Miss Town's Classroom

This class will focus on African American writers, artists, blues and jazz musicians of the 1920’s and 1930’s that were part of a great cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. Students will also be introduced to artists that were later influenced by the Harlem Renaissance. Possible artists that will be studied include Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holliday.

"Harlem was my first positive reaction to American life -- it was like entering a paradise of my
own people; the rhythm of Harlem still remains one of the most pleasurable sensations of my blood."
Claude McKay, 1940.

Harlem Jazz Festival 1958

Student Work 2003 | Student Work 2004

Harlem Renaissance Class Study

Student Work 2004

By David Ayo

The following are some "Blues" songs that students wrote.

I Have No Money Blues
By Courtney Bridges

I don't have job
No money at all
I pick up change
And sometimes cans too...
I GOT THE BLUES, YEA I GOT THE BLUES
I have a nice car
But no money for gas
I can't afford nice clothes
So I steal from thrift shops...
I GOT THE BLUES, YEA I GOT THE BLUES
I think about riding my bike
But I can't afford no wheels
All my friends have jobs
So I just take thier money
I GOT THE BLUES, YEA I GOT THE BLUES
Since I can't afford no gas
All I do is sit on my...
I can't afford to work out
So I've really blown out
I GOT THE BLUES, YEA I GOT THE BLUES
Now I know what you're thinkin'
This girl is crazy
She's got no money
But no I won't try to mug you
I GOT THE BLUES, YEA I GOT THE BLUES
So someday I'll get a job
But right now I enjoy bein' a slob
I'm open for donations
Yes 24/7
I GOT THE BLUES

School
By Jordan Craig

It started in pre-school
I liked it a lot
A few days a week,
And no problems I got...
(oh no worries, no, no, worries)

As I got older,
I was now in elementary.
I met new friends.
And couldn't write with a pen...
(oh yes it's gettin' stricter, yes, yes it's gettin' stricter)

5th grade came soon
I was now in middle school
I was a good student.
And a pimp too...
(oh I was the man, oh, oh I was the man)

My freshmen year came,
And I was still riding the bus.
I took APS
But didn't put up a fuss...
(Oh yes it's gettin' harder, yes, yes it's gettin' harder)

I am now a senior,
And thought it was going to be fun.
Two classes a day,
Do you know how bored I've become?
(I think it's senioritis, oh yes senioritis).

Graduation's comin' up.
In 65 days.
If I don't pass this class,
I can't graduate...
(Hint, hint Ms. Town, oh hint, hint

The following are original art pieces created by students in response to the Harlem Renaissance Class Study.

Ngaire Askew's connection to
Aaron Douglas

Into Bondage by Aaron Douglas

Jordan Craig's connection to
Archibald Motley Jr.

Nightlife by Archibald Motley Jr.

Elena Anderson's connection to
Lois Mailous Jones

Grogrette by Lois Mailou Jones

The following are original poems that students wrote in response to the Harlem Renaissance Class Study

A Small City Known As Harlem
By Craig Doran

The morning sun rises over the street.
A place where people gather and meet.
As I crawl from my bed I hear laughter and cheer
A place where freedom comes with no fear.
A society growing strong every day
Things being done in a whole different way.
People work together to make this city thrive.
A place that is part of everyone's lives.
A community working to show the world what they can do.
An era that will bring many things new.
Artists and writers are becoming well known.
While a new kind of music has taken the throne.
An era is born and a culture is freed.
Marking it's importance in history.

The Rise of Harlem
By Kim O'Rourke

The black street is so cold, and alone
the need to belong in the world,
is the need to become, as the Harlem night's wind passes through
the tunes of the voices singing along to the six string.

When you walk along the streets,
seeing books and papers, from McKay all the way to Hurston
and seeing them rise as the bookstand becomes empty...

As you sit and listen you hear the notes of the trumpet
dancing gracefully throughout the street,
as the people of Harlem rest for the night...
for their next day begins just the same way.

Cry
By Mike Allen

I know you can't see 'em comin' down my eyes
So I gotta make these words cry
I know you can't see 'em comin' down my eyes
So I gotta make these words cry

It makes me angry and so sad at the same time
The pain is great
I know if I try I can make it all fine
White's good but not Black
I love livin' at times
But other times I just wanna turn back

I know you can't see 'em comin' down my eyes
So I gotta make these words cry
I know you can't see 'em comin' down my eyes
So I gotta make these words cry

Race? What is Race?
Color? What is Color?
Care? Who Cares?
White or black, that's race
Black, white, that's color
White, black, that's who cares

Discrimination in our nation has faded
It's not gone, just faded
It's not right, I feel so jaded
I cry
I want to quit
Yet, still I try

Difference is the problem
Just difference
Ten fingers, ten toes
Two arms, two legs
A head, two eyes, a nose
And a brain
We're all the same
Except color
Color is the difference

The students assignment was to create a visual interpretation of the "great tree." Janie is the main character in the story and saw her life in the branches of a tree. They had to think about thier owns lives and represent the branches that they feel are important in their own journey.

"Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches."
-Thier Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Student Work 2003

Austin Whipple's creative connection to Harlem Renaissance art.

The following are pictures of students who dressed as the musician that they studied for the
Harlem Renaissance Class Study.

Tony Caccavo as Duke Ellington and Emma Yorra as Billie Holiday

Jayson Capobianco as Thomas "Fats" Waller and Katie Shimizu as Duke Ellington

Robyn Capobianco as Bessie Smith and Alexander Cogbill as Duke Ellington

After listening to and analyzing a variety of songs students developed the following songs.

Dance! Sing!
By Nikki Good Stefani

Dance! Dance!
I danced my childhood away.
Tapping and clapping
the rhythms of my soul.

Sing! Sing!
I sang my nerves away,
smiling and dying for those tunes.

[chorus]
These aren't the fruits of life
but the drummings and strummings
of my heart,
of my soul,
of my life!

Dance! Dance!
The rhythms of life flow
through me like a river through the mountains,
making me dance the night away.

Sing! Sing!
The soul of my people
will whisper,
will scat,
will scream to be heard!

[chorus]

Just let me sing!
Just let me dance!

[chorus]

My Destruction of Louis Armstrong
By Austin Whipple

I see children run, teenagers gaze
I see them pass in a warm haze
And I think to myself, where has it all gone?

I see adults punish, and youngsters cry
The bright blessed day full of the pride
And I think to myself, where has it all gone?

The past of our people, like a gem in our hand
Ours in trust, from those in our heart
I see friends shakin' hands, sayin' "How do you do?"

I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow
I hope they'll learn much more than I know
And I think to myself, will it ever be set?
Yes, I think to myself, where has it all gone?

The following are original art pieces created by students in response to the Harlem Renaissance Class Study.

By Katie Shimizu

By Nikki Good Stefani

The following are original poems that students wrote in response to the Harlem Renaissance Class Study

The Harlem Tree

Through these Harlem streets I crawl
They then pound
Lynchings are common and I've no opportunity
We're only dirt on the ground

Neighbors aren't neighbors.
And Blacks can't be black

Through these Harlem streets I stoop
We are rising.
Society is gaining
A little sapling we've become

People are relating
And businesses are working

Through these Harlem Streets I prance
Yes we did it, we're singing and dancing
Smiles are present on the left and right
Now it's become a full fledged oak tree

It's going and it's going strong,
There is happiness in the air

By Alexander Cogbill

Painted People

Tell me friend;
What separates a white man from a black man?
A color you say? But eliminate the color, then what?
Each has a head, no? Two eyes?
Both have two arms and two legs, a heart, muscles, brain...
So tell me then, of what importance is a color?
If am painted blue, or green does that make me inferior?
If all were painted red how could you distinguish one from the other?
You couldn't could you....
Then how can you now hold any importance to the color of ones skin?

By Tony Caccavo

Here

I am here
Can you see?
I am right before you
You don't notice
I'm singing out
But no one is hearing
I'm writing
But no one is reading
I'm drawing
But no one is seeing
I will be seen someday
And you will notice too

By Steven Jamele

By Nikki Good Stefani

By Katie Shimizu

By Alexander Cogbill

By Pat Reina

Resources
Rhapsodies in Black
Map of Harlem's "hot spots"
The Schomburg Center
Harlem Renaissance Timeline
Events of the 1920s
Harlem Slang

Harlem Renaissance Class Study