{"id":132,"date":"2015-10-01T18:13:16","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T18:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/?p=132"},"modified":"2015-10-01T18:13:16","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T18:13:16","slug":"side-by-side-ntozake-shangelangston-hughes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/?p=132","title":{"rendered":"Side by Side: Ntozake Shange\/Langston Hughes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading Shange, I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about Langston Hughes. The way her phrases have tones and her poems seem to unfold in the rhythm of song reminds me of Hughes\u2019s prose, infused with the blues. I was excited to see in nappy edges<\/em>, a reference to the Harlem Renaissance poet: \u201cst. louis was just desegregating herself, while i grew. sometimes a langston hughes poem or a bobby timmons tune was the only safe place i cd find\u201d (19). Like Shange, Hughes makes words dance, and leaves space for music to exist as an external character. Both of their works have strong, vivid connections to place and are in conversation with the roots of diaspora. To delve more into this comparison, I explored two poems that I feel interact nicely: Shange\u2019s \u201cjust as the del vikings stole my heart\u201d and Hughes\u2019s \u201cTheme for English B\u201d.<\/p>\n

The first half of Shange\u2019s poem refers to \u201cshe\u201d\u2014\u201cher fairy godmother retired\u201d\u2014while the second half relies on the first person \u201ci\u201d. \u201cShe\u201d retired after the \u201cbrown vs. ferguson decision\u201d (a reference to two cases, one which repudiates the other). By combining the two, Shange speaks to the illusion of the \u201cfairy godmother\u201d, the notion that the latter (Ferguson) made life easier for women of color. The law has never fended for her: \u201ci live my own lil rock\/ cover my own back anywhere i wanna go\u201d; \u201ci\u201d is the only person she can rely on to survive. \u201cTheme for English B\u201d is about an assignment that Langston Hughes\u2019s white professor gave the class: \u201cGo home and write a page tonight\u201d. This poem also creates a dichotomy; Hughes writes of \u201cme\u201d\u2014Hughes\u2014and \u201cyou\u201d\u2014the professor. The italics that belong to the professor read: \u201cAnd let that page come out of you\u2014Then, it will be true\u201d. Hughes begs the question, \u201cI wonder if it\u2019s that simple?\u201d His truth is in constant conflict with this man who is \u201colder\u2014and white\u2014and somewhat more free\u201d.<\/p>\n

My interpretation of each closing is that both Shange and Hughes resolve to write poems as a form of resistance\/as a way to construct identity.\u00a0 Shange writes \u201ci learned only by breakin the law\/ i am separate\/ i am equal\u201d. I wonder if she\u2019s, in part, referring to breaking the law of language; by deconstructing the laws of colonialist language, she frees her identity in poetry. She continues, \u201cCrackers are born with the right to be alive\/ i am making mine up\/ right here in your face\u201d. Perhaps, what she is \u201cmaking up\u201d is this poem; poetry becomes a song\/dance of resistance. These lines remind me of what Shange refers to as \u201cthe moral of the story\u201d in the opening choreopoem \u201cwow\u2026yr just like a man!\u201d: \u201cWhen words & manners leave you no space for yrself\/ make a poem\/ very personal\/ very clear\/ & yr obstructions will join you or disappear\/\u201d (16). Hughes refers to \u201cthe page\u201d in his poem. He writes, \u201cyou, me, talk on this page\u201d, this page that is supposed to be \u201ctrue\u201d. Throughout this poem, Hughes has a dialogue with his professor about identity, and where, specifically, that identity comes from (\u201cNew York\u201d, \u201cthe Harlem Branch Y\u201d, \u201cBessie<\/a>\u201d). The last line\u2014\u201cThis is my page for English B\u201d\u2014references the \u201cpage\u201d as opposed to \u201ctheme\u201d (the title). I\u2019ve read this poem many, many times over the years, and I read this as: the theme comes from within the page; through poetry, Hughes uncovers his identity\/his truth. This page is a form of resistance; the poem belongs to him.<\/p>\n

I find the rhythms and themes of Shange and Hughes\u2019s work to be in conversation, and I am fascinated with how they re-construct identity through poetry. To read the two poems discussed in full, I\u2019ve included both below\u2026<\/p>\n

just as the del vikings stole my heart<\/em><\/p>\n

(oh auntie emma)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

my fairy godmother retired<\/p>\n

with the brown vs. ferguson decision<\/p>\n

she reasoned i waz divested of my separate<\/p>\n

but equal status & waz entitled<\/p>\n

to whatever lil white girls got<\/p>\n

from whoever they got it from<\/p>\n

since she waz raised in greener pastures<\/p>\n

& knew the devil only in the blues saw-dust<\/p>\n

of a raunchy dawn\/ a cruel dance on the edge of a dime<\/p>\n

so she retired\/<\/p>\n

she waznt bout to misegenate her powers\/<\/p>\n

integrate em either\/<\/p>\n

leavin me to fend for myself<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

i’ve felt her absence from the moment she escaped<\/p>\n

with my love of who i am\/ conjurin myself<\/p>\n

thru catcalls & mailbox cherry bombs was not my forte<\/p>\n

i learned only by breakin the law\/<\/p>\n

i am separate<\/p>\n

i am equal<\/p>\n

i live my own lil rock\/<\/p>\n

cover my own back anywhere i wanna go<\/p>\n

& i go anywhere i want<\/p>\n

crackers are born with the right to be alive<\/p>\n

i am making mine up<\/p>\n

right here in your face<\/p>\n

why don’t you<\/p>\n

go on<\/p>\n

& push me<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Theme for English B<\/em><\/p>\n

The instructor said,<\/p>\n

Go home and write
\na page tonight.
\nAnd let that page come out of you—
\nThen, it will be true.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I wonder if it’s that simple?
\nI am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
\nI went to school there, then Durham, then here
\nto this college on the hill above Harlem.
\nI am the only colored student in my class.
\nThe steps from the hill lead down into Harlem
\nthrough a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
\nEighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
\nthe Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
\nup to my room, sit down, and write this page:<\/p>\n

It’s not easy to know what is true for you or me
\nat twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what
\nI feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
\nhear you, hear me—we two—you, me, talk on this page.
\n(I hear New York too.) Me—who?
\nWell, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
\nI like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
\nI like a pipe for a Christmas present,
\nor records—Bessie, bop, or Bach.
\nI guess being colored doesn’t make me NOT like
\nthe same things other folks like who are other races.
\nSo will my page be colored that I write?
\nBeing me, it will not be white.
\nBut it will be
\na part of you, instructor.
\nYou are white—
\nyet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
\nThat’s American.
\nSometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me.
\nNor do I often want to be a part of you.
\nBut we are, that’s true!
\nAs I learn from you,
\nI guess you learn from me—
\nalthough you’re older—and white—
\nand somewhat more free.<\/p>\n

This is my page for English B.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Shange, I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about Langston Hughes. The way her phrases have tones and her poems seem to unfold in the rhythm of song reminds me of Hughes\u2019s prose, infused with the blues. I was excited to see in nappy edges, a reference to the Harlem Renaissance poet: \u201cst. louis was just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[42,16,40,39,20,21,41],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogposts","tag-bessie-smith","tag-harlem","tag-just-as-the-del-vikings-stole-my-heart","tag-langston-hughes","tag-nappy-edges","tag-poetry","tag-theme-for-english-b"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions\/133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcrw.barnard.edu\/digitalshange\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}