The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What was the Harlem Renaissance, and how did it embody an upsurge in racial awareness and artistic expression for Black Americans?

Teaching Suggestion: If some or all of the students in your class are likely to have limited knowledge about the Harlem Renaissance, consider asking them to share what they already know about this cultural movement before they discuss the question. This can take the shape of a “chalk talk” or silent discussion on the board, in small groups, etc. Viewing the short video linked below, either before or after their discussion, can help students build a more complex working understanding. You might emphasize the video’s brief discussion of Alain Locke and the New Negro Movement, as that will segue nicely to the second Short Answer question. (This question connects to the theme of The Challenge of Creating Black Art in a White World.)

• “The Harlem Renaissance,” a 3-minute video from Black History in Two Minutes (or so), produced and hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., helps provide a context for the Harlem Renaissance and explains how it fits under the umbrella of the New Negro Movement. The video mentions artists and thinkers who will be referenced later in this teaching unit as additional voices to include alongside Hughes.

2. What is the New Negro Movement? How does it encompass the Harlem Renaissance and establish a philosophy on race and artistic expression during the 1920s?

Teaching Suggestion: You might provide brief context for Alain Locke by explaining that he was a Black writer, philosopher, and educator and a prominent voice in the Harlem Renaissance. Consider having students independently read Locke’s “Foreword” to The New Negro with the question in mind, keeping track of significant passages either by annotating the text or keeping a quote journal/graphic organizer.

To extend the discussion, you might facilitate a short seminar-style discussion in which students share their thoughts and build a collective understanding of the New Negro Movement. (This question connects to the themes of The Challenge of Creating Black Art in a White World and Assimilation Versus Resistance.)

• The “Foreword” to The New Negro by Alain Locke (PDF version) is a short introduction to Locke’s 1925 anthology of work by Black artists that provides a theoretical framework for the New Negro Movement and, by extension, the Harlem Renaissance and Hughes’s essay. (Please note that this is the “Foreword” to The New Negro, not the essay titled “The New Negro,” which also exists in the anthology.)

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who could benefit from help organizing their ideas, you might provide graphic organizers for note taking for both the video and the “Foreword.” For the video, consider providing space for students to articulate their existing knowledge of the Harlem Renaissance and then space to add what they learn from the video. For the “Foreword,” provide a two-column quote journal, and consider providing some quotes ahead of time for students who may need that level of scaffolding.

Short Activity

Listen to a recording of Langston Hughes reading his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” while following along with the text of the poem. Then take 5 minutes to sketch or draw a scene that comes to mind as you experience the poem.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity is designed to expose students to a Hughes poem (and Hughes’s own voice) and encourage them to anticipate thematic concepts to come as well as consider artistic expression beyond the written word. You may choose to provide students with basic art supplies (markers, colored pencils, etc.). At the end of the activity, consider leading students through a discussion of the connection between Africa and the United States. Allow students space to grapple with what this may signify or why this may be important in the broader context of the unit.

• This is the text of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (1921) by Langston Hughes.
• In this 3-minute audio recording, Hughes introduces his poem and then reads it aloud.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Reflect on the role of art and the artist in our lives. Consider music, dance, visual art, poetry, literature, performance, etc. What makes art art? What can (or can’t) art provide for a community or a society?

Teaching Suggestion: This 5-10-minute journal prompt is designed to help students begin to grapple with the role that art plays in our world so that they are better equipped to consider what Hughes is saying in his essay.

The poem “Ars Poetica #100: I Believe” by Elizabeth Alexander speaks specifically about the purpose of poetry, but you might encourage students to see this as a metaphor for other art forms as well. It may help spark some ideas as they reflect on their own.