Harlem Renaissance: Countee Cullen

Countee Cullen the highly educated sexually perplexed poet laureate of the Harlem Renaissance who made an “Incident” into poetry started his life in a fog. Cullen Porter was born somewhere in the Eastern half of the United States in 1903. He was summarily abandoned by his birth mother and was raised by his paternal grandmother in New York City. He was eventually adopted by one of the most powerful black ministers in the city and was given his final last name of Cullen. Cullen began writing at a young age and received critical acclaim almost as soon as he started. He attended the prestigious DeWitt Clinton High School in New York as he honed his poetic skills. After graduation Countee enrolled at New York University where his literary status began to shine, publishing poetry in magazines such as Opportunity and The Crisis. Upon receiving his MA from Harvard University Cullen returned to Harlem with a trunk full of literary credentials.

Cullen had no problems finding work. The undisputed leaders of black America both pegged Cullen as a rising star. One leader who shared much of his ideology W.E.B. Du Bois, found him so appealing that he accepted the marriage proposal of Cullen to his one and only daughter, Nina Yolanda. Even though the rumors were flying that Cullen preferred the private company of boys over girls the planning began in earnest. The wedding was the event of the year and thousands turned out to catch a glimpse of the boy who like boys marrying a girl. The marriage was doomed and became embarrassingly evident when Countee left for Europe after the abrupt honeymoon with a male friend Harold Jackman. The rumors began to spread and the marriage ended before the first anniversary.

As bad as the marriage Cullen’s writing was never affected. As before he continued to write and play editor to books of poetry. Among his more famous work was the “Incident” which describes a racial incident in a very unassuming manner. Cullen was not afraid of controversy, (I guess his marriage is evidence of that), his poem “The Black Christ” Cullen describes Jesus as black, a concept not readily acceptable to lily white society of the time. His major contribution to the Harlem Renaissance might be summed up in the word, challenge. He pushed the barriers of given society and caused many to think differently of its black citizens and for those same black citizens to think differently about themselves. Of his works many take this theme of challenge. His most famous work “Heritage” challenges many aspects of Black America and possibly the idea of "blackness" or what is it to be black. The poem takes him back to the ideology of Du Bois and the “Two Consciences” of Black America. The Poem seems to compare two black populations one of Africa and the other of America, one of the civilized, (if there is such a thing), and one of the uncivilized. He seems to be proud of the Africa he never visited while ashamed of the America he knows. A great poem that I shall leave you with but a sample:

One three centuries removed
From the scenes his fathers loved,
Spice grove, cinnamon tree,
What is Africa to me?

“Heritage” 1925

Cullen Photo from Library of Congress, American Memory section
Wedding Photo from the University of Massachusetts Library