RiddhiDave

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I chose this artwork by Lois Mailou Jones and this poem by Langston Hughes because they both have the same theme behind their work. The artist Lois Mailow expresses the journey of African Americans from slavery to their struggles during the Harlem Renaissance. The art represents the work they had to do to overcome the struggle African Americans had to face. This relates to the poem written by Langston Hughes by it shows how a life of a African American was during the Harlem Renaissance and what they had to overcome. The artwork looks like the artist took the poets words and brought them to life in his artwork.

I am a Negro:
 * Negro**

Black as the night is black,

Black like the depths of my Africa. I’ve been a slave:

Caesar told me to keep his door-steps clean.

I brushed the boots of Washington. I’ve been a worker:

Under my hand the pyramids arose.

I made mortar for the Woolworth Building. I’ve been a singer:

All the way from Africa to Georgia

I carried my sorrow songs.

I made ragtime. I’ve been a victim:

The Belgians cut off my hands in the Congo.

They lynch me now in Texas. I am a Negro: Black as the night is black, Black like the depths of my Africa.