The Harlem Renaissance was a period of time in the 1920s which included the artistic explosion when many African Americans became famous for their work. The Harlem Renaissance portrayed the intellectual capabilities that African Americans obtain and helped gain back African American’s self-esteem. This movement was seen to have been caused by the Great Migration in which African Americans migrated from the South to the greatly expanding North and Midwest. Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen were both inspirational poets during this movement and are widely known for their great accomplishments as they portray their emotions during this time. Although these two poets have different styles in writing, they both portray their views on the African American heritage in similar ways as they focus on how African Americans attempt to become a part of the American heritage or simply their own experiences.
Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen have different styles of writing their poems as Hughes writes his poems in rhythm and Cullen writes his in rhyme. Although they are different in the sense of their own writing styles, their overall themes within each poems are quite similar. Hughes bases his poems on African American’s instead of Whites. Hughes decided that it would be best to create unique ‘Negro’ art by implementing the folk in his work. His writing includes Jazz poetry as he thought that making a more Black style writing would best suit this movement in a way that reaches out to a wide audience. On the other hand, Cullen writes about African American’s finding a place within the American culture. He focuses more on White people and their experiences during this time. Cullen's poems seemed to prove that Blacks were equally as good of writers as Whites. Cullen believed in traditional poetic structures rather than the complex ones that Hughes utilizes. In both of their works they describe the experiences of African Americans adopting to American culture, while maintaining their African culture within them. These key similarities and differences are apparent all throughout the Harlem Renaissance.
Within Countee Cullen’s works, African heritage can be seen as more important than in Langston Hughes writing. While that may seem true, it is all done to make the reader believe so by the way he writes. In Cullen’s poem “Heritage,” it is apparent that African heritage slightly matters to an African-American’s as Cullen “lies” when he describes Africa. Since those experiences from those living in Africa have not been passed down, there is no formal knowledge being presented within his poems, so therefore information and history has been lost. As Cullen is reminded of Africa during the rainfall in America, he begins to miss it. At the end of the poem he draws attention to differences in religion of African Americans and Whites. "Must my heart grow sick and falter/Wishing He I served were Black” (Cullen). This simply means that he has lost a part of his African culture and has adopted American culture. This theme contributes to the loss of African culture within African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance. Cullen focuses on this torn between African and American culture that many African Americans faced during this time and attempts to describe their experiences throughout the poem “Heritage.”
In Hughes writing, “The Negro Artist and The Racial Mountain,” he writes about the Black middle class attempting to be accepted by Whites. He emphasizes the importance of obtaining the black heritage by closely examining those experiences of African Americans that make them feel different from Whites. Hughes writes that African Americans have this perception that Whites are superior to them and that they are more competent. According to Griffen Shiel, he says that the ‘racial mountain’ Hughes describes creates the constructed obstacle of accurate representations of black culture heritage. This is due to African Americans perceiving themselves to have higher expectations, economically, to be like Whites. During the Harlem Renaissance people believed that those African Americans in the Middle and Upper Class are more engaged in White culture than of their own culture they were born in due to their upbringing. Unlike the common assumptions made by people, Hughes believed that all African Americans were of one class no matter the circumstance or wealth they obtain. Additionally in Hughes poem “Harlem” he describes a “dream deferred”. He makes possible explanations for what happens to the deferral of the “American Dream” for the equality of African Americans. At the end of the Poem he states, “Or does it explode?” This last line portrays his emotions towards the lack of hope for equality of African Americans in regard to social, economic, and legal components. This is similar to Countee Hughes since he also takes the loss of support for African culture being equal to American culture. Both poets write in unison of the need for support off the African culture.