An ongoing illustrative history study
This piece originally posted 10/11/2020
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Hating you shall be a game
Played with cool hands
And slim fingers.
Your heart will yearn
For the lonely splendor
Of the pine tree
While rekindled fires
In my eyes
Shall wound you like swift arrows.
Memory will lay its hands
Upon your breast
And you will understand
My hatred.
One of the unsung heroes of the Harlem Renaissance, artist, poet, and journalist Gwendolyn B. Bennett helped to spur on discussions about race and gender with her short stories and poems.
Bennett was born in 1902 Texas but her family soon moved to Washington, D.C. Family strife (involving, among other things, an attempted kidnapping by her own father following her parents' divorce) ultimately led her to New York. As a high school student she first discovered her inherent talent for art and writing. Later, while a student at Columbia University, one of her poems, "Nocturne," was selected for publication in Crisis (then, as now, the official magazine of the NAACP). She later studied in Paris for a time; honing and perfecting her fine arts education, but also garnering some perspective on how Black Americans were perceived by the rest of the world. She continued to publish pieces in Crisis and also in Opportunity, the official magazine of the National Urban League. Of the latter she eventually became assistant editor, writing commentary in a weekly column called "The Ebony Flute," which encouraged readers to embrace their Blackness rather than be shamed by it --which for many was still a novel concept at the time. She also frequently contributed illustrations and even cover art for both magazines.
Bennett's published poems number in the hundreds, but perhaps most significantly she wrote what is sometimes considered the definitive chronicle of the Harlem Renaissance, a short story titled "Wedding Day" which appeared in a one-off periodical, Fire!! While Fire!! only ever saw one issue, it is considered a unique benchmark in the overall arc of the Harlem Renaissance. With articles and contributions by the likes of Langston Hughes, Richard Nugent, Zora Neale Hurston (see Lesson #25 in this series), and Bennett herself, the single issue straddled the contrasting attitudes between: a) Harlem's more traditional, urbane and sophisticated image; and b) the edgier, more urgent modern-day focus. "Wedding Day" in particular challenged the attitudes towards gender, race, class, and (significantly) interracial relationships based upon her observations while in France.
Bennett continued to publish even during times of personal tragedy (a house fire in 1936 destroyed much of her artwork, and her first husband, Alfred Jackson, died that same year). As was frequently the case with outspoken Black activists in those days, she and her second husband --a white man named Richard Crosscup-- came under scrutiny by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and Bennett was forced out of her job as director of the Harlem Community Art Center due to suspected "leftist tendencies." Bennett and Crosscup retired and lived quietly as owners of an antique store in Pennsylvania. Crosscup died in 1980 and Bennett herself died shortly after, in 1981.
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