Journal #1

"Returning Soldiers" is a powerful piece that has a strong rhythm of outrage and anger regarding the country that oppresses the Negroes. Examining the beat and the patterns of the sentences it is very much like a poem, and this poem’s purpose is to call out the country that the Negroes have been at war with. The voice behind the soldiers is untouchable, the logic and the argument is all clearly laid out. W.E.B. Du Bois identifies the enemy as the country as a whole, referring to America saying, “it lynches,” and “it steals from us,” as though it is the nation that is to blame and not the people. The purpose of this chapter is to appeal to all of the Negroes that have been oppressed and to send the message to anyone that stands in the way of their freedom and rights will have to fight them, because it is a never ending fight for democracy.

"If We Must Die" is not so much about fighting the oppressors but instead stresses the need to die honorably if we must die. The main idea here seems to be comparing the oppressed race to animals. They are “hunted and penned,” but even though Claude McKay can relate to being treated like an animal, he turns it around and says that it is their hunters that are the monsters, they are the real animals. “Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack” Only at the end of the poem does McKay express the need to fight back. This may be because at the beginning they were outnumbered and it seemed like they were completely hopeless. But even just one blow against their countless blows can give them the strength to fight back.

"From Black Manhattan" tells the story that we should all be familiar with. The time period when Negroes were beginning to have more rights, and ownership was the most important right for many of them. We don’t know what it’s like to own nothing, to have nothing to take pride in. Having one’s own land, not relying on someone else for survival is the reason that Negroes sought this prized possession. When taking Harlem Johnson asks “Will the Negroes of Harlem be able to hold it?” (36) Having enough money was one thing, but resisting all of the attacks from anti-black groups was another obstacle altogether.

The central theme that I observed from these readings revolves around resistance. Resisting those who want you out of their town, those who want you to stay quiet and know your place and those who want you dead, was a very difficult struggle during this time period. Dubois, McKay, Johnson and Garvey gave a voice to the frustrations that African Americans struggled with but feared to publicize.

I had a couple of questions while writing this journal. What terms for African Americans are inappropriate? I just don’t understand why black people are called African Americans, but most white people don’t even know that we are termed Caucasians.

Works Cited

Dubois, W.E.B. "Returning Soldiers." The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader. Ed. David Lewis. New York: 1995. 3-5.

Johnson, J.W. "Black Manhattan." The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader. Ed. David Lewis. New York: 1995. 34-45.

McKay, Claude. "If We Must Die." The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader. Ed. David Lewis. New York: 1995. 290.