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Opinion Summary
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Free within themselves
by ramseelbird | Jul 10 '05
Pros: The best written history book on the Harlem Renaissance for teens ever written. Bar none.
Cons: Some mild simplifications and confusing passages. These are, however, rare.
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Re: Tough Question on Sexuality (Reply to this comment)
by ramseelbird
Touche! This marks the first time an author has defended their own work to one of my reviews. I would like to say, by the way, that as a children and teen librarian "Harlem Stomp" really is THE number one resource I refer kids to when they need to cover the topic. In my own ignorance, I was amazed to find from your message that Langston Hughes' sexuality was not universally acknowledged. Fascinating! Though I still would have loved some small mention of the great works produced by gays and lesbians during that time, I can certainly see why you chose to exclude that fact from an already hefty tome. Many thanks for the clarification. By the way (I've been bugging a variety of authors about this) I don't suppose you'd consider producing a non-fiction teen book about the Black Panthers at any point? Talk about a subject completely ignored in children/YA literature. When I consider your in-depth treatment of the Renaissance and apply it to the never-discussed topic of the Panthers, I get very excited. Sorry! Couldn't help but wonder.
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Nov 03 '05
5:46 pm PST
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Tough Question on Sexuality (Reply to this comment)
by labanhill
When I wrote Harlem Stomp, one of the issues that I struggled with was that many of the male writers, i.e., Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Wallace Thurman, were homosexual. I chose not to discuss their sexuality for one basic reason. None of them acknowledged their sexuality in their published or private writing. In fact if you read the personal letters of Langston Hughes, he never mentions his homosexuality. The same is true with Countee Cullen and Wallace Thurman. We know of their sexual preferences from other sources. They clearly did not believe it was an issue that should be discussed. In academia this issue of their sexuality is a hotly debated topic with Hughes literary executor Arnold Rampersand denying that Hughes was gay. At the time of writing the book I decided that the real issue for these writers was their race, not their sexuality. That is what they believed, and so it seemed appropriate to respect that. For me to explore the complex and conflicting issues of their sexuality in this book would have diverted me from the main purpose of the story. Harlem Stomp is about that turning point in American culture when the influence of African American culture on the larger society moved from being unconscious and unacknowledged to being conscious and at least somewhat acknowledged. Unfortunately, the story of sexuality in America did not really become acknowledged until Stonewall in 1969. But that's another book. Laban
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Nov 02 '05
12:07 pm PST
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Re: It seems to me (Reply to this comment)
by ramseelbird
An excellent point. I should have mentioned that in my review. As it happens, this book never makes a SINGLE reference to the sexuality of Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, or any other of the leading homosexuals of the jazz age. This is a huge gap in an otherwise worthy book. Customers who wish to present a more honest portrayal of the Harlem Renaissance (in this manner) are encouraged to look elsewhere.
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Jul 11 '05
12:13 pm PDT
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It seems to me (Reply to this comment)
by Stephen_Murray
that it would be very difficult for anyone who knows very much about the era to present "everyone during the Renaissance g[etting] along." And I'm wondering if the homosexuality of many of the leading contributors is occluded.
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Jul 10 '05
6:21 pm PDT
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