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For a century Harlem has been celebrated as the capital of black America, a thriving center of cultural achievement and political action. At a crucial moment in Harlem's history, as gentrification encroaches, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts untangles the myth and meaning of Harlem's legacy. Examining the epic Harlem of official history and the personal Harlem that begins at her front door, Rhodes-Pitts introduces us to a wide variety of characters, past and present. At the heart of their stories, and her own, is the hope carried over many generations, hope that Harlem would be the ground from which blacks fully entered America's democracy.



Rhodes-Pitts is a brilliant new voice who, like other significant chroniclers of places-Joan Didion on California, or Jamaica Kincaid on Antigua-captures the very essence of her subject.

... Read more

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In 2000, the United States census allowed respondents for the first time to tick a box marked “African American” in the race category. The new option marked officialrecognition of a term that had been gaining currency for some decades.Africa has always played a role in black identity, but it was in the tumultuous period between the two world wars that black Americans first began to embrace a modern African American identity.

Following the great migration of black southerners to northern cities after World War I, the search for roots and for meaningful affiliations became subjects of debate and display in a growing black public sphere. Throwing off the legacy of slavery and segregation, black intellectuals, activists, and organizations sought a prouder past in ancient Egypt and forged links to contemporary Africa. In plays, pageants, dance, music, film, literature, and the visual arts, they aimed to give stature and solidity to the American black community through a new awareness of the African past and the international black world. Their consciousness of a dual identity anticipated the hyphenated identities of new immigrants in the years after World War II, and an emerging sense of what it means to be a modern American.

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Customer Reviews (2)

Learn All About The Band With The Bounce
For more than a decade, from the mid-1930s until the late 1940s, Jimmie Lunceford's Orchestra (aka: the Harlem Express) was acknowledged as one of the leading jazz bands of the swing era. The group was famous for its rhythmic precision and "bounce," its rich sonority, its discipline and its impeccable showmanship. Musically, the Harlem Express did it all: toured the USA and Sweden, played radio gigs, clubs and dances, cut dozens of hit records. . . . Socially and politically, the Harlem Express dismantled racial barriers; Lunceford was one of the first black bandleaders to hire white musicians and composers, and his group played for black, white and desegregated audiences without discrimination. Jimmie Lunceford's band was highly regarded by musicians, critics and audiences, all of whom were stunned when Lunceford died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 45. As a tribute to their leader, the band tried to stay together, but the effort was short-lived; the group just wasn't the same without the leader who had molded and guided them for so long. When Lunceford died, the heart and soul of the Harlem Express died with him.

Rhythm is Our Business is Eddy Determeyer's painstakingly researched chronicle of the rise, peak and collapse of Lunceford's orchestra. Determeyer gathered his material from nearly five dozen interviews, and more than four dozen journals, newspapers and books. In addition to the endnotes and bibliography, Determeyer includes an extensive discography of the Harlem Express's recordings.

Determeyer traces Lunceford's early years in Oklahoma City and Denver and his college years at Fisk University. He recounts Lunceford's brief career as a high school music teacher in Memphis and describes how Lunceford and his students transformed themselves from a local sensation to a top-notch band based in New York City. Determeyer reveals the financial and personal tensions that arose within the group and discusses the personnel changes that gradually altered the band's character and style. He offers intimate details about cooperation and competition between the New York jazz bands, and about the struggles between the musicians' union, radio stations and recording companies. Perhaps most intriguingly, Determeyer reconstructs the details of Lunceford's last day and puts forward his theory regarding the leader's untimely demise.

Readers interested in the histories of the Harlem Express and the mid-twentieth century jazz scene (particularly in New York City) will find this book highly satisfying. Those who want to learn about Jimmie Lunceford himself will such information sparse. This lack of detail is not Determeyer's fault. Lunceford was an intensely private man who was barely known by anyone, including those who lived and worked with him for nearly twenty years. Determeyer probably has uncovered just about anything that ever will be known about Jimmie Lunceford, the quiet, clean-cut, clean-living man who loved music, sports and aviation and had once loved W.E.B Dubois's daughter. Aside from those few personal details, the story of the Harlem Express is also, for the most part, the story of Jimmie Lunceford. Rhythm Is Our Business is a well researched, finely written book. Readers interested in jazz history will certainly want to add this volume to their collections.

LUNCEFORD'S REPUTATION RESURRECTED!
Although regarded as one of the greatest swing bands, Lunceford's orch somehow slipped through the cracks between the 40s and today.Lunceford's early death in 1947 age 45 years effectively ended the band - and his music is too often forgotten or relegated to a back seat when the swing era is assesed.
Eddy Determeyer has done a fine job in exploring Lunceford's life and times.He puts the "Harlem Express" into context, offering many insights into the man, music and surrounding circumstances.Drawing upon previously unpublished interviews (many of which were conducted by the author) as well as 'common' sources and his own analysis, Determeyer produced a very readable book that fleshes out this amazing man and his music.Highly recommended. ... Read more

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Collects seven original and seven reprinted essays which explore African American writers' varied literary relationships, especially those with authors from non-black cultures. Includes essays focusing on the 19th century, African-Americanand Irish literature, the early to mid-20th century, and th ... Read more

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It was W.E.B. DuBois who paved the way with his essays and his magazine The Crisis, but the Harlem Renaissance was mostly a literary and intellectual movement whose best known figures include Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, and Jean Toomer.Their work ranged from sonnets to modernist verse to jazz aesthetics and folklore, and their mission was race propaganda and pure art.Adding to their visibility were famous jazz musicians, producers of all-black revues, and bootleggers.

Now available in paperback, this richly-illustrated book contains more than 70 black-and-white photographs and drawings.Steven Watson clearly traces the rise and flowering of this movement, evoking its main figures as well as setting the scene--describing Harlem from the Cotton Club to its literary salons, from its white patrons like Carl van Vechten to its most famous entertainers such as Duke Ellington, Josephine Baker, Ethel Waters, Alberta Hunter, Fats Waller, Bessie Smith, and Louis Armstrong among many others.He depicts the social life of working-class speakeasies, rent parties, gay and lesbian nightlife, as well as the celebrated parties at the twin limestone houses owned by hostess A'Lelia Walker.This is an important history of one of America's most influential cultural phenomenons. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A competent primer on the era, but more is needed
The Harlem Renaissance: Hub of African-American Culture, 1920-1930, by Steve Watson, part of the "Circles of the Twentieth Century" series, presents an easy-to-follow crash-course to the neighborhoods and decade.Watson allows readers to glimpse the lively streets of Harlem, where people of various colors and sexual orientation mingled in wild dance clubs or sat together at extravagant performances (although some of the more chic places still catered to a white only or partially segregated clientele).White New Yorkers would venture "Uptown" to sample black culture in Harlem in a relatively accepting environment, enjoying the shows of some of the best jazz musicians and performers of the time.Of course, racism and exploitation still played a role in many of these relations.Nevertheless, it was an improvement from previous eras when the black community was mostly resented and ignored.

The movement is best told through the works of its literary elite, and it is on these figures that Watson concentrates his efforts.These young writers, most notably Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Countee Cullen, were nurtured and guided by the previous generation's intellectuals and various rich, influential Harlemites.Among these was W.E.B. Du Bois, who through his magazine, The Crisis, hoped to guide the next generation, showcasing young talents' select work in the way of propaganda in order to advance blacks in society.Other "Forefathers", as Watson calls them, included blacks and whites, heterosexuals and homosexuals.Among these were Carl Van Vechten, Jessie Fauset, Alain Locke, James Weldon Johnson, and later, Charlotte van der Veer Quick Mason.Each of these mentors/patrons wished to direct the movement in their own way; however, most of their protégés would break away and find their own paths, defining for themselves the Harlem Renaissance.

Watson never does dive too deep in any single aspect of the Renaissance, instead preferring broad glances at the various aspects of the movement.However, most of his attention is guided by the lives of three of the decades leading writers, mentioned above.Their stories reveal that this was far from a cohesive movement, as each saw their role and obligations differently.Though they all began by embracing their color and culture, they soon diverted from each other.Langston and Hurston embraced vulgarity and broke from the safe propaganda of Du Bois, instead reveling in works of vice and racial pride.Their works refused to conform to white tradition, and even seemed to dare their white audience to read them (Hughes's Fire!!, for example).Cullen, on the other hand, maintained formal verse forms and tried to rise above the identification of a "Negro writer."Regardless of their differences, they represented the first and most influential black artistic movements in the nation's history, up to that time.Their works were enjoyed not only by black readers, but read widely by white audiences as well.Additionally, the Renaissance seems to not only have been a time of exposure for blacks, but also for homosexuals, as most involved in the literary movement seem to have been.These include many high profile figures, such as Carl Van Vechten and Countee Cullen, whose openness in an earlier (and also later) time would have been unheard of.This seems another testament to the tolerance of Renaissance Harlem, punctuated with such gay hangouts as the Clam House that proved popular.

One of the most interesting figures dealt with was Zora Neale Hurston.Most compelling was her anthropological adventure throughout the rural South.Watson allows us to see Hurston weed through her roots and find a black identity that she did not know intimately.We learn of her taking on aliases to become accepted in various black communities to record their rituals and folklore, even lying "facedown, nude, for sixty-nine hours, without food or water, her navel touching a rattle-snake skin" (Watson 149).In essence it is an account of a woman seeking her roots, trying to come to terms with a culture she hasn't fully accepted or understood.This seems to be also the essence of the Harlem Renaissance, artists trying to find their way in a world that has not allowed them into the fold or even showed them truthfully their past.It is a longing most Americans, in a nation of displaced immigrants, can relate to.

With Watson's broad stroke one gets an idea of the Harlem Renaissance, and certainly a decent amount of knowledge about the writers, but it is difficult to really get a feel for what it would have been like for a typical Harlemite to live through it.By concentrating on the writers, he is putting our focus upon those who were exceptional, whose differences made them stand out and be recognized.By their merit, they were not typical of others of their time.For instance, much attention is given to Claude McKay, who wasn't even in Harlem, let alone the country, at the time.Granted, the reader is offered descriptions of rent parties and a few popular venues, yet it is not clear how much the average resident was aware of this literary and artistic movement, went to the venues, or mingled regularly with whites.Just how widespread was the Renaissance?Were there many other writers struggling to be recognized at the time that might not have made it?Or was it limited to a select few who wrote about the energy seen all around during the `Roaring Twenties'?Furthermore, can it be truly called a renaissance, which suggests rebirth, when there was no black American literary tradition to be reborn?This all suggests that Watson views the Harlem Renaissance as mainly involving a small literary circle with a strong black identity, and all else seems something of a coincidence.While the subjects are inherently interesting, the book unfortunately lacks in explaining these other important elements and issues.

It's good
This is a worthwhile and well-researched book.It is more scholarly than I expected, and as a result, it took me a while to get fully engaged in.By the time I got to the section discussing the jazz artists, it was hard to put down.I was familiar with most of the writers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance to some extent.The book painted a more vivid picture of many of them, and gave keen perspectives on the social and economic milieu that helped to shape the period.It was fascinating to read about some of the interlocking relationships, in particular the relationships between Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Charlotte Mason. Examples such as this changed my notion of writing always being an insular profession. The men and women of the Harlem Renaissance benefited by each other's support as well as competition.

Outlined the experience but no depth
In my journey to explore the Harlem Renaissance, I started with this book.I felt the author gave a good basic view of the era but he left out the soul.He focused on six or seven primary personalities of the time, from Langston Hughes to Zora Neale Hurston, and tied the times into their existence.I was left feeling like there had to be more about the era. The author also chases around issues of major character homosexuality, stating it but not really being clear about it.I was ready for it to end.

This book is informative, entertaining, coherent.
I read this book in hardcover as well as several others for a paper I wrote. The author was able to take the disparate threads of musicians, artists, writers and benefactors who contributed to theRenaissance and weave together a chronology that contained pictures, specific information about the "hotspots" in Harlem and complete, sometimes intimate portraits of all concerned. If the Harlem Renaissance was ever to be depicted in a movie, this book would be a ready-made screen play. The hardcover edition is worth the extra money.

Their Eyes Were Watching God=A Great Book!!
I really enjoyed this book.I had to read it foran english class.At first I thought it was going to be hard to read and dumb due to the dialect, but as I read further into the book, I found out what agreat book it was and why it was on the requiredreading list.I would greatly recommmend reading this book to any one who hasnot.It deals with ablack woman's search for indeoendence over 25 yearsand 3 marriages.It is a great book and gets TWO thumbs up from me!!! ... Read more

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From its beginnings in 1919, with soldiers returning from the Great War, to its sputtering end in 1934, with the Great Depression, the New Negro Movement in arts and letters proclaimed the experience of African American men and women. This magnificent volume features a wealth of fiction and nonfiction works by 45 writers from that exuberant era.Amazon.com Review
This collection magnificently represents the great voices ofthis era. The volume includes the work of some forty-five Renaissancefigures: short fiction and self-contained novel excerpts by Zora NealeHurston, NellaLarsen, WallaceThurman, and Jean Toomer; poems by Gwendolyn Bennett, CounteeCullen, JessieRedmon Fauset, LangstonHughes, and Claude McKay;essays, manifestos, speeches, and nostalgicreminiscences by RomareBearden, W. E. B.Dubois, Marcus Garvey,JamesWeldon Johnson, Alain Locke, andRichard Wright. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Terribly conditioned.
This book was written on all over the pages severely and it came late. This was by far the worst book i've ordered. The description of the book didnt even say that it was written on or that it was underlined. Terrible service.

The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader
This hefty book has stories and poems written by the great writers of the Harlem Renaissance era.If you've ever been curious about the Harlem Renaissance--what it was; who was a part of it and when did it happen, this is the book for you.

You can sample stories and poetry written in the language of the times from Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, Claude Mc Kay, Carl Van Vechten, Richard Bruce Nugent, Sterling Brown, Nella Larsen, Countee Cullen, Jean Toomer, Marcus Garvey, Alaine Locke, Wallace Thurman.

While you won't be able to see the marvelous art works of Aaron Douglas, Romare Bearden or watch the acting talent of Paul Robeson in this book but each of the men and other visual artists of the day were interviewed or have written descriptive essays about their works or the times in which they lived.

This book gives the reader a splendid view of the Harlem Renaissance and why it was important time not just in Black History but also in American History.

Excellent source for the Harlem Renaissance writers
This is a fantastic source for essays by many of the Harlem Renaissance writers.Every convievable writer is highlighted in this book, from W.E.B. Dubois, to Alain Locke, to George S. Schuyler. Their most influential essays are presented in this book.

After some initial readings & browsing, it's the bomb
The poetry is really good, only I wish there were a little more.The prose writings have some really excellent sources.Good for an educational text for students covering the period.

Very well put together.
I give this book five stars because it has a wonderful cross-section of female and male Harlem Renaissance writers, and also because it includes fiction, prose (articles and essays), and poetry.This volume is nicelycompiled, and it is a lovely companion to similar anthologies, such as"Trouble the Water," which is an anthology of black poetry fromslavery through modern times.Also, because the Harlem Renaissancehappened so long ago, The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader includes worksand excerpts from works that are seemingly out of print, such as aselection by Carter G. Woodson. This book has a lovely variety ofpractically every genre of literature, and is a must for anyAfrican-American studies scholar, though it is a capable volume for anystudent of literature, period.The only possible drawback of this book isthat it contains a lot of excerpts.If you enjoy a certain excerpt (and itis almost guaranteed that you will), finding a copy of its parent body ofwork will become frustratingly high on your list of priorities.The HarlemRenaissance Reader is truly reccommended. ... Read more

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A very important work on an important topic
This carefully edited and informative work provides up-to-date scholarship and insights into this important era of American History.An outstanding choice for undergraduate literature and history courses. ... Read more

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It wasn't all black or white. It wasn't a vogue. It wasn't a failure. By restoring interracial dimensions left out of accounts of the Harlem Renaissance--or blamed for corrupting it--George Hutchinson transforms our understanding of black (and white) literary modernism, interracial literary relations, and twentieth-century cultural nationalism in the United States.What has been missing from literary histories of the time is a broader sense of the intellectual context of the Harlem Renaissance, and Hutchinson supplies that here: Boas's anthropology, Park's sociology, various strands of pragmatism and cultural nationalism--ideas that shaped the New Negro movement and the literary field, where the movement flourished. Hutchinson tracks the resulting transformation of literary institutions and organizations in the 1920s, offering a detailed account of the journals and presses, black and white, that published the work of the "New Negroes." This cultural excavation discredits bedrock assumptions about the motives of white interest in the renaissance, and about black relationships to white intellectuals of the period. It also allows a more careful investigation than ever before of the tensions among black intellectuals of the 1920s. Hutchinson's analysis shows that the general expansion of literature and the vogue of writing cannot be divorced from the explosion of black literature often attributed to the vogue of the New Negro--any more than the growing sense of "Negro" national consciousness can be divorced from expanding articulations and permutations of American nationality. The book concludes with the first full-scale interpretation of the landmark anthology The New Negro.

A courageous work that exposes the oversimplifications and misrepresentations of popular readings of the Harlem Renaissance, this book reveals the truly composite nature of American literary culture.

Customer Reviews (1)

One of the Best!
When I picked up this book in a bookstore, I knew that this would be a worthwhile read. I was not disappointed. Hutchinson's book shows the Harlem Renaissance as it was--the first true experiment in cultural pluralism. From this book, I became one step closer to understanding the Harlem Renaissance. Anyone who is interested in learning more about the greatest artistic movement in American history should read this book! ... Read more

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In twentieth-century African American fiction, music has been elevated to the level of religion primarily because of its Orphic, magical power to unsettle oppressive realities, to liberate the soul and to create, at least temporarily, a medium of freedom. This collection explores literary invocations of music from the Harlem Renaissance to Toni Morrison. ... Read more

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The first edition of Shadowed Dreams was a groundbreaking anthology that brought to light the contributions of women poets to the Harlem Renaissance. This revised and expanded version contains twice the number of poems found in the original, many of them never before reprinted, and adds eighteen new voices to the collection to once again strike new ground in African American literary history. Also new to this edition are nine period illustrations and updated biographical introductions for each poet.

Shadowed Dreams features new poems by Gwendolyn Bennett, Anita Scott Coleman, Mae Cowdery, Blanche Taylor Dickinson, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Jessie Fauset, Angelina Weld Grimké, Gladys Casely Hayford (a k a Aquah Laluah), Virginia Houston, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Helene Johnson, Effie Lee Newsome, Esther Popel, and Anne Spencer, as well as writings from newly discovered poets Carrie Williams Clifford, Edythe Mae Gordon, Alvira Hazzard, Gertrude Parthenia McBrown, Beatrice Murphy, Lucia Mae Pitts, Grace Vera Postles, Ida Rowland, and Lucy Mae Turner, among others.

Covering the years 1918 through 1939 and ranging across the period’s major and minor journals, as well as its anthologies and collections, Shadowed Dreams provides a treasure trove of poetry from which to mine deeply buried jewels of black female visions in the early twentieth century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Re: Female Poets of the Harlem Renaissance
This anthology answers the question, who were the female poets of the Harlem Renaissance era?Also, What were they writing?This book printed duirng the 90's successfully answers and is still the definitive book on the subject of female poets of the Harlem Renaissance era. From Angelina Weld Grimke, Helene Johnson to Georgia Douglas Johnson's famous poem, Heart of a Woman, to some of the poets who are not well known, such as Mary Jenness and Ruth Dixon, this book explores the themes of the notable and less notable in poetry. This book is divided into three sections, Protest, Heritage and Love & Passion.This book gives a wonderful taste of poetry with little or no commentary.This is a must read and must have for anyone who has ever contemplated the question, who were the female writers of the period and what did they write?This will answer sufficiently that question or will tease the tongue for more about these poetesses of the era.

An excellent collection of Harlem Renaissance voices
In "Shadowed Dreams: Women's Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance," editor Maureen Honey collects a compelling body of texts from one of the most important literary currents in African-American history. Honey notes that these poems span the years 1918 to 1931. Each poem is accompanied with its original publication data.

Represented in this anthology are such important African-American women authors as Georgia Douglas Johnson, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Angelina Weld Grimke, and Helene Johnson. In addition, there appear many authors whose names may even be unknown to specialists in the field of Black women's literature: Esther Popel, Marjorie Marshall, Isabel Neill, and more. Where data is available, Honey provides brief author bios at the end of the book. She also contributes a substantial introduction.

The poems are grouped into four sections: "Protest," "Heritage," "Love and Passion," and "Nature." I must admit, I didn't particularly care for this breakdown. Because the works of individual poets are scattered among two or more sections, I think this editorial strategy dilutes the possible impact of seeing a larger sampling of a single poet's work in one place. Also, the headings seem to impose a particular, limited reading upon each piece.

Still, this is an impressive anthology. The poems range from formal constructions to free verse. Highlights include Georgia Douglass Johnson's passionate pieces "The Heart of a Woman" and "I Want to Die While You Love Me," Dorothea Matthew's solemn "The Lynching," Anita Scott Coleman's sentimental "Black Baby," and Angelina Weld Grimke's haiku-like "Dawn." Particularly impressive are the technical proficiency and linguistic richness of Helene Johnson's poems. "Shadowed Dreams" is an essential volume for those interested in United States literature of the 1920s, African-American studies, and women's studies. ... Read more

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“From the moment I read the words [my great-grandmother] Frances Anne Rollin wrote in Boston on January 1, 1868—“The year renews its birth today with all its hopes and sorrows”—she became my beacon, the foremother who would finally share with me our collective past . . . —From the Preface

Originally published to rave reviews, Pride of Family is the dazzling true story of an upper middle-class African American clan—and four generations of extraordinary women. Carole Ione, rebel daughter from a long line of rebel daughters, traces her heritage from her mother, Leighla, a sad and lovely journalist, actress, and composer; to glamorous grandmother Be-Be, the popular restaurateur and former showgirl; to upright great-aunt Sistonie, one of Washington’s first black female physicians; and, finally, to great-grandmother Frances Anne Rollin, the indomitable feminist-abolitionist. It is through her great-grandmother’s brilliant diaries that Ione finds enlightenment—a deep connection to the women she cherishes and the proud, glorious history they share.

Customer Reviews (2)

A story of strength
"The truth is I knew I was female before I knew I was black."After reading
the first line of the preface in Carole Ione's book PRIDE OF FAMILY, I was
filled with anticipation of what was to follow.I was not disappointed
because what I discovered was a wonderful account of Ione's family history and
her own told in a voice of someone who was seeking answers and understanding.
Ione's tone and writing is so inviting that you willingly take the journey with
her and you soon find yourself living with the ghosts of her foremothers and
their colorful stories.

In PRIDE OF FAMILY, Ione embarks on a journey inspired by the mystery of the
lives of the three women who raised her -- her mother, her grandmother, and
her great aunt.Each woman was radically different in her view on life, but
they were bound together by a family history that was steeped in pride and
passion.Her mother, Leighla Frances Whipper Lewis, was a journalist and
mystery writer who also acted.Her grandmother, Virginia Wheeler, was dancer
who loved to gamble and was also no stranger to cooking and cleaning.Her
great aunt, Dr. Ionia Rollin Whipper, was a conservative medical doctor in
Washington DC.Each woman lived life fully and with zest according to her own
rules and each taught little Carole a different set of rules which sometimes
confused but in the end pushed her to delve into her family's history.

PRIDE OF FAMILY exposes the vulnerability of this family of largely
accomplished women.Ione also tells the story of the men who seemed to dance
intricately in and out of each woman's story.Ione's own story is told
through telling about her foremothers and her desire to learn more about her
great grandmother, Frances Anne Rollin.PRIDE OF FAMILY is thoroughly
engrossing as well as informative.Ione brings to life the various time
periods and locations as she shares the accounts and experiences of her
relatives. She discovers her personal truths and she shares them willingly
with readers.

PRIDE OF FAMILY is a must read for history buffs and anyone with an interest
in gender studies.

Reviewed by Diane Marbury
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

painfully honest self-discovery
I belong to the "Open Gates" bookclub of Cumberland County Public Library, Fayetteville, NC.Each month we select a work by an African American author to read and discuss.Sometimes we do not havesufficient copies of any one book and several are selected.This was oneof the selections that fell into that category; with limited copies in thesystem, and I volunteered to read this selection.I am fascinated byself-discovery and love first person writing and narratives.Ms. Ione'sbook was extremely honest, and I admired her quest for her family's historyof their women.She did not spare herself in that quest and the disclosureof some of the most intimate details of her own life was admirable.Thisis an important book because it reminds us that we are not apt tounderstand who we are unless we understand what made us, who made us, andthose who came before us.Black folks are so involved in the dailystruggle to survive, few of us have the luxury of contemplating who we are,and why we are.Thanks to Ms. Ione and all of her "sheroes". She reminded them, as well as herself, that the best of us are only humanin our basic needs for affirmation. ... Read more

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No socialist organization has ever had a more profound effect on black life than the Communist Party did in Harlem during the Depression. Mark Naison describes how the party won the early endorsement of such people as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and how its support of racial equality and integration impressed black intellectuals, including Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, and Paul Robeson. This meticulously researched work, largely based on primary materials and interviews with leading black Communists from the 1930s, is the first to fully explore this provocative encounter between whites and blacks. It provides a detailed look at an exciting period of reform, as well as an intimate portrait of Harlem in the 1920s and 30s, at the high point of its influence and pride. Mark Naison is professor of African American studies and history at Fordham University. He is the author of "White Boy: A Memoir" and co-author of "The Tenant Movement in New York City, 1940-1984". ... Read more

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AN EXCEPTIONAL PORTRAYAL OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
From the close of the 19th century, when the first pre-Renaissance writers began to be published for the dominating white readers, to the Depression era that marked the demise of the movement, Cary D. Wintz analyzes theemergence of the Harlem Renaissance as the attempt of black writers to cometo terms with the social issues of the 1920s-1930s through theirwriting.

Being his approach both literary and social, he does not neglectthe different positions of politics and philosophers, highlighting thenon-unanimity of views on the goals the participants should aim at and theensuing strains arising from within the movement.

Wintz sublty depicts anintertwining net of relationships: black community and its literature,black artists and their target, black protégés and white patrons, blackauthors and white publishing houses, emphasising that it was this sheerinterplay between the black intelligentsia and the white community thatkept alive the vitality of the movement, despite the inevitabledisagreements among the participants. Notwithstanding the fact that theHarlem Renaissance was led by a "loose coalition" of intellectuals, Wintzdetects its "uniqueness" and bound in the "shared undertaking" of thosesame intellectuals who became aware of creating a "revolution in Americanliterature".

Wintz's particular ability is of investigating the HarlemRenaissance in all its nuances, including in his portrayal both the remoterise of the movement, with the analysis of the impact on thewhite-dominated scene of major black writers such as Chestnutt and Dunbar,the reasons of its fall and its effects on the following generations ofwriters, besides the accurate report of the hey-day of themovement.

Special attention must be drawn on the sources consulted by thecritic. As a matter of fact, most of the correspondence exchanged among theparticipants is scattered all over the United States, kept in severalLibraries, Centers and Collections. Therefore, the consultations of suchsources underline a work of precision and refinement and an attempt ofrestoring the live voices of the Renaissance makers.

As a student andresearcher on the topic of the Harlem Renaissance, I found this bookexceptionally useful, detailed and clear. The author's style isstraight-to-the-point and pragmatic. He wisely avoids any overlappingdigression to the main subject matter and makes the reader understand hisoutlooks with clear images. I warmly recommend this text to any reader whofeels like enriching his / her knowledge about this enlighting phase ofAmerican literature! ... Read more

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The changes to U.S. immigration law that were instituted in 1965 have led to an influx of West African immigrants to New York, creating an enclave Harlem residents now call ''Little Africa.'' These immigrants are immediately recognizable as African in their wide-sleeved robes and tasseled hats, but most native-born members of the community are unaware of the crucial role Islam plays in immigrants' lives. Zain Abdullah takes us inside the lives of these new immigrants and shows how they deal with being a double minority in a country where both blacks and Muslims are stigmatized. Dealing with this dual identity, Abdullah discovers, is extraordinarily complex. Some longtime residents embrace these immigrants and see their arrival as an opportunity to reclaim their African heritage, while others see the immigrants as scornful invaders. In turn, African immigrants often take a particularly harsh view of their new neighbors, buying into the worst stereotypes about American-born blacks being lazy and incorrigible. And while there has long been a large Muslim presence in Harlem, and residents often see Islam as a force for social good, African-born Muslims see their Islamic identity disregarded by most of their neighbors. Abdullah weaves together the stories of these African Muslims to paint a fascinating portrait of a community's efforts to carve out space for itself in a new country. ... Read more

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"Mr. Baker perceives the harlem Renaissance as a crucial moment in a movement, predating the 1920's, when Afro-Americans embraced the task of self-determination and in so doing gave forth a distinctive form of expression that still echoes in a broad spectrum of 20th-century Afro-American arts. . . . Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance may well become Afro-America's 'studying manual.'"--Tonya Bolden, New York Times Book Review ... Read more

Product Description
125th Street.Strivers' Row.Cellar speakeasies filled with jazz and bootleg.It was here in the Harlem of the 1920s that a poor preacher's daughter arrived from rural Florida, determined to reinvent herself and marry a rich man to become part of the urban aristocracy.But when her penniless cousin showed up on the scene, Geneva found herself trapped between her tattered roots and her glittering dreams--and to proclaim her true self proudly would be to risk it all.This novel marks the arrival of a new literary talent skilled at weaving historical detail, beautiful prose, and compelling story into a powerful tale of deceptions and dreams.

* The national bestseller
* First time in paperback
* A fascinating time and place rarely explored in fiction
* Special appeal for African-American readers
* The author, who has written for such shows as "Good Times," "The Jeffersons," and "Benson," was born and raised in Harlem
... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Familiar themes retold in "you were there" style
I finished this book last night and, for the first time in my life, I went looking for a way to contact an author to tell him just how wonderful and meaningful his book was to me. I have found out online that Len Riley is dead, so I sent up a prayer to tell him how great it was. This man really had a feel for the thought processes of women, in particular, I thought, but his descriptions of the Harlem street and jazz scene had me in it's grasp the whole read. He wrote in such a way that I could smell the gin, the city breeze, the perfumes, the pork chops and the sulphurous flash bulb effluvium as the twenties laid down for the thirties. He wrote in an impartial, non racist way, that let everyone in on the action. His sympathy for his characters was palpable. My only real regret with the book was it's failure to draw in more about Rose's husband, Charles Payton. His character, in particular his racist and sexist aspects, were brilliantly portrayed early in the book, only to be forgotten 'til the end. That was a loss for me. Otherwise, it was one of the few books that I read more and more slowly as I continued, not wanting it to be over. I envy those who have yet to read it for the first time.

Excellent!!!!!!!
Mr. Riley spent many years writing this book and it shows!!!
I could not put it down. I hope that many will enjoy it as I have.Get it!!Read it!!! Mr. Riley passed away 7 years ago right after the book was published.He was very happy with his work. It was his dream. We loved him very much.

Excellent!
I read this book in two days. This is an excellent read. The story line was incredible. I'm am looking forward to Mr. Riley's next book. You must get this book. You will love. It will not disappoint you.

Excellent Book!
This was an excellent book. It's indescribable. That's all I can say. One would have to read it to enjoy the flow of this really good story. I can't wait for Len Riley's next novel.

BRAVO!!!
What a joy to read something so real, yet fictional.The characters made you feel as if you were a part of the Harlem Renaissance.If you are a true reader this is a must have for your collection.When will the nextLen Riley novel be available??? ... Read more