In this week's readings, "From the Big Sea" by Langston Hughes, and "Streets, Sounds, and Identity in Interwar Harlem" by Clare Corbould, both readings dealt with different African American ways of expression in Harlem. While Corbould’s article focuses on African Americans’ way of expressing themselves through sound, Hughes’ article focuses on all art forms of African Americans living in Harlem. One aspect that the two articles had in common was that both touched upon the idea that while Harlem was dominated by African Americans during the 1920s, the neighborhood was not truly theirs. Both authors stated that Whites commonly visited Harlem for entertainment, and in a way made it “theirs”. What’s interesting though is that in Carbould’s article, she writes about how the African Americans used noise to reclaim Harlem from the Whites. However, in Hughes’ article, he writes about how many African American artists and writers went on to act and write not in order to please themselves and the rest of the African American community, but for the pleasure of the White community. Hughes also mentions how recently, it seems as if the African American community relates White characteristics to those of virtue and goodness. The two articles present opposing views to African Americans’ response to Whites in Harlem.

In a way, Langston Huges’ article reminded me a lot of the articles we read about the pushcarts a few weeks ago. While describing the clubs of Harlem, Hughes writes that because so many Whites came to view the African American performances, eventually, clubs such as the Cotton Club, began to ban African Americans from coming to the clubs at all. What they didn’t realize however, was that the real reason so many Whites came to the clubs at all was to view the common behavior of the African Americans in their natural settings. This reminded me a lot of how the merchants on the Lower East Side wanted to abolish the peddlers and their pushcarts because they wanted a more sophisticated setting, but they realized afterwards, that it was the pushcarts that so many tourists came to see.

The two pictures I chose are both of Harlem during the 1920s. The first is an image of what Corbould’s article depicts, a Harlem of African Americans using noise and public space to claim their territory. The second image is what I visualized while reading Hughes’ article, a Harlem of parties and the height of African Americans in vogue.