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The Civil Rights Movement: Countee Cullen's Life During The Harlem Renaissance

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Multiple events occurred during the Harlem Renaissance, one of the was the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement was a movement that for African Americans to have equal rights as white people. Each poet in the Harlem Renaissance can connect to this movement because they used their poetic abilities to show that they want equal rights.

Countee Cullen, one of the central figures in the Harlem Renaissance was born on May 30th 1903 and died on January 9th 1946 with an uremia and high blood pressure. According to different websites and the book, his birth place is either in New York City, Lexington Kentucky or Baltimore. His second wife Ida and close friend, who was also a part of the Harlem Renaissance Langston Hughes, said that it was Louisville. While Cullen said it was New York, while he was in his literary fame. He was the son of Elizabeth Thomas Lucas, who died and his father was unknown. He was adopted by his grandmother and a guardian who later on died in the 8. At age …show more content…

In the poem, he writes in protest of the way they are treated and about the culture. The first verse can be seen as explaining what the life is like. This can be especially seen in the first two lines where he says “We Shall Not always plant while other reaps/ The golden increment of bursting fruit” The beginning brings the reader right away into understand that this poem is meant to display the frustration towards the treatment of afrienca American people. The second verse explains the way that African Americans are no less equal then white people. The second line of the poem brings out that aspect as it says “White stars is no less lovely being dark.” This line means that just because a person is black does not make them less beautiful. The readers can see how Countee Cullen’s was importance and is seen as being a big impact on the Harlem

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