W. E. B Dubois Propaganda

W.E.B. DuBois’s “Criteria of Negro Art” is a moving account on African-American art; more specifically the relationship between race and art. To me, the essay appeared to be Du Bois advocating for political and cultural consciousness for the African-American community through the power of art, specifically it’s power as a source of propaganda in favor of African-Americans. He begins by focusing on the theme of Beauty, which ultimately sets the scene for the remainder of the essay. He writes, “After all, who shall describe Beauty?” After everything his community has gone through, Black folk have envisioned what a beautiful world looks like—ultimately shaping beauty through struggle. He continues on to write “Thus it is a bounded duty of black

He writes, “I do not care a damn for any art that is not used for propaganda. It is clear that art to Du Bois serves the purpose of helping Black folk achieve cultural consciousness and attain their rights. This is incredibly similar to Baraka’s poem opener, “Poems are bullshit unless they are Teeth or tree or lemons piled on a step.” Baraka’s proactive opening captures his passion and emotion regarding the power of creativity and the arts for the Black community; that poems are the embodiment of reality and any poems disassociated from the physical world are meaningless. Baraka is following in the footsteps of the great W.E.B. Du Bois in calling his fellow Black artists to produce content with purpose; to create propaganda that adheres to their standards of Beauty and until they are treated with respect and dignity. One of the overarching messages of Du Bois’s essay is that African heritage is rich enough to help the Black community achieve cultural and political consciousness in the United States; similar to Baraka’s final lines in his

This problematic/controversial logic led to Langston Hughes responding with “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” where Hughes emphasizes the importance of Black folk exclaiming their individuality and independence from white art; that if they continue to copy Whites, they will never create anything great. This response ultimately became the manifesto of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes writes about a day where a young black poet told him, “I want to be a poet—not a Negro poet”, which to Hughes was the young poet’s hopes of becoming a white poet, or white for that matter. He follows this up with, “For no great poet has ever been afraid of being himself.” Ultimately, one can never achieve success/greatness in anything without pouring their heart, soul, and identity into what they are doing. The ancient Greeks called this exact action “Meraki”—the act of putting a part of your soul into anything you do. Without Meraki, what message is ultimately coming from art. Hughes also touches on the subject of standardization—where America ultimately tries to make everyone the same; a “one size fits all” process. While some Black folk escape this standardization through their innovation and creativity, Hughes argues that middle/upper class Blacks want to be standardized because they aim to