Read: The following poems by Helene Johnson
- – “A Southern Road” (in Fire!!)
- – “Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem” by Helene Johnson (allpoetry.com)
Read: The following poems by Langston Hughes
- – “Railroad Avenue” (in Fire!!)
- – “Song for Billie” (stephenfrug.blogspot.com)
- – “Negro Dancers” (poets.org)
Read/Listen: The following poems by Sterling Brown
- – “Ma Rainey” (poetryfoundation.org)
- – “Memphis Blues” (allpoetry.com)
- – “Southern Road” (poets.org)
- Listen: – “‘Ma Rainey’ by Sterling Allen Brown” [2:12] posted on YouTube.com by Amir Menasheof on April 2, 2018.
Watch / Listen:
Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6,1971) Wikipedia.
- – “Louis Armstrong – Black and Blue.” [5:33] Posted on YouTube.com by Austin Casey on January 25, 2013.
Ma Rainey (April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939) Wikipedia.
- – “Ma Rainey – ‘Jealous Hearted Blues’ 1924.” [3:22] Posted on YouTube.com by New Orleans Jazz-Pub on November 2, 2016.
Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) Wikipedia.
- – “Tain’t Nobody’s Business if I Do’ (Bessie Smith, 1923) Jazz Legend” [3:23]. Posted by RagtimeDorianHenry. June 3, 2009. Youtube.com <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VKEKkTQU-k> Accessed 10/7/19.
- – “Bessie Smith – I Need a Little Sugar in my Bowl” [2:48] Posted by Sugar Bear Mosher. February 16, 2009. Youtube.com <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meuwKhPGItk> Accessed 10/7/19.
Memphis Minnie (June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973) Wikipedia
- – Memphis Minnie “When the Saints Go Marching Home” [3:07] posted on YouTube.com by The Orchard Enterprises on November 6, 2014.
Duke Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) Wikipedia.
- – Duke Ellington’s “Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life (1935) | Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday.” [9:41] Posted on YouTube.com by reelblack on March 27, 2018.
Mae Barnes (c. January 23, 1907 – December 13, 1996) Wikipedia.
- “‘(I Ain’t Gonna Be No) Topsy’ – Mae Barnes” [4:25]. Posted by Zilbernet. June 10, 2011. Youtube.com <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdHp7wAgF04> Accessed 10/7/19.
Cab Calloway (December 25 1907 – November 18, 1994) Wikipedia.
- – “Cab Calloway’s Jitterbug Party (1935.}” [7:40] Posted on YouTube.com by reelblack on December 6, 2019.
Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) Wikipedia.
- – “Billie Holiday- ‘Strange Fruit’ Live 1959 [Reelin In the Years Archives]” Posted by Reelinintheyears66. February 12, 2018. Youtube.com <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DGY9HvChXk> Accessed 10/7/19.
Optional
- Secondary Sources
- – Stepto, Robert. “‘When de Saints Go Ma’chin Home’: Sterling Brown’s Blueprint for New Negro Poetry.” Callaloo 21.4 (Autumn 1998): 240-249. Last accessed via JSTOR. 09/28/2022.
- Poems:
- “The Harlem Dancer” by Claude McKay (poets.org)
- “Little Cinderella” by Lewis Alexander (in Fire!!)
- “Jungle Taste” by Edward Silvera (in FIre!!)
- “Jazz Band in a Parisian Cabaret” by Langston Hughes (poetrynook.com)
- “Jazzonia” by Langston Hughes (poets.org)