Ray’s Jazz Club

            On the streets of
Harlem there is always something exciting happening. This is the only place in these United States where we
Negros can live and prosper, without the white man’s shadow casting over us. The 20s has been the best time for the Negro because of W.E.B. DeBuis and his new organization called the NAACP. He‘s been the only black leader who has started to give us any hope of being equal.

            Anyway, I am Jordan from south
Harlem. I am 17 years old, and I am already one of the most well known jazz musicians in the city. In fact, the only guy that out play me on the trumpet is this guy named Louis Armstrong. He lives right across the street. He and the rest of
Harlem are going to watch me perform tonight at Ray’s Jazz Club. Ray’s is the biggest and most famous club in
Harlem. That’s where I am walking to right now. Everybody in town knows me. After a show they always yell to me about how they liked the show from the night before. It feels good being the one who makes the people get on their feet to start dancing and having a good. I’ve got my work cut out for me though tonight, because at Ray’s people have been known to dance the entire night, and being an entertainer I have to give them what they want.

            As I finally get to the club I see Malcom and the gang sitting down. These guys have been playing with me for years.

            “Hey what’s up fellas?”

            “Nothing,” said Malcom. “Just hangin out, waitin for you to get ready for the show tonight. Where you been at?”

            “Probably with Diann,” shouted Tony.

            “How did you know I was with her?” I asked him.

            “Cause when you ain’t playin music you are always with her.” Jamal said jokingly.

            “Whatever man, y’all just jealous you don’t have any girls comin around.”

            Diann was my girlfriend. She moved to New York from
Chicago when we were 6, and we’ve been friends ever since. We started going together a few months ago. She’s the prettiest girl in all of
New York City, she also has the best voice. When she sings, all the men go into a trans.

            “Yo
Jordan! Let’s go get ready.” Malcom yelled.

            When we walked into the club we saw everyone getting ready for the show. A nice lady named Zora showed us to our dressing room. After I got into my suit I went to go see Ray.

            “What’s up Ray?”

            “Hey, nothing much man. You ready for the big show tonight?”

            “Yeah, you know I am. I just wanted to find how much you were payin us tonight.”

            “Three hundred.” He answered. “Is that okay?”

            “That’s just fine with me.” I replied.

            As I walked back to the dressing room I could see that the place was already packed. Anybody who’s anybody was here tonight. I saw all the big names, even Mr. DeBuis was in the house. Then I saw Diann, she saw me and she blew me a kiss. I knew that I was going to have to give my best performance ever. When I got back to the dressing room I could see that they were a little nervous, I was even nervous. I couldn’t show them that I was because I am the leader of the group.

            “C’mon guys this is just like playin in the old small joints we used to play in. There is nothing different.” I told them.

            Zora peaked her head in, and told us it was time to go out.

            When we went out there we received a huge round of applause. People were screaming our names as we picked up our instruments. Then we began to play. We played and played the people were really feeling our songs. We had the club bumpin the whole night and into the morning. It was great seeing all of
Harlem dancing to our music. This is what it’s all about. After the show people were talking about it for weeks. In fact, most people were saying that it was the best performance put on at Ray’s Jazz club.

After the end of World War I, many African American soldiers came home to a nation that did not always respect their accomplishments. Race riots and other civil injustices occurred throughout 1919.

Race and the lead writer of the Harlem Renaissance

            During the Harlem Renaissance, the country was still getting over the effects of slavery and blacks were looking for ways to express their frustrations through art, music and dance. James Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in a small city in the Midwest named
Joplin, Missouri. Though he was born in the Midwest and did not spend his childhood years in
New York; Hughes was the most celebrated author during the Harlem Renaissance. The racial inequalities that blacks in the time period faced are what fueled the great mind of Langston Hughes and his writing.

            Langston Hughes began to see how race affected his life as he started seeing how people treated him differently depending where he was. While growing up Hughes moved around a lot, but he spent his older years in
Cleveland, Ohio. In Cleveland Hughes had very few white friends, in fact of the whites that he dealt with most treated him unjustly and with blatant racism (Turman 2). His views were somewhat altered when he moved to
Mexico with his dad (“Langston Hughes” 2). Here he saw a drastic change in the he was treated. Hughes found out that the white people who would not even talk to him in
Cleveland would now (Harper 2). This is because his brown skin could pass Hughes off as a Mexican. In
Mexico, Hughes could even sit in the same train car as whites (Harper 2). After his experiences in Mexico, Hughes went to
New York City with a new mind set, one that implied that in society it was simply blacks alone who struggled in the fight for equality against whites (Harper 2).

            After growing up, Hughes continued to endure many hardships dealing with racial issues. Over the years many whites and even some blacks criticized Hughes’ work as be to harsh, and that he was expressing too much of his “blackness” (Smith 3). Though this never really affected Hughes very much over the years, in the 50s Hughes was falsely accused as being a communist, which at the time was the worst thing some one famous could be called (Rampersad 3). Hughes was forced to be question in front of Congress (Rampersad 3). He was publicly embarrassed and the accusations had forced him to put his career on hold for a while (Rampersad 3). After years and years trying to get back on track he finally did once the 60s came around. But things were different now, and Hughes had a tough time reaching out to the young black militants of the 60s as the African American movement became more about “black power” (Harper 3).

            Another facet of race that helped influence Hughes’ writing was that he got to work with the other black leaders of the Harlem Renaissance era. For starters Hughes’ grandfather, James Langston, was the first black man to be elected into a public office (“Langston Hughes” 4). When he moved to New York City he went to school at

Lincoln
University which at the time was the most prominent black college and he was being taught by many famous black professors (Donald 4). He started out writing several essays about racial issues that were published in famous black magazines like the “
Opportunity”. Hughes wrote “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, which was published by W.E.B. DuBois who was the founder of the NAACP (“Langston Hughes” 5). The music of the era also influenced Hughes. Hughes worked with famous black musicians and his poems had a musical flow and jazz rhythms to them (Dyer 4).  Almost all of the poems Hughes would write would be about blacks and would have the word “black or “negro” in the title. He was also he financially by Charlotte Mason, in fact she was the one who got him through school as well as gave him advice to start writing novels as well as poems (Harper 4). Hughes also grew strong friendships with Alain Locke and Zora Hurston through their ties with Charlotte Mason (Harper 4).

            Langston Hughes was celebrated poet during the Harlem Renaissance as well as after. Many different things gave him inspiration but it seemed as if the race issues in the early 20^th century affected him the most. Hughes is looked upon as being a writer who no matter what spoke his mind and was never ashamed or frightened by ridicule. Hughes decided that he would express his frustration with the way blacks were treated in
America through his writing. The passion that Hughes had to gain equality in society helped him to become one of the greatest authors in American history.   

I.                    How did race effect Langston Hughes’s writing?

A.     He saw how people treated him different depending on where he was. (Harper 4)

B.     He worked with the black leaders of the era. (“Langston Hughes” 5)

C.     He endured many hardships in his life dealing with race. (
Arnold Rampersad 6)

II.                 He saw how people treated him different depending where he was.

A.     He spent his older childhood years in
Cleveland. (Turman 2)

B.     He made some white friends but most treated him unjustly. (Harper 4)

C.     His views on race changed when he moved to
Mexico with his dad. (“Langston Hughes” 5)

D.     Whites wouldn’t talk to him in
Cleveland would talk to him now because he passed off as Mexican. (Harper 4)

E.      He saw poverty and hardships had also reached the Mexicans. (Harper 4)

III.               He worked with the black leaders of the era.

A.     Went to school atLincoln
University which is a famous black college and he was taught by famous African Americans. ( Donald 3)

B.     Grandfather was James Langston who was the first black man to be elected into public office. (Langston Hughes” 5)

C.     He wrote “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” which was published by W.E.B. DuBois. (“Langston Hughes” 5)

D.     Help a great amount by Charlotte Mason who helped financially and told him to go into writing novels. (Harper 4)

E.      Worked with other authors and he was inspired by the musicians of the time period. (Dyer 1)

F.      He wrote several essays about racial issues in famous black magazines and news papers. (Harper 4)

IV.              He endured many hardships in his life dealing with race.

A.     Had some white friends as a child but most people in his town did not except him. ( Harper 4)

B.     He had hard time reaching out to the black militants of the 60s as the movement became more about black power. (Dyer 1)

C.     In the 50s he falsely accused of being a communist by Senator McCarthy. (Rampersad 6)

D.     Accusations put his career on hold for a while. (Rampersad 6)

E.      After years of trying to get back he finally did when the 60s came around. (Rampersad 6)

V.                 Conclusion

   A. How did race effect Langston Hughes’s writing?

B. He saw how people treated him different depending on where he was. (Harper 4)

         C. He worked with the black leaders of the era. (“Langston Hughes” 5)

D.     He endured many hardships in his life dealing with race. (
Arnold Rampersad 6)