This image is displayed through many of the headers throughout the archive, it has a very authentic African feel to it. With the geometric shapes and sharp angles, I believe it represents a black man most likely. I don’t feel a deeper message behind this image beside the beauty of the art itself, some things don’t need a deep message beauty is more than enough. While skimming through the archive this was what caught my eye the most, the number of times it was used and how it was almost exclusively used in the header splitting words and making it feel more “full”. It also didn’t help that most of the other images on the Google book were completely missing but this is a good option nonetheless.

 

A bunch of drawings of people’s faces starts showing up, Dr. Blanch C. Williams. She was a professor of English literature and head of the English department at Hunter College. Just as all the other faces from that page and onward she was very successful and intelligent, breaking the glass ceiling that many deemed impossible at the time but realized that it’s not that’s hard as long as you work hard and have a lot of determination. As they say, you make your own luck, and that’s what a lot of these people did. When you think about the history of this nation not a lot of people think about the trials black people have gone through to succeed, even after the abolishment of slavery. Dark days have loomed over and they’re not spoken about in schools or just skimmed through, archives like this make you curious and help you learn new things about the people of the time. Things you probably would’ve never gone over in Highschool history.

While searching through the archive there are many lovely poems,  “Moonlight” by Herschell Bek is one of my favorites. This poem talks about the gentle touch of moonlight and how much the moon has seen more than we could ever hope to imagine, it also has a very religious air to it mentioning “Jesus” multiple times. Art doesn’t need an explicit meaning to be vital to the history, it can show a trend a movement of the mindset of people at large and small scales. I believe this is one of many poems of the time that show growth in the African American community, it had an opportunity (no pun intended) to appear in Opportunity and be a part of this archive. When you look at these smaller details that you’ve never really considered you can see a trend in the world that you may not have picked up on otherwise. Despite the lack of direct a direct message aimed at the struggles of African Americans opts to go for something more people can relate to religion. Religion is a very strong base that a lot of people relate to especially back then when things seemed grim at best.

These items that I’ve hand-picked tell me that Harlem was a place for people to grow into big these big influences on not just their own neighborhood, every person well known to the unknown that was a part of this movement made a statement. That statement being “you can think of us as you’d like but we’re here to stay if you like it or not”. Showing the world that they are more than just what stereotypes made them out to be. From art, personal achievements, and literature this screamed “we are the same as you, and we have beautiful things to share with the world”.

The poem “Moonlight” by Herchell Bek, is not a very strong poem in terms of moving you to feel a certain way, it’s just a good poem with religious tones talking about the lives the moon has overseen. DR. Blanch C. Williams, not a figure you would hear about in a regular history class, still excelled in what she did and could be considered a trailblazer for those who followed her in this search for black excellence and personal achievement. No doubt she struggled with many hardships, but overcame them and became one of the many who broke the glass ceiling. The tribal image, respecting the culture of where it comes from being shared to people all over, looking at it over and over again in the headers, and seeing similar drawings throughout, you can feel the significance that it can hold for African Americans, especially that older generation.

This is what the Harlem Renaissance is a world of culture never seen on this side of the world being shown off to all that will bear witness, but also a group of people who are ready and willing to push themselves to their limits to achieve great things for themselves and others.