Harlem Reflection

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Before coming to college, I originally thought that I would never take a course that has to do with Africana Studies for the reason that it is so out of the realm of my major. However, I found that I was given a few elective credits and was able to take a few irregular courses to explore my options. With this opportunity, I chose to take this course and have come to see that I couldn’t have made a better decision than to have engaged in this course for the semester. I have learned so many vital lessons and skills that I would never have thought I would obtain from participating in this course. From reading the course description, I had determined that this course would entail quite a bit of reading about the Harlem Renaissance, and then giving …show more content…

He was very well known for his novel called Nigger Heaven. The book was not only significant for me, but it was also extremely compelling to many of the African American during this era. One quote the Van Vechten wrote that stood out to me was “Nigger Heaven! That’s what Harlem is. We sit in our places in the gallery of this New York theatre and watch the white world sitting down below in the good seats in the orchestra. Occasionally they turn their faces up towards us, their hard, cruel faces, to laugh or sneer, but they never beckon.” After examining this quote, I think that everyone who has read this can relate to it in some sort of way. This specific piece from the book displays the dark past of racism, and how it has evolved and hopefully continues to transform until it is eventually gone forever. I believe that because of this book, as well as many others that have been discussed in class, it will last with me for more that a month or year. The nation that we reside in is continuously evolving and as civilians of this nation, we must be the better change for our country. The quote is still relevant for our world today as there is still racism that needs to be diminished. We can only pray that this ends

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