Touring Harlem with Literary Traveler
February 11, 2011 in African American Literature, American literature, Black Literature, Travel to New York City
Harlem is a place that is so closely imbued in the hearts of Americans everywhere. Even tourists from around the world come to see the streets of Harlem, a once Mecca to the black artist, including the black writer. What arose from the Harlem Renaissance was a beautiful, literary tradition of African American stories, storytelling and history. Langston Hughes, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Nella Larsen, Carl Van Vechten, Countee Cullen, Louis Armstrong, Zora Neale Hurston … these are the names of the Harlem Renaissance.
Can you imagine going into a club in Harlem in the 1920s-30s and seeing Louis Armstrong blow on his trumpet or Langston Hughes reading his poem “Harlem” a.k.a. “A Dream Deferred”? This era was magical, never to be repeated as of today, sadly enough. But the magic still resounds in the streets of Harlem. The people there haven’t forgotten where they come from. Even though there are now more white people living in Harlem than black. Even though Harlem has pretty much underwent gentrification.
The memory of the Harlem Renaissance exists. You can find it on amateur night at the Apollo Theater, in the spirit of the Harlem Globetrotters (originating in 1926) and the smooth jazz and blues songs of Black Swan Records. I hope to find it myself in a couple weeks as I head to Harlem to eat at Sylvia’s, a historic restaurant owned and run by Sylvia Woods, the “Queen of Soul Food,” since 1962. Everyone who is someone has eaten there, including President Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Susan Lucci, Magic Johnson and many more.
So explore Harlem with us with these two articles that give you the grand tour of a place imbued with literary spirit and black pride.
Black History Month continues with Faith Ringgold, renown artist and author of the children’s classic Tar Beach. Ringgold grew up in the Depression era in Harlem in the 1930s. As a young girl, she saw the injustices of money and race firsthand during the latter years of the Harlem Renaissance.
We’re proud to celebrate Black History Month in February 2011. As an American-based magazine, we celebrate along with the rest of the country. Since our publication focuses on the literary, we decided a long time ago to extend the usual canon of dead white men to include all those who made literary contributions to our country. Thus, in preparation for Black History Month in two weeks, we’d like to take a minute to reflect on our articles that highlight the black literary canon and black history.
