Human Suffering

The Harlem Renaissance was one of the most amazing growth of art, literature, and music for the African American community in the 20th century. Artists such as Aaron Douglas, W. E. B. DuBois, and Zora Neale Hurston are just some of the many famous artists of the Harlem renaissance who used art to spread their message of equality and more. In the 1920s millions of blacks moved up north from the south to escape discrimination, many had moved to Harlem which is in New York City.

Any Human to Another, and A Raisin in the Sun both share the message of community and feeling connected within one another through imagery.

In Any Human to Another the author discusses how people should share and channel there pain together. A stated by Countee Cullen, “”Your grief and mine, Must intertwine, Like sea and river, Be fused and mingle”” (Cullen). Here, Cullen discusses how he believes people should stand together to fight pain and discrimination. Using the imagery like “”Sea and river”” and “”sun and shadow”” Cullen spreads the message of working together to fight discrimination and hate. To conclude, keeping hate and pain to yourself only makes things worse and is only fought by coming together and fighting the hate as a community.

In A Raisin in the Sun, poet Lorraine Hansberry shows that family and community is very important. In the poem Mama struggles to keep the family together but knows that the need to stay together to make sure things work out. Hansberry writtes “”Child, when do you think is the best time to love somebody the most?…It’s when he’s at his lowest and can’t believe in himself cause the world done whipped him so.””

Hansberry believes it is most important to come to somebody’s side and help them when they are at their lowest because often there is nobody else to do it and people would have no way to handle the hate and pain the world gives them. This is shown through the image of the world whipping someone. When whipped of pain, family and their community coming to help them is often the best cure.

To conclude, both Any Human to Another, and A Raisin in the Sun both push the importance of community and family to get someone through rough times. Using imagery like a whip and the idea of sea and river both showing how harmful the world is but how great it can be pushes both of the authors messages. Because of these messages, African Americans all around the country are able to look at these for inspiration whether it was for civil rights or just to better understand themselves. Without the Harlem Renaissance, America would be a very different place that is not very acceptable of not just blacks, but people of other races and backgrounds.

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