Savannah Sanon, Fransheska Rodriguez, Christopher Lucero
Countee Cullen
Countee Cullen was one of the many black artists of the Harlem Renaissance. His forte was poetry, but not only did he do poetry, but he wrote books (childrens and novels), as well as playwrights.
The Early Life - Countee Leroy Porter, better known as Countee Cullen, was born on May 30th, 1903 in New York. He began writing poetry at the age of young age of 14 as he was attending Dewitt Clinton High school in Manhattan. Left to be to his own devices a year later due to the death of his mother and the death of paternal grandmother, he was taken under the care of Reverend Frederick A. Cullen, where it is believed that he spent the rest of his adolescence in a Methodist clergy house.
The Lost Zoo is an illustrated children's book by Countee Cullen. This poetry book that was originally published in 1940, tells the story of Noah's Ark in an Cullen's own whimsical rendition, with mythical talking creatures and talking fruit trees.
Adult Life - in 1922, he attended new york university and ultimately graduated in 1923. from there on out he went to harvard university and wrote many works (posted under a naacp magazine dubbed, ''the crisis'') of which he received a considerable amount of critical acclaim for them, particularly the ballad of the brown girl. in his young adult life he worked as an assistant editor to opportunity magazine before he worked as a middle school in new york city public schools, teaching french, english, and writing.
The Ballad of the Brown Girl
Published in 1927 as a small pamphlet, this poem spoke about the societal differences between black and whites. Because of this book Cullen achieved the second prize in the Witter Bynner Poetry Contest, for undergraduates. This poem was praised by Harvard University’s expert on ballads, Irving Babbitt, giving Countee Cullen more publicity.
Color
Color was Countee Cullen's first book of which contained more than 70 poems. Published in 1923, The book, Color, consists of poems that focused on love, blackness, and a variety of topics. In this book, one of his most famous poem is Heritage. In his poem Heritage he talks about the separation of African American culture and history as a result of slavery.
The Lost Zoo
The Lost Zoo is an illustrated children's book by Countee Cullen. This poetry book that was originally published in 1940, tells the story of Noah's Ark in an Cullen's own whimsical rendition, with mythical talking creatures and talking fruit trees.
The Black Christ
Countee Cullen was one of the leading poets of the Harlem Renaissance. This book of poetry, published at the height of his career, examines the relationships between faith and injustice. Cullen draws comparisons between the suffering of the crucified Christ and the suffering of African Americans in the climate of racial violence that he characterized the 1920s.
Awards Won Throughout Colleen's Life
Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada
Witter Bynner Poetry Contest, as well as other literary awards he won Poetry magazine's John Reed Memorial Prize, the Amy Spingarn Award of the Crisis magazine, second prize in Opportunity magazine's first poetry contest, and second prize in the poetry contest of Palms.
Impact on society
Countee Cullen, has made one of the biggest impacts on the era of segregation. The message Cullen was capable of imposing through poetry to all. He brought new respect and awareness to the black race; through poems like “Heritage”, “Fruit of The Flower,” and “Incident”. The fact Cullen was educated by whites yet, his ideas were shaped by black ideas made him capable of appealing to both races.
Legacy
His legacy includes public schools named after the poet, as well as Harlem's 135th Street Branch library being renamed the Countee Cullen Library. After a period of dormancy, more attention has been paid by scholars to Cullen's life and writings, and in 2012 a biography of Cullen was published
