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=Gwendolyn Bennett: A Voice of Harlem=

By: Jared Croft
Gwendolyn Bennett and her painting ("Life and Career")

Gwendolyn Bennett was a poet, writer, artist, and a teacher before and during the Harlem Renaissance time period. She was first recognized as an artist, but was later realized to be a great poet. Gwendolyn Bennett was born in Texas, but she moved around the United States for a great portion of her life. She finally settled in New York. She finally came of age in 1921, or the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance. By the early '20s she had her art and poems in various magazines and journals. From 1921 to 1931 she released many of her poems and paintings and various stories to the general public. She was widely recognized as one of the more influential of the Harlem Renaissance writers ("Life and Career").

Gwendolyn Bennett was known for her poems, "Heritage", and "To Usward". With these two poems Bennett shows the themes of the Harlem Renaissance. They speak of the culture and the way of life of African Americans. Bennett longs for the day when her culture is prevalent in society. She wants to have equality, which is a major theme of the Harlem Renaissance. "I want to feel the surging of my sad people's soul hidden by a minsrel-smile" (Bennett 16-18). In "To Usward" Bennett once again shows why she was considered to be one of the more influential poets of the Harlem Renaissance. "We claim no part with racial dearth; We want to sing the songs of birth" (Bennett 22-23)! She shows that she just wants to be heard and that she wants to be equal and unconstrained. Gwendolyn Bennett truly was a major influence to the glorious time period of the Harlem Renaissance.

**Heritage**
I want to see the slim palm-trees, Pulling at the clouds With little pointed fingers....

I want to see lithe Negro girls, Etched dark against the sky While sunset lingers.

I want to hear the silent sands, Singing to the moon Before the Sphinx-still face....

I want to hear the chanting Around a heathen fire Of a strange black race.

I want to breathe the Lotus flow'r, Sighing to the stars With tendrils drinking at the Nile....

I want to feel the surging Of my sad people's soul Hidden by a minsrel-smile.

Bennett has many references to the sky or celestial beings in this poem, with "clouds" (2), "sky" (5), "moon" (8), and "stars" (14). Bennett is using these things in the sky or celestial objects as pleas for help to change the way that things are. She mentions "singing to the moon" (8), "sighing to the stars" (14), and "pulling at the clouds" (2). She is going to the sky, showing that there is no limit. She is saying that there can be equality, and that there is nothing limiting themselves but themselves. She is showing the true potential that we all have, which is the sky, if we want to get there. She creates of theme that people can reach their potentials if they work hard enough.  Another theme that Bennett uses is that of cultures expressing who they are, and breaking out of the restrictions that they have. She mentions various cultures and places in her writing that are expressing who they are. "Palm-trees pulling at the clouds" (1-2), "lithe Negro girls, Etched dark against the sky" (4-5), "hear the chanting...black race" (10,12), "tendrils drinking at the nile" (15). These all represent the separate cultures expressing their heritage in their own ways. Most importantly Bennett mentions, "I want to feel the surging of my sad people's soul hidden by a minsrel-smile" (16-18). She wants her culture to break free of their bonds. To surge past their hidden masks and to show their true culture.

Gwendolyn Bennett was a true Harlem Renaissance poet. She fought for equality, but more importantly to break free of restrictions, and to strive to reach their own potential, which is endless.

== **__Works Cited__** == "Gwendolyn Bennett's Life and Career." //Welcome to English Â« Department of English, College of LAS, University of Illinois//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. . "Heritage - Written by Harlem Renaissance Poet Gwendolyn BennettÂ… Talented lady if I may say soÂ… "Negro Poetry"." //Black Poetry, Black Poets, Black Poems, Black Poetry, African American Poetry, African American Poems, Def Poetry, African American Poets, Def Jam Poetry, Black Writer, Black Author, Ghetto Love Poem, Urban Poetry, Spoken Word, Hip Hop Poetry, Friendship//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. . "Reading Passages." //Clickandlearn//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. .