Langston Hughes' 1935 Poem "Let America Be America Again" (information, words, & sound file)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases Langston Hughes' 1935 poem "Let America Be America Again".

The Addendum to this post presents a brief excerpt from an online article about the word "Negro" as a referent for African Americans.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, inspirational, and political purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Langston Hughes for his cultural legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT LANGSTON HUGHES' POEM "LET AMERICA BE AMERICA AGAIN"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_America_be_America_Again
" "Let America Be America Again" is a poem written in 1935 by American poet Langston Hughes. It was originally published in the July 1936 issue of Esquire Magazine. It was later republished in the 1937 issue of Kansas Magazine and was revised and included in a small collection of Langston Hughes poems entitled A New Song, published by the International Workers Order in 1938.[1][2]

The poem speaks of the American dream that never existed for the lower-class American and the freedom and equality that every immigrant hoped for but never achieved. In his poem, Hughes represents not only African Americans, but other economically disadvantaged and minority groups as well. Besides criticizing the unfair life in America, the poem conveys a sense of hope that the American Dream is soon to come.[citation needed]

Hughes wrote the poem while riding a train from New York to his mother’s home in Ohio. He was in despair over recent reviews of his first Broadway play and his mother’s diagnosis of breast cancer. Despite being a pillar of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, he was still struggling for acceptance as a poet, battling persistent racism, and just eking out a living. Selling a poem or a story every few months, he called himself a "literary sharecropper." Fate, he said, "never intended for me to have a full pocket of anything but manuscripts."[3]

Hughes finished the poem in a night but did not regard it as one of his best. It did not appear in his early anthologies and was only revived in the 1990s, first in a public reading by Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall, later as a title for museum shows."...

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SHOWCASE SOUND FILE - James Earl Jones reciting "Let America Be America Again"



Rusty Brewer, Published on Jul 4, 2018

Poem by Langston Hughes (1935)

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WORDS TO "LET AMERICA BE AMERICA AGAIN"
(Langston Hughes - 1902-1967)

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine—the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!


From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Copyright © 1994 the Estate of Langston Hughes. Used with permission.

Online Source - https://poets.org/poem/let-america-be-america-again

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ADDENDUM
From https://www.npr.org/2017/12/13/568317026/negro-not-allowed-on-federal-forms-white-house-to-decide
'Negro' Not Allowed On Federal Forms? White House To Decide
December 13, 20173:01 PM ET
t has been called antiquated and even insulting.

But back in 1900, "Negro" was considered modern — a term that could replace a flawed set of categories used to classify people of African descent for the U.S. census.

This was a period when a person's race was determined by a census taker, who reported the information back to the federal government based on observations. "Be particularly careful to distinguish between blacks, mulattoes, quadroons, and octoroons," census takers were instructed for the 1890 census.

"The word 'black' should be used to describe those persons who have three-fourths or more black blood; 'mulatto,' those persons who have from three-eighths to five-eighths black blood; 'quadroon,' those persons who have one-fourth black blood; and 'octoroon,' those persons who have one-eighth or any trace of black blood."

But later in a report on the 1890 census results, the government concluded: "These figures are of little value." "Quadroon" and "octoroon" have never been used again for the census. ("Mulatto," first used in 1850, made return appearances in 1910 and 1920.)

The 1900 census took a different approach to counting people of African descent. For the first time, "Negro" was added to the instructions, and census takers were trained to write "B" on their worksheets to report a person as "black (Negro or of Negro descent)." Who fit that definition was up for the census taker's interpretation.

[...]

The Census Bureau said using "Negro" for the 1900 census was "justified" by what it saw as growing acceptance for the term, as it explained in a 1904 report called "Negroes in the United States":

[...]

After decades of an ongoing debate about labels, the term "Negro" — once commonly used by Martin Luther King Jr. and other early civil rights era leaders — gave way to the rise of "black" beginning in the mid-1960s and later "African-American" in the late 1980s."...

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"I, Too, Am Harvard" Tumblr Blog & The Poem "I, Too, Sing America"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post provides information about and a link to the Tumblr blog "I, Too, Am Harvard", This post also showcases the poem the Langston Hughes poem "I, Too, Sing America".

The content of this post is presented for cultural, sociological, motivational, and aesthetic purposes.

All content remain with their owners.

Thanks to the students of Harvard who created the Tumblr Blog and thanks to Langston Hughes who wrote the poem which served as inspiration for that blog's title & spirit. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publishers of the videos that are featured in this post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT "I, TOO, AM HARVARD"
From http://news.yahoo.com/black-harvard-students-target-cliches-via-tumblr-blog-221129422.html
Washington (AFP) - Black students at Harvard University, appropriating a line from a celebrated African-American poet, are harnessing social media to challenge racial stereotypes -- and inspiring similar blogs across the Atlantic.

I, Too, Am Harvard is a Tumblr blog, viewed more than 235,000 times as of Thursday, in which 63 students reveal some of the more frustrating and condescending remarks they've encountered at the Ivy League school...

The blog coincides with an eponymous play based on interviews with black Harvard students that takes its title from "I, Too, Am America" by the late African-American poet Langston Hughes...

"Our voices often go unheard on this campus, our experiences are devalued, our presence is questioned," the blog states.

"This project is our way of speaking back, of claiming this campus, of standing up to say: We are here. This place is ours. We, TOO, are Harvard."

Just over 1,100 of Harvard's 21,000 students are African-American, according to its provost's office."...

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LINK TO "I TOO AM HARVARD" TUMBLER: http://itooamharvard.tumblr.com/

[Summary Statement from that website]
"A photo campaign highlighting the faces and voices of black students at Harvard College. Our voices often go unheard on this campus, our experiences are devalued, our presence is questioned-- this project is our way of speaking back, of claiming this campus, of standing up to say: We are here. This place is ours. We, TOO, are Harvard. The #itooamharvard photo campaign is inspired by I, Too, Am Harvard, a play based on interviews with members of the black community exploring and affirming our diverse experiences as black students at Harvard College. The original play premieres on Friday March 7th, 2014 at 7 PM in Lowell Lecture Hall on the campus of Harvard College. facebook.com/itooamharvard @iTooAmHarvard #itooamharvard 253452"

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE POEM "I, TOO, SING AMERICA"
From http://www.shmoop.com/i-too-sing-america/
[Langston] Hughes was often considered the poet laureate of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural explosion that took place in New York City during the 1920s and '30s, giving rise to popular jazz, all kinds of African-American art, and a whole slew of seminal (that means first, and really important) works of African-American literature and poetry. You probably already know some of Hughes's other poetry, like "Harlem" (also called "Dream Deferred") and "The Negro Speaks of Rivers."

Hughes published "I, Too, Sing America" in 1945, a good ten years or so before the start of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Racism and prejudice were rampant in the US at the beginning of the 20th century – much more than they are now – and so Hughes's poem envisions a day in which whites and blacks will eat "at the table" together, in which black citizens will be truly classified as equal Americans."

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FEATURED EXAMPLES

Example #1: Langston Hughes - I, Too



Impossible Paradise, Uploaded on Aug 8, 2010

Read by Langston Hughes.

Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967).

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful we are
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

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Example #2:
I Too Sing America By Langston Hughes: Visual Representation



William Sexton Uploaded on Mar 31, 2010

This is a project I made for my 9th Grade English class. It is a visual representation of Langston Hughes' "I, Too, Sing America." narrated by Denzel Washington.

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Langston Hughes - "A Dream Deferred" (information, words, & video examples)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases two YouTube examples of Langston Hughes' 1951 poem "A Dream Deferred". This post also includes information about Langston Hughes and his "Dream Deferred" montage which contains the poem that begins "What happens to a dream deferred". The complete words to that short poem are also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, historical, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Langston Hughes for his creative legacies. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT LANGSTON HUGHES
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes
"James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called jazz poetry. Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance."...

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From http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83
..."[Langston] Hughes, who claimed Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman as his primary influences, is particularly known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties. He wrote novels, short stories and plays, as well as poetry, and is also known for his engagement with the world of jazz and the influence it had on his writing, as in his book-length poem Montage of a Dream Deferred (Holt, 1951). His life and work were enormously important in shaping the artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Unlike other notable black poets of the period—Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Countee Cullen—Hughes refused to differentiate between his personal experience and the common experience of black America. He wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including both their suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language itself."...

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INFORMATION ABOUT LANGSTON HUGHES'S "MONTAGE OF A DREAM DEFERRED"
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montage_of_a_Dream_Deferred
"Montage of a Dream Deferred is a book-length poem suite published by Langston Hughes in 1951. Its jazz poetry style focuses on descriptions of Harlem (a neighborhood of New York City) and its mostly African-American inhabitants.[1] The original edition was 75 pages long and comprised 91 individually titled poems, which were intended to be read as a single long poem.[2] Hughes' prefatory note for the book explained his intentions in writing the collection:

In terms of current Afro-American popular music and the sources from which it progressed— jazz, ragtime, swing, blues, boogie-woogie, and be-bop—this poem on contemporary Harlem, like be-bop, is marked by conflicting changes, sudden nuances, sharp and impudent interjections, broken rhythms, and passages sometimes in the manner of a jam session, sometimes the popular song, punctuated by the riffs, runs, breaks, and disc-tortions of the music of a community in transition.[3]

The primary motif of the poem is the "dream deferred", which represents the opposition between Harlem of the 1950s and the rest of the world.[4] Other motifs include boogie-woogie and discrimination against African-Americans. The poem is characterized by its use of the montage, a cinematic technique of quickly cutting from one scene to another in order to juxtapose disparate images, and its use of contemporary jazz modes like boogie-woogie, bop and bebop, both as subjects in the individual short poems and as a method of structuring and writing the poetry.[5] The poem is divided into five sections (although some editions contain six); each section represents a different time of day in Harlem, moving from dawn through the night to the dawn of the following day. The poem begins and ends with the same two lines: "Good morning, daddy! / Ain't you heard?".[5] Montage of a Dream Deferred was Langston Hughes' first major publication following the end of World War II.[5] Its themes include the subjugation of the black community, African-American racial consciousness and history, and the need for social change to resolve the injustices faced by the residents of Harlem."
-snip-
The short poem that begins "What happens to a dream deferred" is part of this montage.

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WORDS TO THE POEM: DREAM DEFERRED (HARLEM)
By Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79YjXKYeWCk

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FEATURED EXAMPLES
Example #1: "Dream Deferred (Harlem)" Langston Hughes poem GREAT EXAMPLE of Harlem Renaissance literature

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Tim Gracyk, Published on Jul 2, 2013

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Example #2: A Dream Deferred



Huntington Theatre Company, Published on Feb 13, 2013

What happens to a dream deferred? LeRoy McClain ("Walter Lee Younger" in the production) performs the classic poem by Langston Hughes. The Huntington's production of Lorraine Hansberry's timeless family story A RAISIN IN THE SUN, directed by Liesl Tommy, plays March 8 - April 7, 2013 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre.
-snip-
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Raisin_in_the_Sun to read about the 1959 play A Raisin In The Sun

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"Freedom Road" poem by Langston Hughes as sung by Josh White

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases a recording of Josh White's performance of the song "Freedom Road", a vocalization of Langston Hughes' 1944 poem of the same name. This post also includes the words to this poem/song, background information about that composition, as well as information about Langston Hughes and about Josh White.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, historical, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Langston Hughes and Josh White for their creative legacies. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT LANGSTON HUGHES
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes
"James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called jazz poetry. Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance."...

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From http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83
..."[Langston] Hughes, who claimed Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman as his primary influences, is particularly known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties. He wrote novels, short stories and plays, as well as poetry, and is also known for his engagement with the world of jazz and the influence it had on his writing, as in his book-length poem Montage of a Dream Deferred (Holt, 1951). His life and work were enormously important in shaping the artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Unlike other notable black poets of the period—Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Countee Cullen—Hughes refused to differentiate between his personal experience and the common experience of black America. He wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including both their suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language itself."...

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INFORMATION ABOUT JOSH WHITE
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_White
Joshua Daniel White (February 11, 1914 – September 5, 1969), known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist...

White grew up in the Jim Crow South. During the 1920s and 1930s, he became a prominent race records artist, with a prolific output of recordings in genres including Piedmont blues, country blues, gospel, and social protest songs. In 1931, White moved to New York, and within a decade his fame had spread widely; his repertoire expanded to include urban blues, jazz, traditional folk songs, and political protest songs. He soon was in demand as an actor on radio, Broadway, and film.

White also became the closest African-American friend and confidant to president Franklin D. Roosevelt. However, White's anti-segregationist and international human rights political stance presented in many of his recordings and in his speeches at rallies resulted in the McCarthyites assuming him to be a Communist. Accordingly, from 1947 through the mid-1960s, White became caught up in the anti-Communist Red Scare, and combined with the resulting attempt to clear his name, his career was damaged.

White's musical style influenced many future generations of musical artists,[list of artists given]"...

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE POEM/SONG "FREEDOM ROAD"
From https://chnm.gmu.edu/episodes/mobilizing-african-americans/ “That’s Why I’m Marching”: Mobilizing African Americans for War
"Many African Americans were understandably ambivalent about World War II. Black Americans who had committed themselves wholeheartedly to the “war for democracy” returned from World War I to find the Klan marching in Washington and segregation undiminished. Now the government asked them to risk their lives in a war against Nazi racism abroad, while in many parts of their own country American law forced them into separate and distinctly unequal facilities. Even the armed forces, within which African Americans were supposed to strike their blows for democracy, maintained strict segregation, with African Americans generally relegated to service and support jobs. Why should they fight to secure for foreigners’ rights that they could not enjoy at home?

..."African-American leaders constantly reminded their fellow citizens, and themselves, that this was their country too; they had shaped its history in profound ways. They walked a difficult line. Often patriotic, they nevertheless found America’s institutionalized and pervasive bigotry increasingly hard to endure. Langston Hughes, the distinguished poet and writer, hoped that African-American participation in a war against racism abroad might undermine racism at home. In 1944 he contributed the lyrics to the folksinger Josh White’s song “Freedom Road.” The lyrics call for an end to fascism and a new beginning of race-blind justice. White described it as “a rousing plea for true democracy.” Franklin Roosevelt considered Josh White, best known for his religious songs, his favorite singer; White’s brother Billy served as Eleanor Roosevelt’s chauffeur. The recording session for “Freedom Road” was sponsored by the CIO as part of a collection, Citizen CIO, aimed at building support for the war among union members and working-class Americans generally"...
-snip-
"CIO" = initials of the labor union "Congress of Industrial Organizations". In 1955 that labor union combined with The American Federation of Labor to form AFL-CIO, "a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of fifty-seven national and international unions,[3] together representing more than 11 million workers (as of June 2008, the most recent official statistic)." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFL%E2%80%93CIO

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WORDS TO THE POEM/SONG "FREEDOM ROAD"
"Josh White, a singer most famous for religious songs and folk tunes, here joins with poet Langston Hughes in the song “Freedom Road,” in which he attempts to link the war abroad to the struggle for racial justice at home.

That’s why I’m marching, yes, I’m marching,
Marching down freedom’s road.
Ain’t nobody gonna stop me, nobody gonna keep me,
From marching down freedom’s road.

Hand me my gun, let the bugle blow loud,
I’m on my way with my head a-proud,
One objective I’ve got in view,
Is to keep a hold of freedom for me and you.

That’s why I’m marching, yes, I’m marching,
Marching down freedom’s road.
Ain’t nobody gonna stop me, nobody gonna keep me,
From marching down freedom’s road.

Ought to be plain as the nose on your face,
There’s room in this plan for every race,
Some folk think that freedom just ain’t right,
Those are the very people I want to fight.

That’s why I’m marching, yes, I’m marching,
Marching down freedom’s road.
Ain’t nobody gonna stop me, nobody gonna keep me,
From marching down freedom’s road.

Now, Hitler may rant, Hirohito may rave,
I’m going after freedom if it leads me to my grave.
That’s why I’m marching, yes, I’m marching,
I’m marching down freedom’s road.

United we stand, divided we fall,
Let’s make this land safe for one and all.
I’ve got a message, and you know it’s right,
Black and white together unite and fight.

That’s why I’m marching, yes, I’m marching,
Marching down freedom’s road.
Ain’t no fascists gonna stop me, no Nazis gonna keep me,
From marching down freedom’s road.

Words by Langston Hughes, music by Emerson Harper, “I’m Marching Down Freedom Road,” 1942. Recording: That’s Why We’re Marching: WWII and the American Folk Song Movement , Smithsonian/Folkways 1996."

Source: https://chnm.gmu.edu/episodes/mobilizing-african-americans/

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FEATURED EXAMPLE: Freedom Road - Josh White



ABevs1, Published on Mar 24, 2012

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Langston Hughes - "Note on Commercial Theatre" (You've Taken My Blues And Gone)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents a sound file of & words to Langston Hughes poem "Notes On Commercial Theatre". This post also includes an excerpt of a Wikipedia analysis of that poem, and my analysis of that poem which includes comments about the 2013 internet video craze "The Harlem Shake".

The content of this post is presented for historical, sociological, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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FEATURED SOUND FILE: LANGSTON HUGHES POETRY RECITAL c.1945 Part 4 of 4



cdbpdx,Uploaded on Jul 19, 2009

In 1945, ASCH records recorded a 78 rpm 4 record album set with Langston Hughes reciting his own poems. This is part 4 of 4 parts from that album, each part being both sides of one of the records in the album.

This record contains:

LITTLE SONGS
SILENCE
BURDEN
THE BREATH OF A ROSE
PRAYER
BORDER LINE
IN TIME OF SILVER RAIN
STILL HERE
BALLAD OF THE LANDLORD
BIG BUDDY
NOTE ON COMMERCIAL THEATER (good!)

This is an historic compilation. Enjoy!
-snip-
"Note On Commercial Theatre" is the last recitation on this sound file and begins at 5:06.

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WORDS TO NOTES ON COMMERCIAL THEATRE
(Langston Hughes)

You've taken my blues and gone--
You sing 'em on Broadway
And you sing 'em in Hollywood Bowl,
And you mixed 'em up with symphonies
And you fixed 'em
So they don't sound like me.
Yep, you done taken my blues and gone.

You also took my spirituals and gone.
You put me in MacBeth and Carmen Jones
And all kinds of Swing Mikados
And in everything but what's about me--
But someday somebody'll
Stand up and talk about me,
And write about me--
Black and beautiful--
And sing about me,
And put on plays about me!
I reckon it'll be
Me myself!

Yes, it'll be me.

From http://www.skidmore.edu/~mstokes/227/hughes-poems.html

ANALYSIS OF LANGSTON HUGHES' "NOTES ON COMMERCIAL THEATRE"
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Note_on_Commercial_Theatre
"Langston Hughes was a prominent writer during the Harlem Renaissance, which is obvious in most of his poetry. Hughes writes about the issues of the day, and “Note on Commercial Theatre” is no different.

Roots vs. novelty

During the Harlem Renaissance, one of the main controversies was that African American culture became the “vogue” of the day. This included interest not only in black writing and art, but in the rising jazz and theatre scenes as well. Harlem became the hot spot for this new black culture; both black and whites explored and became immersed in it. Because it was so popular, many white people attempted to infuse their own art with the new African American styles, resulting in hybrid music and theatre (for example, a swing version of The Mikado, a comic opera).

Hughes was a huge proponent of creating a separate black identity and art, hence the extreme antipathy within “Note on Commercial Theatre” to black culture being absorbed by whites. This is reflected in his use of an experimental form for his poem; there is a lack of rhyme scheme and no discernible rhythm to the lines. Other black writers of the time, such as Countee Cullen, experimented within specific forms, but Hughes rejects form in this poem; he rejects the absorption into any other style but his own."...

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EDITORIAL COMMENT, INCLUDING COMMENTS ABOUT THE HARLEM SHAKE MEME
I wonder if Langston Hughes's poem "Notes On Commercial Theatre" wasn't just concerned about "white attempts to infuse their own art with the new African American styles" or concerned about "black culture being absorbed by white". I wonder if Langston Hughes was also reflecting on how mainstream White society often failed to acknowlege Black people while loving Black cultural products.

Furthermore, I wonder if the impetus for Langston Hughes' "Note On Commercial Theatre" was also driven by the common practice then of White people reaping the economic benefit of Black creative products through the production & promotion of often watered down versions of that product - for instance, White singers recording "covers" of Blues songs composed by Black people.

It seems to me that in this so-called post-racial America more than 60 years after Langston Hughes wrote "Note On Commercial Theatre", there's still considerable reason for Black people to be concerned that we aren't given the credit for our artistic accomplishments. Not only is "White" still the default race, but also terms such as "traditional American" and "vernacular American" are used to categorize a number of Black art forms, including old time music/songs, and Swing dances.

To a considerable degree, that history & these present day realities may explain why some Black commentators & some non-Black commentators have expressed concerns about the recent Harlem Shake internet craze. Each of those numerous videos that have been uploaded to YouTube show groups of people, sometimes in diverse "Halloween" type costumes, wildly dancing in various ways to a song called "The Harlem Shake" that was released last year by a producer known as Baauer. Although each of these videos are entitled "The Harlem Shake", the dances performed by the people in those videos are have no resemblance to the Harlem Shake of the 1980s, and its popularized version in 2001. I think that the point of those new Harlem Shake videos is to show groups of people in specific settings letting down their hair, and being crazy for a change. And I find some of those videos funny. But I can also understand why Tamara Palmer, a commentator for The Root.com wrote that "a silly viral video craze [has] completely overshadowed the origins of a beloved old-school dance". I can also agree with Tamara Palmer's position that in those videos the Harlem Shake "has been all but stripped of its cultural context and meaning." http://www.theroot.com/views/harlem-shakedown?wpisrc=root_more_news.

And yet, in his poem "Notes On Commercial Theatre", Langston Hughes indicated that it was Black people's responsibility to share our stories. As such, the Harlem Shake internet video craze provides opportunities to talk about the history of White exploitation of Black people's cultural products, even though that may not be what is going on in those videos. The Harlem Shake internet video craze also provides opportunities to share information about Black dances -including the old Harlem Shake, and the Ethiopian Eskista dance which is said to have inspired that African American dance, though I don't believe that is actually true. And the Harlem Shake internet videos provides an opportunity for me to share one of my favorite Langston Hughes poems, Notes On Commercial Theatre" which since I first read it, I've always referred to by its first line "You've taken my Blues and gone".

RELATED LINK
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-origins-several-examples-of-harlem.html "The Harlem Shake (Origins, Old School Examples, & Internet Meme)"

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to Langston Hughes for his cultural legacy. My thanks also to the author of the articles that are quoted in this post, to the transcriber of this poem, and to the uploader of this featured sound file.


Thank you for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Langston Hughes' Play "Black Nativity" (songs & videos)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series on Langston Hughes' Christmas play entitled "Black Nativity".

Part II of this series features nine videos of songs that have been featured in a production of Black Nativity. Information about the song's composers and links to those songs lyrics are presented for some of these songs.

This post also includes a bonus video of a song that I've heard in productions of "Black Nativity", although I don't have any video of those productions.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/12/langston-hughes-black-nativity-play.html for Part I of this series.

Part I of this series provides historical information, reviews, and comments about various "Black Nativity" based productions.

The content of this post is presented for historical, religious, entertainment, and aesthetic reasons.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

PART II
FEATURED VIDEOS
These videos are presented in no particular order.

Video #1: Black Nativity - Holy



Robertjohnconnor,Uploaded on Dec 31, 2008

Andrea Connor leads a power packed cast of Trinity Entertainment Group's production of Black Nativity in Las Vegas.
-snip-
I'm not sure who composed this song. It may be the same song as Don Moen - "Worthy, You Are Worthy". Lyrics for that song can be found at http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/don+moen/worthy+you+are+worthy_20347781.html

Your help would be appreciated in verifying or identifying the composer of this song & a link to the song's lyrics.

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Video #2: Black Nativity - Mary Did You Know



robertjohnconnor, Uploaded on Jan 3, 2009

Ken Young and Andrea Connor perform Mary Did You Know in Trinity Entertainment Group's Black Nativity.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Lowry
"In 1984, Lowry wrote the lyrics to the song "Mary, Did You Know?" He was asked to write a script for a church Christmas play. Lowry wrote a series of questions that he would like to ask Mary, the mother of Jesus. These questions were used in between the scenes of the play. Over the next decade, Lowry tried to find the music that would complete the song. Twelve years after writing the lyrics, musician and songwriter Buddy Greene wrote the music to the song. The Christmas play script became the song.

The song has become a popular Christmas song."
-snip-
Click http://www.oldielyrics.com/christmas/mary_did_you_know.html for the lyrics to this song.

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Video #3: STG Presents The Black Nativity 2011 @ the Moore Theatre [song- "In The Sanctuary"]



Seattletheatregroup, Uploaded on May 10, 2011

STG presents Intiman's BLACK NATIVITY at The Moore Theatre in Seattle on Thursday, December 8 -- Saturday, December 24, 2011. [Seattle, Washington]

-snip-
"In The Sanctuary" was composed in 2001 by Kurt Carr. Click http://artists.letssingit.com/kurt-carr-lyrics-in-the-sanctuary-5z7lkvj#axzz2F6JjwY2e for the lyrics to this song.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/12/kurt-carr-we-lift-our-hands-in.html for a pancocojams post about the praise song "In The Sanctuary".

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Video #4: Black Nativity-My Love-My Life-My All



robertjohnconnor, Uploaded on Dec 31, 2008 [Las Vegas, Nevada]

The cast of Trinity Entertainment Group's Black Nativity sing Kirk Franklin's My Life, My Love, My All.

Click http://www.elyrics.net/read/k/kirk-franklin-lyrics/my-love,-my-life,-my-all-lyrics.html for lyrics to "My Life, My Love, My All."

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Video #5: The Black Nativity – Magnify The Lord



MrPolarbeardavid, Uploaded on Dec 11, 2009

"The Black Nativity" song-"Magnify the Lord"
Being performed at the H Street Theater
Dec 10-Jan 3, 2010 [Washington, D.C.]
http://www.theateralliance.com
-snip-
I’m not sure who wrote this song. Your help identifying this song's composer and a link to the lyrics for this song will be greatly appreciated.

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Video #6: Black Nativity Opening Number [O Sifuni Mungu]



fookychooch, Uploaded on Dec 22, 2008
-snip-
I believe that this production company is Kenny Leon's True Colors Theater Company, Atlanta, Georgia.
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This is the only "Black Nativity" video that I found to date which features an African song.

According to http://www.choralnet.org/view/138392, [The words] "Sifu Mungu"
and "O sifuni Mungu" ... essentially [mean] "praise God (the Lord).

The original English text is the hymn "All Creatures of Our God
and King" which is a poetic paraphrase of the Canticle of the Creatures, by St. Francis of Assisi."
-snip-
English & Swahili lyrics to this Swahili song can be found on that website and can also be found at http://artists.letssingit.com/first-call-lyrics-o-sifuni-mungu-h4j53x9#axzz2F6JjwY2e

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Example #7: Video clip from the 2009 NCBRC Black Nativity [various songs]



NCBlackRepertoryCo, Uploaded on Oct 14, 2010

Black Nativity: Directed and Choreographed by Mabel P. Robinson
Music Director: Tony Gillion
Scenography: Arthur M. Reese
Costume Design: Frenchie La'Verne
-snip-
NCBRC - North Carolina Black Repertory Company

Among the songs that were included in this clip, I recognized the traditional Black Spiritual "Oh What A Pretty Little Baby". The lyrics to that song can be found ="http://www.music-lyrics-gospel.com/gospel_music_lyrics/oh_what_a_pretty_little_baby_1043.asp

I also recognized the traditional Black Spiritual "Go Tell It On The Mountain". The lyrics to that song can be found at http://www.oldielyrics.com/christmas/go_tell_it_on_the_mountain.html/

This company also sung the song "Oh Mary Did You Know". Information about that song is presented above.
Information about & links to these songs would be greatly appreciated.

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Video #8: Excerpts from Black Nativity



Pspellbinder, Uploaded on Dec 20, 2010
Cicely Tyson Community School of Performing and Fine Arts presented Langston Hughes' "Black Nativity," as adapted by Mustapha Williams. These excerpts are from a performance given on 12/19/10, at which Cicely Tyson was an honored guest. She makes a brief speech at the end of the video. For more photos and information, go to:

http://wizkidzinc.com/09TysonBPA/FALL2010/BlackNativity12-19-10/BlackNativity
-snip-
More than any other video in this post, the songs performed by this cast conforms to the description of "Black Nativity" that was given in that play's Wikipedia page: the "Black Nativity" play "features traditional Christmas carols sung in gospel style with a few songs created specifically for the show." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Nativity.

The following traditional Christmas carols were sung in this video clip: "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "O Holy Night", and "Joy To The World". In this video clip the cast also sung one Black Christmas Spiritual "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and two songs in this video clip that I didn't recognize whose titles may be "Glory To God In The Highest" and "Follow The Star Of Bethlehem".

Another difference between this video clip and other featured videos of "Black Nativity" productions presented in this post was the lack of any dance performances and the presence of orchestra and string ensembles, including an instrumental only performance. However, the cast list found in the hyperlink for that school includes a list of dancers, and the photographs of the play include ballet dancers in standard white ballet costumes.

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Video #9: Black Nativity "Oh Holy Night"



Ladyofdance1, Uploaded on Dec 24, 2010

The 2010 Black Nativity Play in Cleveland, OH at the historic Karamu Theater. Black Nativity is the play by renowned artist Langston Hughes who took residence at Karamu.
Watch these Angels take wings!

-snip-
Similar to Video #8, this video also shows dancers performing ballet to the accompaniment of the traditional Christmas carol "O Holy Night". However, these dancers aren't wearing traditional ballet costumes.
-snip-
Editorial comment:
Although I've attended a "Black Nativity" play in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (in either 2004 or 2007) that included one ballet performance, African dancing, and Modern dancing with R&B/Hip-Hop moves constituted the bulk of the dancing for that production as they appear to do for most "Black Nativity" productions from at least the late 1990s to date.

I wonder whether the early productions of "Black Nativity" included African dancing and/or Modern dancing. If not, I wonder when those styles of dancing began to predominate "Black Nativity productions.

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BONUS VIDEO
Kirk Franklin - Precious Lamb Of God



Uploaded on Jul 10, 2009

Kirk Franklin - Precious Lamb Of God

-snip-
Kirk Franklin's 1995 Gospel song "Now Behold The Lamb" which he composed in 1995 was featured in each of the "Black Nativity" Productions that I attended in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Those productions were sponsored by The Shona Sharif African Drum and Dance Ensemble. The 2012 production of "Nativity: A Christmas Gift" is also sponsored by that same company.

Unfortunately, because filming was prohibited, there are no videos of those productions. My thanks to that company for introducing me and many others to "Black Nativity".
-snip-
Click http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/k/kirk_franklin/now_behold_the_lamb.html for lyrics to this song.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & THANKS
Thanks to Langston Hughes for writing the "Black Nativity" song/play. Thanks to all those whose articles are featured in this post. Thanks to all those affiliated with "Black Nativity" productions.

Thank you for visiting pancocojams.

Viewer comments are welcome.

Langston Hughes' Play "Black Nativity" - History & Contemporary Performance Reviews

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series on Langston Hughes' Christmas play entitled "Black Nativity".

Part I includes historical information about Langston's Hughes' "Black Nativity" play as well as reviews of two productions of that play. Part II also includes my description of "Black Nativity" based on my experiences of that play in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and based on my online research of other productions.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/12/langston-hughes-black-nativity-song.html for Part II of this series

Part II features five videos of songs that have been featured in a production of Black Nativity.

The content of this post is presented for historical, religious, entertainment, and aesthetic reasons.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

PART I
INFORMATION ABOUT BLACK NATIVITY
These excerpts are provided in no particular order, and are only numbered for references sake.

Excerpt #1 (Historical information)
http://www.dramaticpublishing.com/p152/Black-Nativity/product_info.html
"Langston’s Hughes Black Nativity
The Christmas story in dialogue, narrative, pantomime, gospel song and folk spirituals—the unique creation of the poet and playwright Langston Hughes...

As a young man, Hughes participated enthusiastically in the activities of the Karamu Players in Cleveland, and later he was to found Negro theatres in Harlem, Los Angeles and Chicago. He wrote a number of plays and musicals and then came to his own special creation which he calls "the Gospel Song-Play"... which is Black Nativity. First performed at the York Theatre and then at President Kennedy's International Jazz Festival, it went on to cause a sensation at the Festival of Two Worlds at Spoleto, Italy. A New York Times critic reporting from Spoleto wrote, "Sophisticated Italian audiences greeted Black Nativity with enthusiasm, taking part in the singing and hand clapping and insisting on curtain call after curtain call." The staid Rome newspaper Il Tempo wrote, "The elegant festival public appeared to have forgotten itself, lost in this rhythmic wave that overwhelmed it, an integral part itself that bound stage and auditorium in a mystical fusion." In London, Oslo, Brussels, Copenhagen and Rotterdam, Black Nativity triumphed before its return to New York and the then-new Lincoln Center. Black Nativity is designed for you to add the music of your choice (from spirituals to traditional carols or your original compositions) and dance. This thrilling holiday piece will have your audiences on their feet!"
[Italics added by me to highlight that sentence.]

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Excerpt #2 (Historical information)
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Nativity-Concert-Gospel-Celebration/dp/B006RMW94K/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y
"On December 11th, 1961 at the 41st St Theater in New York City, six gospel singers made history. Backed up by only a piano and a B-3 Hammond organ, they performed BLACK NATIVITY by African American poet and playwright Langston Hughes. He titled it "A Gospel Song-Play because it combined traditional gospel spirituals with narration about the birth of Jesus. After only 50 performances on Broadway, BLACK NATIVITY closed."

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Excerpt #3 (Overview of the Act 1 & Act 2, Historical information) added on 12/16/2012
http://www.lvrj.com/neon/36038494.htmlhttp://www.lvrj.com/neon/36038494.html
"LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL 'Black Nativity' gives traditional Christmas story a cultural twist By Steve Bornfeld
"...Angled through a cultural prism, the opening chapter of The Greatest Story Ever Told -- and retold a couple millennia later -- looks like this:

"First it tells the story of the birth of Christ," says Robert Connor, director/co-producer of "Black Nativity," reimagining the hallowed Christmas staple with an all-black cast, as envisioned by a black playwright. "The second act, you see the residue of those characters -- the shepherd, the king, the deacons and elders of the church, the young people -- morphing into modern-day characters to see how the birth of Christ and that moment relates to the present day."

Penned by playwright-poet Langston Hughes, "Black Nativity" returns for its third annual Las Vegas production this weekend at Cashman Theatre by the Trinity Entertainment Group. The gospel-flavored musical dates back 47 years to its 1961 Broadway debut as one of the first pieces by a black writer to grace what was, in more than one sense, the Great White Way. The original cast included a young Alvin Ailey...

A score brimming with rousing spirituals sweeps through "Black Nativity," whose opening act portrays Christ's birth, retracing the journey of Mary and Joseph -- regally garbed in African costumes -- to Bethlehem. By the second act, the play time-travels 2,000 years to a contemporary black church on Christmas Day and a veritable hallelujah-fest of testifying deacons and passionate preaching."
-snip-
"Black Nativity"'s Wikipedia page includes the following information about Alvin Ailey:
"The original name for this play was Wasn’t It a Mighty Day? Alvin Ailey was a part of the original Off-Broadway cast, but he and Carmen de Lavallade departed from the show prior to opening in a dispute over the title being changed to Black Nativity."
-snip-
Three videos of Trinity Entertainment Group's productions of "Black Nativity" are featured in Part II of this post. The link for Part II is given at the beginning of this post.

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Excerpt #4 (A Review of A Black Nativity Play, Description of Act I and Act 2)
http://clatl.com/atlanta/true-colors-theatre-companys-black-nativity/Content?oid=1276900
"True Colors Theatre Company's Black Nativity
by Curt Holman December 24, 2008A&E» Theater Review

Audiences could be forgiven for worrying that True Colors Theatre Company's Black Nativity might evoke a high school's annual birth of Jesus holiday pageant. The perennial musical's first half takes place "When Christ was born" and hits all the requisite beats of the first Christmas: angels, shepherds, Magi, etc. Plus, True Colors follows a similar approach as its recent holiday productions of The Wiz by casting primarily high school and college students as well as some recent graduates.

Fortunately, Langston Hughes' Black Nativity resembles a revue more than a plot-and-character-driven musical.... Featuring 24 exuberant players, Black Nativity's first half offers a vibrant swirl of African-American gospel songs and African costumes, suggesting the Nativity story by way of Broadway's The Lion King....

Act Two depicts a Christmas service at the Life Church, where the well-off parishioners first ignore, then accept a homeless man (Sam Collier) in a contemporary metaphor for the "No room at the inn" lesson. The cast seemed to particularly relish the contemporary story, possibly because it's closer to their own experience than the first half's parable quality. DeMille Cole-Heard, Reginald Degratfenraidt and Desmond Ellington double as the three wise men and three of the church's deacons, and bring enormous enthusiasm to the impassioned, old-school testifying songs.

Perhaps because numerous church groups were in attendance, the audience response to Black Nativity's contemporary half was electric, cheering and calling out "Amen!" where appropriate. It didn't hurt that the Rialto Center for the Performing Arts even has the look of a modern-day mega-church. … the show features so many highlights – such as the a cappella verse of "Oh, Come All Ye Faithful" – that it becomes a thrilling seasonal spectacle in its own right. These young people don't need to be graded on a curve."
-snip-
One video of True Colors Theatre Company's production of "Black Nativity" are featured in Part II of this post. The link for Part II is given at the beginning of this post.

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Excerpt #5: (A Review of A Black Nativity Play; Description of Act I & Act 2)
"Black Nativity at H Street Playhouse: A moving and inspiring gospel celebration
Black Nativity December 7, 2011 By: Sarah Hearn
The Theater Alliance kicked off its ninth season with Langston Hughes' Black Nativity, a classic re-telling of the Christmas story. The production, directed by Stephawn Stephens, transformed the stage at the H Street Playhouse in Washington, DC into a finely woven tapestry, captivating the audience with exuberant and exhilarating song and dance.

Act I tells the story of the birth of Jesus and is filled with rich gospel, blues, funk, jazz music and dance, with griot-style story telling from the ensemble cast. Tony Thomas (Joseph) and Kiera Turner (Mary) bring electricity to the story as they gracefully dance to "No Room at the Inn,” illustrating the couple's desperation and efforts to find shelter.

There are humorous moments as the couple meets interesting characters along the way. Comical encounters at places like “Sasha Fierce Hair Salon” and “Hylemai Harem Hideaway” kept the audience laughing. However, Turner’s emotive dance while illustrating Mary’s labor is a moving moment that transports the watcher to that pivotal night in Bethlehem.

In Act II, the cast performs gospel songs with the fervor of a church revival. The soul-stirring renditions of spirituals and gospel hits sprinkled the atmosphere with electricity and energy. Many in the audience were moved as they clapped their hands in rhythm and lifted their hands in praise. The stage was transformed into a church and the audience became its congregants."
-snip-
One video of The Theater Alliance's production of "Black Nativity" are featured in Part II of this post. The link for Part II is given at the beginning of this post.

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Excerpt #6 (Information about upcoming "Black Nativity" film)
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/kasi_lemmons_says_black_nativity_film_adaptation_still_in_developme
"Kasi Lemmons Says "Black Nativity" Film Adaptation Still In Development & "It's Going To Be Dope"
by Tambay A. Obenson, June 24, 2011 5:01 AM

In April 2009, it was announced that Langston Hughes' gospel musical Black Nativity (a retelling of the Bible's nativity story with an all-black cast and features traditional Christmas carols sung in gospel style) would be adapted for the big screen, with Kasi Lemmons writing and directing. At the time, Fox Searchlight was said to be fast-tracking the project for a possible Christmas 2009 release.

Well, obviously that didn't happen. So much for the "fast-track."

Fast-forward to today, just over 2 years later, and Lemmons reveals, when asked what she's currently working on: "A gospel musical titled, The Black Nativity. It's a film adaptation of the very slender book Langston Hues [sic] wrote in 1961. At the time it was very controversial. The story is about a kid from Baltimore whose mother has to send him to live with her estranged parents. He's dealing with people he didn't know including his grandmother who is a preacher; he falls in a deep sleep at church and dreams of the black nativity. It's going to be dope."
-snip-
"It's going to be dope" means "It's going to be very good"

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EDITORIAL COMMENT
It appears that few if any production companies perform a strict rendition of Langston Hughes' "Black Nativity" play as it was performed in 1961. Instead, the content of "Black Nativity" - including which songs are performed, and which lines are spoken - widely varies among production companies.

Furthermore, in part as a way of ensuring repeat attendees, annual productions of "Black Nativity" by the same production company aren't exactly the same from year to year.

The summary statement in Excerpt #5 that the "Black Nativity" play "features traditional Christmas carols sung in gospel style" is also found on that play's Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Nativity. By traditional Christmas Carols, I believe those writers mean songs such as such as "Silent Night", Come All Ye Faithful", "Joy To The World", "Hark The Herald Angels Sing",l and "O Little Town Of Bethleham". I can't recall if any of those song were sung at any of the six productions based on Langston Hughes' "Black Nativity" that I attended in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (from 1997-2000, 2004 and 2007)*. If they were performed, they were only a very small part of the repertoire of songs for those productions. I believe that is also the case for other productions of "Black Nativity" that are reviewed online and or featured in YouTube videos.

All of the productions of "Black Nativity" that I attended in Pittsburgh featured traditional Black Christmas Spirituals in Act I and contemporary Black Gospel songs in Act II. By "traditional Black Christmas Spirituals" I mean songs such as "Oh What A Pretty Little Baby", "What Do You Call That Pretty Little Baby", "Rise Up Shepherds And Follow", "Behold That Star", and "Go Tell It On The Mountain". Most of the online videos of "Black Nativity" of productions of this play in other United States cities include this same division of traditional Black Spirituals & contemporay Black Gospel songs. That said, those productions don't perform the same songs from those genres.

Also, for what it's worth, I've never attended any production of "Black Nativity" whose story was centered around a boy who was sent to live with his grandparents as described in Excerpt #5.

It appears from my direct experiences & from my online research that Act I of "Black Nativity" based productions usually include female & male dancers & other performers, including those persons playing Mary & Joseph wearing traditional West African African clothing or clothing which is inspired by traditional West African attire from Guinea, West Africa and from the Yoruba peoples of Nigeria, West Africa.

In Act II performers usually wear 20th century or 21st century church attire (males -suits, females - dresses, medium length skirts & blouses, often with hats, although few women actually wear hats in most Black church services since at least the 1990s).

*In 2012 I also attended a production in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that duction was entitled "Nativity: A Christmas Gift" which was very loosely based on Langston Hughes "Black Nativity". That production featured contemporary Black Gospel songs & none of the above mentioned traditional Black Christmas Spirituals (which may also referred to as Christmas Gospels). asongs. However, like other "Black Nativity" based productions, "Nativity: A Christmas Gift" heavily featured African drumming & dancing in (what appeared to me to be) Guinean West African attire. That play also featured modern dancing, R&B/Hip/Hop dancing, as well as dramatic recitations & skits that were sometimes religious, and sometimes humorous.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & THANKS
Thanks to Langston Hughes for writing the "Black Nativity" song/play. Thanks to all those whose articles are featured in this post. Thanks to all those affiliated with "Black Nativity" productions.

Thank you for visiting pancocojams.

Viewer comments are welcome.

"Mother To Son" Poem by Langston Hughes (Examples With Words)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post provides the text and four video collage/recitations of Langston Hughes' poem "Mother To Son". "Mother To Son" is also known as "Life For Me Ain't Been No Crystal Stair". Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an African American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist.

The content of this post is presented for historical, educational, and aesthetic purposes. The copyrights remain with their owners.

My thanks to Langston Hughes for writing this poem. My thanks to the videographers, artists, spoken word artists, and musicians whose work is showcased in these featured videos.

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TEXT OF THE POEM

MOTHER TO SON
(Langston Hughes)

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

From http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/mother-to-son/

Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes for information about Langston Hughes.

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FEATURED VIDEOS
(These videos are posted in no particular order.)

Video #1: Mother to Son Tone Poem




Uploaded by Aocochlain on Feb 24, 2009

This was a music technology project, based on a poem by Langston Hughes.
Music and film created by Aonghus O Cochlain.
Poem reading by Roberta Enschede.

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Video #2: Mother to Son by Langston Hughes: A Poetic Appreciation



Uploaded by honeytapia on Jun 20, 2010

I chose this poem for my English Comp. assignment, without realizing Fathers Day would be the day that I published it for my instructor to view. This poem touched me in a big way, causing me to think of my own son. My son is a father himself now and on this father's day I would like to dedicate this compilation to him. Sam Nimmo, you are one of the best father's I have every known. I love you with all my heart and am proud of you in ways I could never describe. Happy Fathers Day, son. Keep on, keeping on! Love, Mom

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Video #3: Mother to Son



Uploaded by GoldenHorn on Jun 13, 2007

[Music: "Naima" by John Coltrane]

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Video #4: Mother to Son - Langston Hughes



Uploaded by Jalmgrener on Nov 19, 2009

Here is a narrated poem with music.

-snip-
In response to a comment in this video's viewer comment thread, the video uploader indicated that "the music was created by myself using a program called Logic Pro".

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Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Langston Hudges - "The Ballad Of The Landlord" Video Recitations

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post includes the words of African American Langston Hughes' poem "The Ballad Of The Landlord". This post also includes a recitation of this poem by Langston Hughes as well as two other videos of this poem. In addition, this post includes three comments from a blogger about a recent incident in Virginia in which a White teacher indicated that a Black student in her classroom needed to be "blacker" in his recitation of "The Ballad Of The Landlord".

I was motivated to showcase the poem "The Ballad Of The Landlord" on this blog by that recent classroom incident. According to multiple news reports, a White high school teacher in Virginia directed a Black student to recite the African American composed poem "The Ballad of The Landlord" "blacker" than he had done. The student refused to do so, and the teacher then recited the poem with a dialect that the student described as that of "a maid on the 1960s"..."like a slave". When the ninth grader asked the teacher if she thought all Black people talked liked that, she reportedly reprimanded him for talking out of turn and told him to sit down. http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/17/10737634-ninth-grader-says-teacher-told-him-to-read-langston-hughes-poem-blacker

Editor: That site includes a number of reader comments about this incident. Three of those comments are included in this post.

Here is that poem:

THE BALLAD OF THE LANDLORD
(Langston Hughes)

Landlord, landlord,
My roof has sprung a leak.
Don't you 'member I told you about it
Way last week?

Landlord, landlord,
These steps is broken down.
When you come up yourself
It's a wonder you don't fall down.

Ten Bucks you say I owe you?
Ten Bucks you say is due?
Well, that's Ten Bucks more'n I'l pay you
Till you fix this house up new.

What? You gonna get eviction orders?
You gonna cut off my heat?
You gonna take my furniture and
Throw it in the street?

Um-huh! You talking high and mighty.
Talk on-till you get through.
You ain't gonna be able to say a word
If I land my fist on you.

Police! Police!
Come and get this man!
He's trying to ruin the government
And overturn the land!

Copper's whistle!
Patrol bell!
Arrest.
Precinct Station.
Iron cell.
Headlines in press:
MAN THREATENS LANDLORD
TENANT HELD NO BAIL
JUDGE GIVES NEGRO 90 DAYS IN COUNTY JAIL!

[Source: There are numerous online sources for this poem, including the msnbc.com link cited above]

Here's a comment about this poem from http://allpoetry.com/poem/8495547-The_Ballad_Of_The_Landlord-by-Langston_Hughes

"The Ballad Of The Landlord" From The Landston Hughes Reader, p. 101, © 1957

This poem by Langston Hughes grew out of conditions in New York City’s Harlem in the 1930’s. In graphic terms it describes the escalation of anger and frustration that tenants experienced trying to get landlords to make basic repairs. It is structured like an old time blues song until the final verse where the rhythm changes."
-Charley Noble

-snip-
The website whose link is posted above includes brief biographical information about Langston Hughes[1902-1967].

VIDEOS

Video #1: LH Ballad of the Landlord 1954



Uploaded by moleary1971 on Mar 7, 2012

Langston Hughes from a recording made in 1954.

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Video #2: ballad of the landlord


Uploaded by cooldollarbyll on Dec 5, 2008

Editor: This recitation of "The Ballad Of The Landlord" is by William Lyles from the
Carter G. Woodson African American History Club (no city given)

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Ballad of the Landlord [animation]



Uploaded by misschris0803 on Apr 27, 2009

Animated Langston Hughes poem for Digital Media 1. First animation. Created using After Effects, Photoshop, and GarageBand

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COMMENTS
Editor: I agree with these three comments posted by Zen609 on that msnbc.com reader comment thread whose link I gave above.

Disclaimer: I'm not this commenter, and I don't know this commenter.

"The difference between [Langston Hughes'] speech and SAE [Standard American English] Dialect is very slight, much less so than the difference between most dialects of that time and SAE - and VERY different from some stereotypical Southern Dialect.

Langston Hughes was a highly intelligent and educated man, as were most residents of Harlem at that time. Harlem isn't the ghetto - it's not a slum now, and it certainly wasn't a slum in the middle of the century. It wasn't an area populated by the uneducated or underemployed. The residents didn't then or now, speak with stereotypical Southern Accents."
- Sat Mar 17, 2012 11:17 PM EDT

**

"...people living in Manhattan don't have Southern accents, and most African-Americans don't speak like they came straight from da hood, just like most white Americans don't speak like they come straight from the trailer - that's just TV and movies, it's not real.

But that doesn't mean I think she should be fired."
-Zen609; Sun Mar 18, 2012 3:09 AM EDT

**
"UGH

Langston Hughes was not poor, was not uneducated. He did not speak in a Southern dialect - it's Harlem - It's Manhatten.

Harlem is NOT a ghetto, a slum, or da hood. Some people seem to think that because it's a black neighborhood that it must be a ghetto. It's not. And it certainly wasn't in the 20s and 30s. It was an upper middle class neighborhood.

I don't think the teacher should be fired, because I really don't know what she was thinking or that she had some racist intent."
-Sun Mar 18, 2012 4:14 AM EDT

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RELATED LINKS

Here are two other recordings uploaded to YouTube of Langston Hughes reciting one of his poems" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpjFS3CQkKE&feature=related "Dreams"

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CUKyVrhPgM&feature=related" "I Too".

Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/09/ive-known-rivers.html for a post on the Langston Hughes' poem "I've Known Rivers"

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Thanks for visiting this page.

Viewer comments are welcome.

I've Known Rivers

written by Azizi Powell

This post is in praise of African American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) and his poem "I've Known Rivers". This post is also in praise of some of the musicians/vocalists who have interpreted that poem.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes

"First published in The Crisis in 1921, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", which became Hughes's signature poem, was collected in his first book of poetry The Weary Blues (1926)."

The Negro Speaks of Rivers
by Langston Hughes

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.

-snip-

According to http://www.duboislc.org/ShadesOfBlack/LangstonHughes.html "Lincoln's determination to end slavery was said to have started when,
as a young man, he visited New Orleans for the first time." That website includes more biographical information about Langston Hughes.

-snip-

Gary Bartz NTU Troop (1973)



Uploaded by Ruhkukah5150 on Jul 26, 2010
Recorded Live. Montreux Jazz Festival 1973.

-snip-

4Hero remix: Courtney Pine - I've Known Rivers (2009)



Uploaded by 1994RapLover on Jun 16, 2009
hot jazzy remix, too fresh!

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