Brother to Brother

      James Baldwin, a writer who is well known for his best novel called "Go Tell It on The Mountain". This story is an autobiography of his life and struggles in growing up in Harlem as a Black gay man. he became one of the leading African American writers focusing on black and whites, heterosexual and homosexual relations. James wrote many different books named " Giovanni's Room in 1956, Another Country in 1962, Just Above my head in 1979 which all deal with the struggle of  Individuality against intolerance.  
         
      Bruce Nugent is a poet. He was writing  during the time of the "Harlem Renaissance" in Harlem.
The Harlem Renaissance was a time period about being proud of who you are as a black person. It was a time of pride and strength to fight against the oppression. Blacks stood up for their rights and equality that they deserved.
         James Baldwin and Bruce Nugent struggle for there equal rights as "Black Gay " men. These rights are two separate struggles. They are two separate issues. We already have too much hate and ignorance in people who believe one race is better or superior  than the other . There is a lot of opinions based on emotion rather then reason against the gay community because people think that sexual preference is a choice. The black man has to struggle with being gay in an already oppressed society . 

        In the movie Brother to Brother, Perry, the young artist struggles with his family excepting him for being gay. When they find out  he is gay they disown him and throw him out. Not only does his family leave him, he has to deal with some of the community not excepting who he is. Perry becomes close friends with the poet Bruce Nugent. Perry feels comfortable being who he is in front of Bruce. Bruce is a successful strong Black Gay man who is an inspiration to many young Black men whether they are gay or not.
 

November cotton flower By Jean Toomer

November Cotton Flower

BY JEAN TOOMER

Boll-weevil’s coming, and the winter’s cold,
Made cotton-stalks look rusty, seasons old,
And cotton, scarce as any southern snow,
Was vanishing; the branch, so pinched and slow,
Failed in its function as the autumn rake;
Drouth fighting soil had caused the soil to take
All water from the streams; dead birds were found
In wells a hundred feet below the ground—
Such was the season when the flower bloomed.
Old folks were startled, and it soon assumed
Significance. Superstition saw
Something it had never seen before:
Brown eyes that loved without a trace of fear,
Beauty so sudden for that time of year.

 This poem is about how the environment .That blacks are surrounded in at this time is hard for them,even though it is hard they still fight and move on to have here rights meet. This poem is explainng how a cooton plant surrvives through any kind of weather but still grows strong and stays alive through the hard times it goes through.
The HR theme that is represented in this poem is the determination to fight against oppression. i chose this HR theme because it explains how the cotton plant through good and bad still survives.This is showing how blacks at this time went through a huge struggle with being artists and performers but they still stuck through it . The poetic device that is used in this poem seems to be symbolism.    
      I chose this poem because i thought it used symbolism very well. i liked the way this poem was written.                                                          

Building More Stately Mansions By Aaron Douglas

This image show how the globe in this picture, seems to be the center of this art work because it shows how the world revolves around everything and everyone. The HR theme for this picture could be The Desire to Reconstruct the meaning of "Negro" because it shows people working hard and it looks like they are trying to rebuild something and change the world. Each person in this image seems to have a object for working on something. this picture also shows a church and different things that could represent culture and religion , this could also be a symbol for for the world and the different people  in it to come together as one.

i chose this picture because i like all of the different things going on in this piece of artwork. i like the color and the way it is drawn.i like how the colors are all earth toned.

I look at the world by Langston Hughes

I look at the world

by Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes

I look at the world

From awakening eyes in a black face—

And this is what I see:

This fenced-off narrow space   

Assigned to me.

I look then at the silly walls

Through dark eyes in a dark face—

And this is what I know:

That all these walls oppression builds

Will have to go!

I look at my own body   

With eyes no longer blind—

And I see that my own hands can make

The world that's in my mind.

Then let us hurry, comrades,

The road to find.

I chose this poem because it seemed to be in the time period of the Harlem Renaissance. This poem is about Langston Hughes experiance when looking out in the world in Harlem at this time as being a man who is oppressed and is assighned diffrent places he can go to because of his race. He is explaining how at this time blacks where not allowed to go wher ever they wanted because it was not allowed.
        The poetic devices that seemed to have some repetition in it because he keeps touching on the ideas of how being black in those times and how people looked at him and how he looked at himself.
       I like this poem because i like how Langston Hughes is explaining his experience  and what he felt during that time. I  like how in the ending of this poem how he writes ,

"And I see that my own hands can make

The world that's in my mind.

Then let us hurry, comrades,

The road to find". Because it shows how though his experience and the things he went through, he is going to try to stop what is going on by using his hands and his willing to help others stop the oppression.

Into Bondage (1936) By Aaron Douglas

               

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/arts/artfocus_03.html
 This image is explaining how during the Harlem Renaissance blacks where struggling with oppression from whites.
  The HR theme that this image is showing is Determination to fight against oppression because the people in this image are looking towards the same direction with there bodies,  facing the sun like their ready to   fight for there rights and there equality and to break away from the oppression and having to be chained to each other.
I chose this picture because i think it is very well drawn and the message stands out clearly to me, i also really like the limited amount of color that is distributed around this painting . This picture to me seems to show how these people are determined  to fight for what they deserve.

Duke Ellington "It Dont Mean a Thing"

 This song "It Don't Mean a Thing", is about how a song doesn't mean much without the beat in the background. It is also saying how it doesn't matter if you don't have rhythm as long as you are dancing and having fun. 

 The HR theme that is being expressed in this video is pride and determination to fight against oppression through there music and the love for sharing it to there community and there happiness while doing that.Duke Ellington and his band seem to all be having a great time while performing in this video which shows pride in there music and how they are enjoying performing it.

 I enjoy this video , i feel like the song has a very cheerful beat and is very uplifting . I also like how the people in the video seem to look like they are having a good time to.