Interpret the Evidence and Put It in Context

Document Links:

Document 21.5 A. Philip Randolph and Chandler Owen, “The New Negro—What Is He?” 1919

Document 21.6 Claude McKay, “If We Must Die,” 1919

Document 21.7 Langston Hughes, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” 1921

Document 21.8 Aaron Douglas, Illustration, The New Negro, 1925

Document 21.9 Bessie Smith, “Down-Hearted Blues,” 1923

Interpret the Evidence

  1. According to the editors of the Messenger, what made the New Negro different from earlier black activists (Document 21.5)?

  2. In Claude McKay’s view, what purpose might be served by resistance in the face of overwhelming odds (Document 21.6)?

  3. How would you characterize Langston Hughes’s relationship to Africa (Document 21.7)? How does he appeal to history to lend insight into the experiences of Africans in America?

  4. How does Aaron Douglas illustrate the themes Hughes presents in his poetry (Document 21.8)?

  5. How do Bessie Smith’s lyrics expose the difficulties African American women faced in their everyday lives (Document 21.9)?

  6. Where can you see evidence of the idea of the New Negro in these documents?

Put It in Context

Why did the Harlem Renaissance flourish in the 1920s?