Film: Brother to Brother

Brother to Brother

Due:

Essay prompts: use evidence/examples/quotes when possible.
A) James Baldwin is one of the most critically acclaimed black writers in the country (if you haven't read him yet, you will in Becker's class).  Richard Bruce Nugent, although not as well known, is probably equally talented.  They are both gay, yet they forced to separate their struggle for equal rights as black men and equal rights as gay men. Why?
Erby's notes:

• black males in Perry's class: hostile towards gay issues.  Don't even want to watch film (Perry's project).  They are the black community and they don't see gay rights civil or equal rights. 
• black kid in Perry's class jumped him: black on black violence
• video clip with Eldridge Cleaver who looked down on Baldwin, judged him and basically crucified him by saying "you let the white man F you in the ass, what does that make you?" Cleaver's calling him a whore and a sell out. By Cleaver's definition (a well-respected Black Panther/activist) one can't be black AND gay. 
• The NAACP burning "Fire" because they don't agree with content--homosexuality.  --> again, it's separating minorities instead of recognizing that minorities can and do have the same struggle: the struggle for equality. 
• basically: gay black men have 2 strikes against them.  1) gay men didn't accept them because they're black 2) black men didn't accept them because they're gay (cynical comment: I guess black gay women have 3 strikes.  Figures.)
• equal rights are equal rights.  if they're not applied to everyone they're not equal

B) The book publisher wants both Thurman and Hurston to change their writing styles before he will publish their books.  What is the publisher's justification for this request?  How do Thurman and Hurston respond and what is their reasoning?  What is your opinion?
Erby's notes:

• Publisher says to Thurman that the public wants a Harlem that is dark, dangerous and violent --> Thurman says that's not accurate. It's like what Dubois was saying in "Criteria of Negro Art:" (see yellow book)-in the past white people told black history and experience and being told second hand is inauthentic. 
• Publisher says to Hurston that Nigger Heaven was the best selling book written by a white person but the public wants an authentic voice.  --> isn't this contradictory?  They get an authentic voice but then Thurman was told it's inauthentic because Harlem wasn't painted as a dark and dangerous place.
• Publisher says to Hurston that her voice needs to change from vernacular to white English ---> she explains that it's written for her people and they'll understand it fine
• Interesting point: Ms. Cunnane gave me a copy of Hurston's most famous book "Their Eyes are Watching Go" but I didn't finish it--it was too hard to read in the vernacular and I lost interest.  (note: although this is VERY bad modeling for you guys, I have read other Hurston novels, and "Dust Tracks on a Road" is one of my favorites). 
• Perry is told that before he can get an art gallery his art has to change
• HR theme: pride

Prompt C) Scholars claim there are 6 main themes of the HR.  The film Brother to Brother is contemporary and therefore ~ 75 years after the HR.  Which themes do you still see present in the black community, as illustrated by the movie?
Erby's notes:

• anger at racism: Marcus
• pride: Perry is out 
• reconstruct meaning of Negro: black can be gay; not separate
• negro heritage and history: entire film is a reflection on HR when black culture flourished and was appreciated by all

Langston Hughes: "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"

I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
     flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln 
     went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy 
     bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

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Clearly this poem is about Negro heritage and history: the Euphrates River in the Middle East--Babylon was built on its banks.

The Congo and the Nile Rivers flow through Africa; the former in particular goes right through what was the kingdom of the Kongo; a thriving and

important kingdom ravaged by the European slave trade while the latter reminds the readers of the accomplishments of the Egyptian people.   The Mississippi River of course references slave states and was, in a way, a dividing line between

slave and free states (when viewed in terms of east/west; not north/south). 

Imagery is present when describing the Mississippi ("muddy" and "golden").  Hughes also uses a simile when comparing his soul to the rivers; furthermore repetition is employed 

by repeating that simile: his soul is old, long, and holds many secrets. 

I chose this poem because I like geography and I like how Hughes takes us from the Middle East through into Africa and then into the US. Geography is taken for granted

in the US and overall Americans are too arrogant (or ignorant) to find value in places outside of the 50 states.  Can you identify the the rivers that Hughes has known on a map? And why should you care?

I also think it's important that one understand that African-American history does not begin in the United States--African history is, to quote Hughes, "ancient as the world" and should not be neglected when learning about or reflecting upon

Negro heritage and history. 

John Hope Franklin: what is your opinion about his opinion?

John Hope Franklin (1915-2010) was an African-American scholar and professor who reflected on Harlem as "the articulation of consciousness brought on by suffering and discrimination."  Do you agree with his analysis?  Why or why not, and what evidence do you have to support your opinion?

Read more about Franklin at: http://library.duke.edu/specialcollections/franklin/bio.html

Samples of Jazz Music:

http://www.pbs.org/jazz/beat/

This link will take you to Duke Ellington's album "Echoes of Harlem."  I chose this album because according to PBS, it was recorded on February 28, 1936 (and my birthday is February 29, leap year, and 1936 was a leap year, so it was almost recorded on my birthday but 40 years before I was born!)  One of the songs on this album is Sophisticated Lady: I'm in a Sentimental Mood and I really appreciate this song.

I do not know the background of the lyrics, but I do believe that the speaker is Ellington and he is addressing a woman whom he not only respects, but has deep affection and possibly longing for, such as a girlfriend or wife.    Duke sings "She's a different lady with a different style.  She stands tall and ready like the Eiffel Tower.  She is hip to politics, but loves her jazz.  She's got lots of rhythm, she's got lots of class..."  It's clear that this woman is unique because, like the Eiffel Tower, there is only one of her.  In comparing this lady to the Eiffel Tower Ellington explains that she is strong, and proud, but not arrogant ("she's got lots of class.")

Sophisticated Lady, although recorded after the official end of the Harlem Renaissance, still embodies the themes of this cultural rebirth: the theme that best reflects this song is the desire to reconstruct the meaning of "negro," especially negro women.  This negro lady is no longer cast in the role of pickananny or mammy; rather she is a lady in the truest sense of the word "she wears knee length dresses" indicates that she dresses with class.  "She's hip to politics" shows her intelligence and interest in national or even world affairs (and implies that she is a voter, as women gained the right to vote in 1920).  Finally, by describing the new negro woman as "the person you'd like to meet" the listeners gather that she has respect among the community as an equal, not as the subordinate old negro woman.

As the new black woman I can appreciate the sentiment to these lyrics--and the melody is just lovely!

Painting by Jacob Lawrence

 

I never even heard of Jacob Lawrence until I started teaching about Harlem. I really like his work and this painting, "The Great Migration" reminds is a powerful image to what the great migration was all about:

The birds are migratory birds (perhaps pelicans?) that are leading the family from the south to the north. The birds are kind of like a compass: they know which way to go.

The family is poor: they are walking with all of their belongings in pillowcases or knapsacks, in search of something better. The entire family migrates as one, emphasizing the importance of family in the negro community.

The title of the book is "An American Story" and I think the great migration, while obviously unique to African-Americans, connects to all stories of immigration, particularly the ones in which oppressed people are so desperate to find liberty, opportunity, and often escape poverty, that they are willing to walk thousands of miles carrying their meager belongings, knowing that nothing could be worse than their current situation.

HR themes: I'm not sure if this is the best answer but I think one possible answer is pride. The family may not be proud of any specific experience, but they have pride, which is the impetus to migrate to the north. What do you think?