The Harlem Dancer-poem

The Harlem Dancer

Claude Mckay

applauding youths laughed with young prostitutes

And watched her perfect, half-clothed body sway;

Her voice was like the sound of blended flutes

Blown by black players upon a picnic day.

She sang and danced on gracefully and calm,

The light gauze hanging loose about her form;

To me she seemed a proudly-swaying palm

Grown lovelier for passing through a storm.

Upon her swarthy neck black, shiny curls

Profusely fell; and, tossing coins in praise,

The wine-flushed, bold-eyed boys, and even the girls,

Devoured her with their eager, passionate gaze;

But, looking at her falsely-smiling face

I knew her self was not in that strange place.

(http://www.poetry-archive.com/m/the_harlem_dancer.html)

Analysis 

The Harlem Dancer by Claude McKay is about the people and the nightclubs in Harlem. in the poem he is describing a scene of young man with prostitutes watching a beautiful woman dance on the dance floor. the way she is dancing implies that she he proud of who she is, with no shame. "to me she seemed a proudly-swaying palm". and it also implies that overcoming her hard times have made her this proud beautiful woman "grown lovelier for passing through the storm" she is also obviously dancing for some kind of money "tossing coins in praise" by the way the poet describes her, it sounds like hes saying that she is too good to be dancing for money and that they cant put a price on her. its almost like hes describing her soul.

  the HR themes that i see in this poem are pride because the way McKay describes her it sounds like she is proud of who she is as a black woman.there is a great deal of imagery in this poem. i can easily the "bold eyed boys" and the "shiny curls".i realy like this poem because its really colorful and well written. i chose it because i felt like there could be a diverse oppinion about what it meant, and there were so many things i grabbed from the poem. 

brother to brother prompt A

Khareasha Stokes

Is it really the same?

For black men, it has always been a race to the top finding jobs, homes and fighting oppression and discrimination. For gay men, this has also been a struggle. It is wrong to say that one deserves equality over the other, because if there is no equilibrium of equality for all races, genders, and sexual preferences then there is no equality at all. There are a good number of similarities and differences when it comes to the equality of black men and gay men.

Trying to gain acceptance and equality as a black man is somewhat different then trying to gain acceptance and equality as a gay man because one is a race and the other is a lifestyle choice. You cannot choose which race you are born into, but you can choose your sexual preference. Gay black men are seen as a disgrace to the black community. Because a man is gay and black it gives other even more of an incentive to try and degrade them. In the beginning of the movie the main character Perry got into an argument with other black students who didn’t want to hear about gay issues. Though the black student kept reiterating that he didn’t care about another man’s sexual preference, his tone implied that he was rather hostile towards the subject of gay issues. Did he not want to talk about it because he didn’t like the idea of gay black men, or gay men in general? The idea of a black gay man could be seen as a set back or a disappointment to the black community because some people may say it’s a “waist” of a man.

People may also look at gay black men in Harlem as a double burden when compared to the average black man because you first have to worry about being allowed in certain places because of your race, and then on top of that you have to worry about whether or not you would be allowed because you like other men. It would give people more of an excuse not to let black men into certain places.

Though there are a lot of differences between gaining equality for a black man and a gay man, there are some similarities. They both have a struggle for acceptance. Black men have to fight for acceptance or at least tolerance from the white community and gay men have to gain acceptance and tolerance from family, piers, people of different races, and sexual preferences. For gay black men it’s almost like you weren’t considered to be black if you were gay. In the movie the NAACP disagreed wholeheartedly with homosexuality. Because it’s their own race it seems like it’s more of a problem. if the majority of these men were white then the NAACP and the black community wouldn’t have such a big problem with the fact that the men were gay because those men weren’t representing other black men. One could ask how a gay black man could represent other black men. Your sexual preference doesn’t make you any less black then you already were, and it didn’t make the men any less talented then other black men who were straight. If anything the black gay men had it harder because they not only had to gain acceptance from the whites but from their own race as well.

It didn’t make sense for the black community to disown the black gay men when they had to deal with the same thing with white people. In the movie when Marcus finished reciting his poem at the show, a young white man came up to him and complimented him and Marcus became offended because he felt like he didn’t need the guys approval of his poem. Not too long after, Perry has sex with Jim and gets offended when he makes a comment about the color of Perry’s skin. What’s interesting about it is that Perry feels like the same anger Marcus has towards the “white man” is the same anger he has towards the people who have a problem with him being gay, but then he gets offended when Jim makes the comment about his skin color after they had sex.

Though it was not impossible to acquire equal rights for black men while at the same time trying to get equal rights for gay black men, it must have been a struggle. In conclusion, equality cannot be equality if it is not given to everyone.

Swing Dancing

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD_Bs9egsS4&playnext=1&list=PL0F1217BEBF78EF3D)

this is a video of african americans swing dancing. swing dance was developed in the 1920"s and is usually done to swing music and contemporary jazz.the most popular forms of swing dancing are called the Lindy hop and the Charleston which originated in Harlem, New York. its very closely associated with African American and west African dance.the best place to go to hear jazz and swing dance was the Savoy. This reminds me of negro heritage becasue the dance they are doing and the kusic they are playing is all derived from their ancestors

Jammin at the Savoy

romare bearden "jammin at the Savoy"

This is a picture of an african american jazz band playing at the savoy. it almost reminds me of pop art because of all the colors.i think the colors might represent how the music that is being played brings color and life into Harlem. the HR themes that i see in this painting are Pride, and  Desire to reconstruct the meaning of negro. i said pride because when i think about why the artist might have drawn this, it makes me think that he is culture and the influence that African American art and music has had on the Harlem renaissance. it makes me think that Romare Bearden might have drawn this to show some kind of acknowledgement to his race. i said Desire to reconstruct the word Negro because maybe when he drew it he wanted the viewers to think about the word "Negro" and how when the word was first put out in the world it was used to dehumanize and insult people of color, whereas now it could be seen as a word used with pride and tied with a lot of artistic expression and talent. this picture is ok, i would definitly hang it up in my house because it draws attention and makes me want to stop and look.