Harlem Renaissance
Jazz was the most renowned black voice. African Americans had brought it with them to Harlem during the Great Migration, and soldiers spread it to Europe during the war. In New York, The Cotton Club was packed with patrons hoping hear musicians like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Ella Fitzgerald.I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.