"Rhythm of Life"

 

*The pictures were taken in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

In Corbould’s article, she talked about the unique sounds that African Americans usually make to express their feelings and lively personalities. Wright said, “they wanted to make a [‘noise’] comparable to the happiness bubbling in their hearts” (Corbould, 864). To the white elites, these sounds were characteristics of those they deemed racially inferior. To the African Americans, the sounds “indicated a distinctive and valuable culture” (Corbould, 861). Thus “silence was a strategy of racial ‘uplift’ that responded to the stereotype that black were noisy” (Corbould, 865).

I think African Americans continue to represent themselves through distinctive sounds today. As mentioned by Sarah, many rappers share their stories through the use of lyrics. Also, when we walk around the streets and in subway stations (especially 42nd street – Time Square), we see many street performers. These street performers are not solely African Americans but each and every one of them is trying to communicate their ideas through a form of art.

 
In addition, mentioned in Langston Hughes’ The Big Sea, African Americans’ different way of living attracted many white people to Harlem. This was racist in its own way because the white men treated the African Americans as entertainers - clowns and acrobats, when the African Americans were simply living their lives. Many white people coming into Harlem forced African Americans out of their own community bars. I thought it was absurd how bar owners would bar their own race out of the door in order to welcome the white people who thought themselves as racially superior.