African American Poetry

1. African American Poetry http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/langston_hughes/photo

2. What are some examples of African American Literature? Those Winter Sundays Sundays too my father got up early And put his clothes on in thebluebackcold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. When the rooms were warm, he'd call, and slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house, Speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well. What did I know, what did I know of love's austere and lonely offices? Robert Hayden The Black Unicorn by Audre Lorde The black unicorn is greedy. The black unicorn is impatient. 'The black unicorn was mistaken for a shadow or symbol and taken through a cold country where mist painted mockeries of my fury. It is not on her lap where the horn rests but deep in her moonpit growing. The black unicorn is restless the black unicorn is unrelenting the black unicorn is not Free. Dreams Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow. Langston Hughes

3. Movements Harlem Renaissance or New Negro Movement The importance of this movement is that writers tried to include their African American heritage and unique culture in their literary expression. Ex: Langston Hughes- Wrote about African American but kept the dialect because it was already at the level of art. Black Arts Movement Triggered by the assassination of Malcolm X. Forced literature to embrace diversity.