Anita.Scott.Coleman

By: Sophia Ge Period 1

Anita Scott Coleman was a poet in the Harlem Renaissance. She would also write short stories and magazines. She wasn’t very well known at time, but she was important because of her impact on the western United States. Coleman was born in Guaymas Mexico in 1890, and later grew up on a ranch in New Mexico. She enrolled at New Mexico Teachers College and taught school. She ended her career when she was married to James Harold Coleman in 1916. Even though she never lived in Harlem she was represented the same views and ideas of the Harlem writers. She published 13 stories in New Mexico, and then later moved to Los Angeles, California to join her husband who went there searching for employment. There she raised four children. She wrote many great stories these over the years. Her writing showed the life of an African American living in the southwest United States. She died in Los Angeles in 1960. She has made a big impact on people’s views.

**The Shining Parlor** //by Anita Scott Coleman//  It was a drab street  A white man's street. . .  Jammed with automobiles  Streetcars and trucks;  Bee-hived with fruit vendors' stalls,  Real estate concerns, meat shops,  Dental clinics, and soft drink stands.  It was a drab street  A white man's street. . .  But it held the shining parlor--  A boot-black booth,  Commandeered by a black man,  Who spent much time smiling out  Upon the hub-bub of the thoroughfare.  Ever. . . serenely smiling. . . <span style="color: #14a8f0; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> With a brush and soiled rag in his hands. <span style="color: #14a8f0; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> Often. . . white patrons wait for <span style="color: #14a8f0; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> Their boots to be "shined," <span style="color: #14a8f0; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> Wondering the while <span style="color: #14a8f0; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> At the wonder-- Of the black man's smile.

Analysis The area is controlled by white people in this poem. There is one "shinging parlor" that an African American is controlling. This is like the time the poem was written, African Americans weren't given as many rights. The African American is smiling and happy. He is still happy to be there. But he wants to be recognized and given the same opportunities and rights.

Sources: "Black Boy." //Home//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. <http://stratfordhigh.stratfordk1

"Coleman, Anita Scott (1890-1960) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed."//| The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. <http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aaw/coleman-anita-scott-1890-1960>.