Reginald Gammon

Reginald Gammon was an artist from the Civil Rights Movement. He depicted the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement, jazz and blues music, and many unsung heroes. He painted a piece in 1963 called Freedom Now. It shows many black people protesting and demanding the freedom that they deserve. The purpose is to show the reality of society during that time period. Many black people were protesting so that the government would create laws to establish their equality. This artists embodies the time period because he shows exactly what is happening within his artwork and doesn't alter what he sees. All of these artists embody the time period because they kept it real in terms of what they saw in society and the way they depicted in. They showed reality exactly the way it was.

Freedom Now by Reginald Gammon

James Baldwin

James Baldwin was an author who wrote an essay collection called "Notes of a Native Son". It talks about being an African-American during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. It goes into detail about the events that blacks witness and the inequality that they endure during this period of time. He goes into detail about the problems within society and how many of them were created due to racial discrimination. The purpose of this piece is to educate people of the problems within our society and how they are racially-based. This author fits with this time period because he talks about the big race factor and gives you direct insight to racism during this time period.

Bob Dylan

Only A Pawn in Their Game

A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers' blood.
A finger fired the trigger to his name.
A handle hid out in the dark
A hand set the spark
Two eyes took the aim
Behind a man's brain
But he can't be blamed
He's only a pawn in their game.
A South politician preaches to the poor white man,"You got more than the blacks, don't complain.
You're better than them, you been born with white skin," they explain.
And the Negro's name
Is used it is plain
For the politician's gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.
The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid,
And the marshals and cops get the same,
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool.
He's taught in his school
From the start by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up his hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.
From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks,
And the hoof beats pound in his brain.
And he's taught how to walk in a pack
Shoot in the back
With his fist in a clinch
To hang and to lynch
To hide 'neath the hood
To kill with no pain
Like a dog on a chain
He ain't got no name
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.
Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught.
They lowered him down as a king.
But when the shadowy sun sets on the one
That fired the gun
He'll see by his grave
On the stone that remains
Carved next to his name
His epitaph plain:Only a pawn in their game.


Bob Dylan is a musician who wrote music that criticizes society as it is. He wrote a song called Only a pawn in their game. It talks about a white man who shoots another white man because he is helping out blacks in the Civil Rights Movement. The purpose of this song educate society about how racist some people really are. Some people don't want equal rights whereas some white people such as Bob Dylan want black people to have equal rights. This piece embodies the time period because it describes exactly what life was like during that time. It shows the type of people that existed and what their mindsets were. It also shows how hard people were fighting for equality.

Compare and Contrast

The Civil Rights Movement was not passive in comparison to the Harlem Renaissance. They were very active and more aggressive than the Harlem Renaissance people. The Civil Rights Movement was also a more direct strike towards the government whereas the Harlem Renaissance used culture indirectly to hint to the public and the government that they wanted change within their society. The Civil Rights Movement activists wanted the government to make laws to change the ways of society. One thing they both had in common was that they tried to integrate black culture within normal society. They also both wanted political changes no matter how big or small.

Gwendolyn Bennett

Gwendolyn Bennett wrote a piece called "To a Dark Girl". The purpose of the piece is to show the level of appreciation that people should have for black women. They used to be on the level of queens and then they became slaves. This embodies the time period because it shows the racial pride and empowerment that black people should have and the level of appreciation that others should have for black people.

To a dark girl
I love you for your browness,

And the rounded darkness of your breast,

I love you for the breaking sadness in your voice

And shadows where your wayward eyelids rest.
Something of old forgotten queens

Lurks in the lithe abandon of your walk

And something of the shackled slave

Sobs in the rhythm of your talk.
Oh, little brown girl, born for sorrow's mate,

Keep all you have of queenliness,

Forgetting that you once were slave

And let your full lips laugh at Fate!

These artists help to uphold the elements that are consistent of the Harlem Renaissance. The elements are clearly shown in each of their pieces. The Harlem Renaissance used cultural and literary aspects to influence political and social changes within their society. The Harlem Renaissance used an indirect approach in order to get their point across and so that people would hear their voice. It was not a forceful movement. It was easygoing but the artists and writers still wanted some progress to take place.

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes is writer of poetry, prose, and drama. In a poem titled "The Weary Blues," Hughes talks about a black man that is filled with blues and displays his sadness through his music. The purpose is to show the talent and blues of the African-American community. This embodies the period because once again blues is a major element of the Harlem Renaissance. It also displays the large amount of talent that exists within the black community.

The Weary Blues

Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,

Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,

I heard a Negro play.

Down on Lenox Avenue the other night

By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light

He did a lazy sway....

He did a lazy sway....

To the tune o' those Weary

With his ebony hands on each ivory key

He made that poor piano moan with melody.

O Blues!

Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool

He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.

Sweet Blues!

Coming from a black man's soul.

O Blues!

In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone

I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan-

"Ain't got nobody in all this world,

Ain't got nobody but ma self.

I's gwine to quit ma frownin'

And put ma troubles on the shelf."

Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.

He played a few chords then he sang some more-

"I got the Weary Blues

And I can't be satisfied-

Got the Weary Blues

And can't be satisfied-

I ain't happy no mo'

And I wish that I had died."

And far into the night he crooned that tune.

The stars went out and so did the moon.

The singer stopped playing and went to bed

While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.

He slept like a rock or a man that's dead.

Aaron Douglas

Aaron Douglas has a painting called Idylls of the Deep South. It displays the variety of lifestyles that African-Americans lead in the South. It embodies the period because it shows racial pride and racial consciousness by showing elements of jazz music and slavery. It shows variety within the African-American society by saying that African-Americans are talented and are not just slaves, there is variety within our culture also.

Duke Ellington

Blue Again, blue again
And you darn well it's you again
You said last night we were through again
And now I'm blue again

I'm alone again, alone again,
I'm out around on my own again
There's a mockingbird that's flown again
And I'm alone again

Now baby, though I said I hate you
I love you more everyday, babe
Though I aggravate you
All that I'm dyin' to say that it's new again

You again and we'll meet today
At half past two again
And tonight we'll fight again
And I'll be blue again

Duke Ellington's song title "Blue Again" tells a story of how he and his girlfriend broke up again and he is sad. [http://www.redhotjazz.com/dukecco.html] This song's purpose is to display and continue the blues tradition. This song embodies the time period because one of the main elements of the Harlem Renaissance is the tradition of the blues. It connects with the emotion of the listener, causes the listener to understand the purpose of the song, and also to agree with this movement of music with messages.

The Civil Rights Movement Background Info

The Civil Rights Movement occurred from 1954 to 1968. This began in 1954 with the Brown v. Board case and ended with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Many of the Civil Rights activists pushed for change within the government in terms of laws and not just an unwritten law within society. This movement made people aware of the inequalities that minorities faced. Events such as the murder of Emmett Till and the arrest of Rosa Parks helped to publicize the cruel and unusual behavior towards blacks. Many laws were actually put into action. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ban discrimination of any kind due to race, religion, or national origin. The Civil Rights Movement progressed from the peaceful protesting of Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington to Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. These more violent approaches demanded equality and laws to accept this within the government.





Black Panthers Malcolm X Martin Luther King Jr.

Background Info on The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance began at the end of World War I and ended in the mid 1930s of the Great Depression. It was a cultural, social, and artistic movement that took place in Harlem, New York. Many African-Americans came from the South to Harlem so that they could express themselves freely. The Harlem Renaissance occurred not too long after the northward migration of blacks. "During this period Harlem was the Mecca to which black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars traveled." Many African-Americans writers used their talents to write about popular topics such as alienation and the tradition of the blues. During this time period, "The New Negro" was published in 1925. It was created by the African-American philopher named Alain Locke. It is the anthology and idea that black people should seize their opportunities for self-expression and self determination. This way, black people could use their talents to political changes towards their goals of civil rights and equality.

Some elements that are found in this period are:

• that it is a period based on writing and literature, not politics.
• Also, a divided personality exists, common themes such as those name above, racial consciousness, racial integration, and the rise of music common to this movement such as jazz and blues music.

Some important people from this period of time were Duke Ellington, a musician, Aaron Douglas, an artist, Langston Hughes, a male writer, and Gwendolyn Bennett, a female writer.

Langston Hughes Gwendolyn Bennet Aaron Douglas Duke Ellington