living. Rich, white men went to Harlem for their entertainment, but Black people were still outsider’s though. White people still believed, according to Angelina Weld Grimke’s poem, “Tenebris,”
That, at night, Has a shadow,
A hand huge and black,
With fingers long and black.
All through the dark,
Against the white man's house, (49)
Black people still were seen as a dark shadow over the White mans world. Black people held the power though. We can see evidence of this in Claude McKay’s poem “The Harlem Dancer” when it says, “But looking at her falsely-smiling face, I knew herself was not in that strange place” (48). The dancer has put on her “work” persona in the club.
Even now, Black people are still fighting to be included. We must all work together in order to include all people in this nation.
Works Cited
Grimke, Angelina Weld. “Tenebris.” Writing the Nation: A concise introduction to American literature 1865 to present. Berke, et. Al. Editors. Online.
McKay, Claude. “The Harlem Dancer.” Writing the Nation: A concise introduction to American literature 1865 to present. Berke, et. Al. Editors. Online.
Walker, Margaret. “For My People.” Writing the Nation: A concise introduction to American literature 1865 to present. Berke, et. Al. Editors. Online.
