CULTURAL CENTER
BLACK CULTURE IS ALL AROUND US.
Students in African American History learned about several different eras in American history, and the impact it had on students was clear: Black culture is all around us. From music to television, poetry to paintings, American culture was built in places like Harlem.
Pictured: students in Mr. Cullum's African American History classes discussing similarities between music during the Harlem Renaissance and today.
"The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s was a period of cultural power for Black Americans. Our voices are now and clearly always have been powerful."
"Lots of singers, painters, and writers are from the era. Langston Hughes, Bessie Smith, Mamie Smith . . . so many people who deserve to be known!"
"I think it just goes to show you that Black music is so influential. If there was no 'Jazz Age' or Louis Armstrong there would be no rock, metal, rap."
"Everyone should know about Harlem. It was home for Black Americans. They could explore art and express themselves freely there."
lessons in history:
what was the harlem renaissance?
"In the 1920s, millions of Black Americans moved from the southern United States to larger cities like New York, Chicago, and Memphis. They sought economic opportunities and to escape from discrimination. This led to the 1920s becoming a major period of Black cultural exploration. Artists, writers, and musicians created powerful works that changed America forever. Some of the most successful singers and writers during the era were Black, and their works are still important now."
CONWAY HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR
HISTORY IS LITERATURE.
Conway High School English 10 students studied Langston Hughes' poem "Theme for English B." After reflecting on the meaning of the work, students embraced the themes and wrote their own poetry using the first five lines as inspiration. It seems essential to note that for all of us: history, literature, and the world we live in are connected. Read Langston Hughes' original poem below, then click the Google Documents/Slides to read original student work! Devices may vary, but if you hover over the top right corner there is typically an option to make each document a full page.
The instructor said,
Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you—
Then, it will be true.
I wonder if it’s that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem,
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:
It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you.
hear you, hear me—we two—you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York, too.) Me—who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records—Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white—
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That’s American.
Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that’s true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me—
although you’re older—and white—
and somewhat more free.
This is my page for English B.
The Music of Scott Joplin.mp4HISTORY IS MUSIC.
Conway High School orchestra students performed pieces composed by Scott Joplin, a prominent Black musician in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Click the video link to watch and listen to their artistry!
Below, you will find research projects covering several major Black musicians throughout American history. We encourage you to look up their work, listen, and appreciate their contributions to culture!
NINA SIMONE. VOICE FOR THE AGES.
Born February 21, 1933, Nina Simone was an American singer who expressed strong emotions by singing songs about love, protest, and Black empowerment. As a child Simone played piano and organ. At the age of 12, she experienced racism first hand when she performed at her piano recital and her African American parents had to stand at the back. In 1954, her vocal career began in an Atlantic City night club when the owner threatened to fire her unless she sang. Simone’s landed her first hit record in 1959 called “I Love you, Porgy." One year later, Simone added protest songs and befriended Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Angered by racism, she left the United States in 1973 and lived in Barbados, Africa, and Europe for the rest of her life. She lived a private life but continued to perform her music.
WHO ARE WE?
YOU'RE NOT BLACK
Amy Saunders
I sit with them at lunch
Fried chicken on my plate
I eat with a knife and fork
“You’re not black if you don’t use your hands to eat”
Yet I know that hands tied up the strange fruit on the trees in the south
The fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop
I don’t recognize the Caribbean music, or the Afrobeats
I only know of Liszt, Chopin and Ludovico Einaudi
Whose names you’ve probably never heard
“You’re not black, if you don’t know this beat”
Yet, I am familiar with the beat of pounding
Pounding of sugar cane, the whipping of backs
The cries and screams of my ancestors
Ring loud in my head centuries later
So how dare you? How dare you put me down!
Question my ethnicity, I’m still a shade of brown
And I’m sorry if I don’t live up to your ‘black norms’
But I live in a world with segregated dorms
Society crushes me, tells me I’m ugly
But copies my features, they must think it’s funny
I’m not trying to in any way be mean
But I live in a society covered in white sheen
Sorry to Bother You, but I should Get Out
’Cause The Hate U Give leaves me with no doubt
That I am not The Help, the help that you need
But the Hidden Figures are clear to see
That I should stop trying to be ‘Black’ and just try to be
Me
WE ARE OUR CULTURE.
LITERARY ANALYSIS WRITTEN BY
CONWAY HIGH SCHOOL SOPHOMORE
The first stanza and a half of "You're Not Black" are talking about how the narrator gets judged for not doing the same things/liking the same as her Black peers and getting judged for being different, straying from the “norms” of the average Black person. The narrator knows the history of her people and what they have been through.
The narrator is tired of being judged for not being the “stereotypical” Black person but also being the outcast of society which already puts down Black people. “But copies my features, they must think it’s funny” she talks about how lots of people do “Black face” & laugh and makes jokes but “no one ever really understands the pressure of a black person in a society built for white people.”
She doesn’t want to be something she’s not, she’s just trying to be herself without judgment.
WE ALL HAVE A VOICE.
we must use it each day of our lives.
Conway High School Juniors wrote pieces inspired by the short film "Hair Love." Read their work below and reflect on the power of all people to embrace identity, make an impact, and leave positive inspiration for those that look to us as an example. Their work is powerful and deserves to be read.