by Kristen Stenerson

Keith Miller recites Daniel Beaty's "Knock, Knock" in celebration of the Harlem Renaissance. Staff Photo / Josh Gager

“The Council students started the Harlem Renaissance program to educate others and themselves,” said Dr. Corahann Okorodudu, the adviser for the Council for Africana Studies. According to Okorodudu, there have been years where the Rowan faculty has joined the event for a mixed presentation of faculty and students.

Opening the presentation was Briana Bond, who explained the Harlem Renaissance as an African American cultural movement of the 1920s and early 1930s that was centered in the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a period in history centered on the African American progression in the arts, music, literature, and theater.

“The Harlem Renaissance marked the first time that mainstream publishers and critics took African American literature seriously,” said Bond.

The Council’s presentation of the Harlem Renaissance brought the audience back in time through a series of performances by Rowan University students. One such performer, Keith Miller, captivated the crowd. Fueled with emotion, Miller moved the crowd with his recitation of “Jonny from the River” and “Knock, Knock,” by Daniel Beaty.

The Harlem Renaissance saw the rebirth of music through the voices of African American musicians. With Siiyara Nelson on piano, Caprice Laws recreated the voice of the Harlem Renaissance with a rendition of “Too Young.” Following the performance, a solo Siiyara Nelson wooed the audience with versions of “My Romance” and “I Should Care” by Billie Holiday while on piano.

Charis Wilson and Angela Rose dance to the Benny Goodman song, "Sing, Sing, Sing" Staff Photo / Josh Gager

Drawing the audience back into the 1920s was dance duet Charis Wilson and Angela Rose. The duo incorporated costumes into their big band dance number of Benny Goodman’s “Sing, Sing, Sing.”

The impact of the Harlem Renaissance on music was substantial in that it gave a voice to a culture that had previously been undefined in the limelight. Guest speaker, Naomi Nelson of Gloucester Community College, touched upon the significance of the movement on the African American culture.

According to Nelson, African Americans were not accurately portrayed in history because the public had already created a stereotypical portrait of them. The development of the arts during the Harlem Renaissance allowed African Americans to express themselves through different mediums and define their culture.

The most recognized of those mediums was literature. Rowan University student and Greek life coordinator Cory Boone recited an original poem to the audience titled “Walk with Faith.”  Boone’s work puts an emphasis on sacrifice, pain and progress. Boone delivered verses about courage, passion, commitment, and more importantly, faith.

Nelson, who was a part of a project that organized the photographic collections of James Van Der Zee, discussed the significance of art during the Harlem Renaissance.  Nelson said that, when painting their subjects, artists during the Harlem Renaissance had a specific aim to “capture their integrity” and the “psychological motivation of their subjects.”  No longer were African American women portrayed as “comic figures” but rather as dignified individuals.

Nelson concluded her speech leaving the audience with encouragement to be a part of something greater.

“The bird is in your hand; are you going to hold onto it, or let it fly? The choice is yours,” she said.

The event soon came to a close, with a captivating a Capella performance by Charis Wilson of “God Bless the Child” by Billie Holiday.

Nelson said the experience she has had in the world is something that she wants to share with students and use to inspire them.

“Students will enter the world, a global conversation,” Nelson said.  “I want students to take with them a larger conversation outside of Rowan.”