Focus/ key themes/ what ideas do your posts connect, relate to, or contrast? (1-2 sentences)
I want my final project to be focused on the central theme of Black refinement and its history using the Harlem Renaissance as a starting point. I want to tie in themes of the New Negro and how there was a conscious effort on the part of Black leaders to disrupt the long-held beliefs about Black people in America.
What will you teach, explain, or demonstrate? (think of this as a thesis) (1-2 sentences)
I want to teach the “re-invention” of the Black identity in the United States, and how this was an entire movement that was led by Black people.
Why is it important or significant to you(or others who may want to learn about the Harlem Renaissance) (3-5 sentences).
I think it’s important because I think this topic adds another layer to what people might have believed the Harlem Renaissance was for. This time period was of course a time of great artistic discoveries, but there is also this other very important, culture-shifting, part of this time period that is often overlooked. The Harlem Renaissance was a very significant time for re-invention and reclaiming which I think is extremely powerful and still resonates today.
What posts will you feature and why (e.g. based on your focus)? List and descript selected blog post titles. What do you hope your selected blog posts will teach or show readers? (2-3 sentences)
I will use “Blog Post #1” (I will create an actual title for it), “Harlem: A Black Mecca”, and “The Weary Blues and Social Progress” as the posts I will feature. I choose these three because they all in some way or another touch on the central theme of Black refinement and the re-invention of the Black identity. I hope these blog posts will teach some forgotten history about some of the important magazines that contributed to that shift and the unsung leaders that helped spearhead the movement.
Bibliography (primary and secondary texts, at least 2 resources, at least 3 secondary resources.)
Primary Sources:
- Opportunity Magazine
- Crisis Magazine
Secondary Sources
- Roberson, Gloria Grant. “Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life [JZ].” The World of Toni Morrison: A Guide to Characters and Places in Her Novels, Greenwood Press, 2003, p. 155. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2892400568/GVRL?u=cuny_baruch&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=ba3156b4. Accessed 9 Mar. 2022.
- Beilke, Jayne R. “Harlem Renaissance.” The SAGE Encyclopedia of Economics and Society, edited by Frederick F. Wherry and Juliet Schor, vol. 2, SAGE Reference, 2015, pp. 843-846. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX6279200334/GVRL?u=cuny_baruch&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=58708a6f. Accessed 5 May 2022.
- “John P. Davis: ‘A Black Inventory of the New Deal’.” Milestone Documents in African American History: Exploring the Essential Primary Sources, edited by Paul Finkelman, vol. 3: 1901-1964, Schlager, 2010, pp. 1088-1100. Milestone Documents. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2504100092/GVRL?u=cuny_baruch&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=326eea13. Accessed 5 May 2022. (source for overview page)