Harlem Renaissance

John Michael Cooper

Sep 24 min read

REDISCOVERING WILL DIXON AT 145

The latter-day rediscovery of musical and theatrical polymath Will Dixon offers today's world a much-needed opportunity -- and a challenge

John Michael Cooper

Mar 24, 20234 min read

MARGARET BONDS, LANGSTON HUGHES, AND THE JOY OF “JOY”:

A Conspirare Premiere and a Gratuitous Youthful Photo Langston Hughes’s poem Joy was first published in the collection The Weary Blues...

John Michael Cooper

Jan 2, 20222 min read

THE FIRST LIVE RECORDING OF AN AFRO-MODERNIST “COTTON DANCE” (ca. 1940) BY FLORENCE B. PRICE

performed by Michael Lu On New Year’s Eve of the rough-and-tumble year 2021 I got a fabulous musical surprise – 365 days late. The...

John Michael Cooper

Dec 3, 20212 min read

OUR PROMISES TO THE WORLD

A Teacher Bids a Fond Farewell (for now) to His Fine Students and an Adventurous Course [Background: Yesterday was the last regular class...

John Michael Cooper

Aug 28, 20214 min read

FLORENCE PRICE V. LANGSTON HUGHES AT THE “FEET O’ JESUS”

Langston Hughes’s relationship with the Christian church was . . . complicated. Except that it wasn’t. While he acknowledged that the...

John Michael Cooper

Mar 7, 20213 min read

THE BEAUTY OF BLACKNESS

Florence B. Price’s “Night” (Text by Bessie Mayle) The poetry, music, and other artworks of the Harlem Renaissance and Chicago Black...