brother to brother

Why are we forced to seperate the struggle for equal rights for black men and gay men? Why are these two different things. First and for most, the struggle of a black man and a gay man are far from eachother, quite different but one thing that they do have in common is respect. Even though they dont get as much equal rights as they should they still have two different struggles.

Gay men struggle with respect, from people and peers around them and they dont get much respect from higher authorites their not able to live life the way they please because their wants and needs are the choice of government and the public and they might not have the same feeling as them. Also gay men are stamped with a huge stereotype and that stereotype is diseases thepublic beleives that gay people are the main men are the ones who carry the most dangerous diseases. Another thing is that, its with the whole gay community not just particularly men its their women too, they all have a huge struggle that they fall under. Mostley it comes from the public because they have to deal with the people's personl opinions whether if their good or not because in the end th public opinion is what matters not theirs for example in the harlem renaissance the artist were trying to make a zine in their perspective of things and since they were gay the public disrespcted them and their zines and denied them. But me personally i dont agree with gay rights but im not against them.

Black men has a big struggle also. They have to deal with a stereotype that was stamped on them from racism and slavery and that stereotype is that they're not worth as much as another race of a human being, they dehumanize them, they also feel that black men are only good for certain things that has to do more with the body (physical things) they feel that black men arent intelligent enough for mental and academic things and developement. And for that reason they get less respect. They also have to deal with racism, and the mindset of those who put the stereotype on them and all the small but big problems that come along with that.

But both of these topics has quite a difference and the thing that seperate them is that, with black men you cant change what race you are, theirs nothing you can do about it black people will always have to deal with a struggle. There are many black people who feel that if your black and gay then you bring more problems to the race because of the fact they will always have to deal with racism and much more so dealing with the gay issue brings more. On the other hand with gay people they chose to go which way they do whether its gay straight or bi, so they basiclly bring a struggle upon their self.

I, Too, Sing America

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides, 
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

I, Too, Sing America, is about a black person experiencing racism " i am the darker brother ", its about how white people feel they should get better privelages than african americans. The poem is explaining how african americans get treated different and langston hughes is giveing a personal experience

The poetic devices that are used are, ( irony ) irony is used becuse while reading this you would tink that itwould be a depressing poem but really its about pride, another device that is used is personification (giving human-like characteristic to animals), and an exaple of how that is used is when he says " they send me to the kitchen when company comes ". Another one the is being used is repitition , an example of this is when langston says "besides, theyll see how beautiful i am and be ashamed" , and in this quotes he's makeing a point that they dont put hime down and he has alot of pride.

The HR themes that are used are, fighting against oppresion which basicly means fighting against stereotypes, a part of the poem that represent that is when he says "nobody'll dare say to me eat in the kitchen" , in ths quote he's basiclly fighting against what they expected, they expected him to do as told but he's saying he's fighting against it. Another one that is being used is pride, an an example of how pride is being used is when he says "but i eat and laugh and grow strong" , and he's saying that it dont matter what they say to him he's not going to let them put him down.

I chose this because i like the pride and self respect he tended to have in this poem, he was experiencing racism but didnt let it get him down. Over all its a good poem one thing that could have been better is the structure of the poem, its very short and if it waslonger and more to it he wouldve proven his point better and gave a more clear message.

for the poem (famouspoetsandpoems.com)

HR artist !

This picture is about all the poets, artist, dancers and etc. It's kind of a biography on each of them about their history. Featured artist in this poem are Augusta Savage, Duke Ellington, John Toomer,Langston Hughes,Nora Holt and many more. A couple of highlights about these artist is that they all were motivated and passionate in what they did. They enjoyed this time period, mostly because it was a time when "negros" were more than just the stereotype thats put towards them.

The HR themes that are being used in this picture are negro heritage and history, and the way this is being used is the structure of how this picture/poster was made it has a picture of an artist with their history and personal art pieces and etc. There are no more that are being used, instead i feel that this image has more to do with history and the big event of harlem rather than race itself.

I chose this image because it was very interesting and gave lots of information that i didn't know about the artist from the Harlem Renaissance, also because it shows the good highlights about them and not just the negative things. the thing i like about it the most it was well structured, as a poster.

Personally I don't think anything should be changed on this photo nor do i think something is wrong with it. It probably could've had more information and maybe more artist, and more about the Harlem Renaissance and how and what they had to to get that far to get attention from the audience and publics who payed their art attention, but overall its a great poster.

for the image (netposterworks.com)

exotic night in harlem

The Harlem Renaissance was full of visual arts , this is a photo representing the passion and joy the people had for this period of time. People tend to show there talents in melodious way especially the women, the dancing was very plump it gave off a very energetic vibe. one of the artist in the Harlem Renaissance once said "Those that don't got it, can't show it. Those that got it, can't hide it." - Zora Neale Hurston , and what she meant was that at that period of time expressing yourself was something you can do in very many different ways and if you got vibe in you of the Harlem Renaissance you could show it in a very special way.

There are a couple of HR themes that this photo represent. One is Identification with race the reason i chose this is because this photo is showing how african americans as "negros" has their own special way ( as every race do of course ) of expressing their inner self, it could have something to do with music,visual arts,or performing art. Another theme i chose was pride, this picture is showing a lot of pride and joy of the "Negro" from the HR. Anther theme i picked which was also very interesting t me is desire to reconstruct the meaning of negro, this picture is showing how the artist in the HR is turning the stereotype around that other races had formed about african american people.


I chose this because it shows how much passion and fun they had back then when it comes to music and dance and for our generation its a big diffrence between them and us, most of our music is very ignorant so dosent give much of a message like theirs did. Over all I like the peice because its a very good piece of art.

as i got older , langston hughes

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! ( www.poemhunter.com )  this poem is about the author (langston hughes) growing & being able to be successful and do what he always dreamed to which is being an artist, expressing his inner feelings and self to the readers. For example "To smash this night,To break this shadow Into a thousand lights of sun,Into a thousand whirling dreams Of sun!" he is saying that basically he's breaking the wall and the fear for african american people to be able to fulfill their dreams. The HR themes that are present in this poem are, 1: determination and fight against oppression, and this is present because he's proving that the stereo type that black people arent good for anything is proven wrong in this poem. Another one that is present is 2: pride, and the way pride is being used is because he has alot of self strength and will not stop with his dream. The last one that is being used is desire to reconstruct meaning of negro, he's trying to prove that black can people can do way more than the white people think we can. The poetic devices that are being used in this poem are, hyberbole, irony, and symbols. the way irony is being used is when he says "it was a long time ,  almost forgotten my dream" the way this is irony is because you would expect by the way the poem started that it would be a sad depressing poem. The way hyberbole is being used is when he says "my dark hands! break the wall! and find my dream!" and the way hyberbole is used is because its kind of exaggeration, because its clear thats not exactly what he mean. The way symbols are being used is when he says "rose until i touched the sky" this is a symbol of him saying he broke through and succeeded. I chose this because its a very inspirational poem. what was inspirational to me is that he said "My hands!My dark hands!Break through the wall!" and the reason this is inspirational to me is because in this quote he explaining how an african american can accomplish things and do what they always dreamed to. But based upon the poem itself i like it because its very motivational.

Harlem

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore -
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over -
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?


Harlem is about dreams and the outcome from them in other words the result, from the word deferred ( postponed ) he's asking what's the result with a dream that was put on hold? does the person who dreamed it forgets about ? do they still have it in them to accomplish it?.

From my point of view there are no HR themes present in this poem, and the reason for that is because this poem doesnt have anything to do with race and the HR themes are based upon different outcomes of the african american culture or the name(negro). Instead this poem has more to do with the person itself and that person's inner self. To me the theme of this poem is life and lifestyle and were life place you, everyone has dreams but this poem is saying sometimes those dreams don't come through so what happens after that?.

The poetic devices that are being used in this poem are, 1: similes and metaphors( a comparison ), and there are many places in this poem that you would see these like for example Langston says "does it dry up like a raisin in the sun". 2: symbols, the way symbols are being used is when Langston says " does it stink like rotten meat" the symbol in that is making is does the dream go away? is it still possible to accomplish?. 3: repetition ( making a point ) the point that he make's is through out the whole poem from the main question of the poem.

I chose this because it was very interesting to me, like how the way he was using similes and metaphors and the point he was making of the poem with dreams that are postponed. The thing that could've been better is the way it was written he could've put more into the poem t make it more interesting.

for the poem (www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap9/hughes.html)