Wallace+Thurman

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__Wallace Thurman: __
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By: Cece Otto


=== Wallace Thurman was an African American poet who was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on August 16, 1902. He studied at the University of Utah and the University of California but did not receive his degree (“AALBC”). In 1925 Thurman moved to Harlem to become the managing editor of Messenger (a black periodical). He worked closely with African Americans such as Zora Neale Hurston, and Langston Hughes, and Aaron Douglas. In 1926 Hughes asked Thurman to be the editor of Fire!! This magazine was unfortunately unsuccessful and only had one issue made. Two years after the fruitless attempt at creating a magazine, Thurman published another magazine by the name of Harlem. This magazine was also unsuccessful (“biography”). ===

=== In 1929 Thurman wrote a play, //Harlem//, with William Rapp that spoke about Harlem, New York. Thurman also wrote many books including, //The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life// (1929)//,// and one of the more well known books, //Infants of the Spring// (1932)//.// These books expressed how Thurman felt about Harlem. Many of his works were very political (“NNDB”). ===

- Wallace Thurnam and Langston Hughes
===The poem “Fire!!” by Wallace Thurman and Langston Hughes is about blacks being mistreated. In the poem, white people are represented by the fire, and the blacks the things that the fire is burning. This poem says that even though the white people may try to put down, and destroy the blacks, they will never be able to. “Fy-ah, Fy-ah, Lawd, Fy-ah gonna burn ma soul!” (10-13). Fire can hurt people very badly, but eventually it can be put out and the things it was burning will begin to heal. ===

===Hughes and Thurman use very good imagery in this poem. Lines such as “The flesh to boil the sluggish blood...” (3) help us to imagine how much pain and suffering the African Americans were forced to endure. Hughes and Thurman also use a very commanding voice in their writing. They speak out about what they believe and state their opinion through their work during the Harlem Renaissance. ===

__Bibliography __

"Wallace Henry Thurman Biography - Biography.com." //Biography.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. [].

"Wallace Thurman." //NNDB: Tracking the entire world//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. [].

 "Wallace Thurman." //AALBC.com The #1 Site for African American Literature - Author Profiles, Book Reviews, Interviews and More//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2011. [].