Poets of the Harlem Renaissance:The Poems that Spoke on Their Own
Still Speaking Today
Although the Harlem Renaissance poets have died, their poems have a lasting legacy in future generations. These poems influenced many authors and speakers to use their poems as a basis for their own works and furthermore express themselves with this unique form of communication. Unlike any other form of communication, this allowed many to remind and express people about society, life or themselves, in a manner where the words illustrate an image and speak on their own.
Black Lives Matter Movement
"Let America Be America Again", Langston Hughes, c. Microsoft Bing
"At the end of the two-minute piece, the earnestnewscaster concluded: 'The words of Langston Hughes, still very relevant today'."
~ 'Let America Be America Again' : The Harlem Renaissance in the Age of Black Lives Matter, Laura Ryan
"...Not the first time Hughes' poetry has been spotlighted in relation the the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2015, a video featuring Danny Glover Reading Hughes' 1938 poem "Kids Who Die" was published by the group Color of Change, with references to some of the young African Americans (Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin amoung them) killed in recent years.
~ 'Let America Be America Again' : The Harlem Renaissance in the Age of Black Lives Matter, Laura Ryan
"We can learn (and despair), I suppose, that things have changed so litttle as to render a poem like "Let America Be America Again" not only relevant but seemingly prescient of present circumstances."
~ Let America Be America Again' : The Harlem Renaissance in the Age of Black Lives Matter, Laura Ryan
Nikki Grimes Books
"I felt as if I were stepping into the stream of the Renaissance poets who had come before me. I feel their weight, and their influence, still. The elegance and power of their poetry gave me wings. "
~ "One Last Word, Nikki Grime
"Nonetheless, the poets of the Harlem Renaissance remained my primary influence.... I want to take a moment to celebrate those earlier poets, add my voice to theirs in a direct way, and introduce them to a new generation."
~ "One Last Word, Nikki Grime
"These literary lights, writing at a time when the lynching of black men filled the news, were more familiar with racial profiling, racial violence and every variety of injustice imaginable.Yet they ascended to great heights in spite of it all. Their works exude power and wisdom aplenty. They knew the importance of telling their own stories, of presenting their own images to the world."
~ "One Last Word", Nikki Grime
"One Last Word" Nikki Grimes Front Cover, c. 2017
Legacy, Nikki Grimes, front cover, c.2021
"African American women were finding their voices. They wrote boldly about race, earnestly questioned the white standards of beauty that cast them as ugly, and forged a new sense of place as they began to explore all that they could be, and what a challenge that was for those pursuing careers in the arts."
~ "Legacy" Nikki Grimes
"Woman writers, especially, also brought in poetry about nature, their connections to the earth, and the rediscovery of their power as woman. "
~ "Legacy" Nikki Grimes
"They helped to lay the foundation for Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou, Toni Marrison, and the many other Black woman writers who followed. I draw from that strength."
~ "Legacy" Nikki Grimes