CHALLENGES & HARLEM RENAISSANCE

STANDING UP, WRITING... 
July 10, 2011 

Hi Dear Readers,

Thanks for returning to THE VIVERE  so we can catch up...or rather, YOU can read about my thoughts, goings on and see some work I've done. I'd love to hear some feedback from you as well...does what I'm doing relate to your life in any way? 
This is a tough entry to write as I must do it standing up! I've injured my back rather badly and can't sit for more than 10 minutes at a time. My surgery is scheduled for July 20th and until then, I'll be flying on Oxycodone. It's the only thing that takes away the pain. I used it before my last back surgery several years ago and gave it up right after the operation because the pain was gone...no problem! Hopefully, this surgery will have the same positive result. My biggest disappointment is not the back surgery but the fact that I had to cancel my annual trip to see my families in Africa. Assuming all goes well, I'll go next July or August (their coolest months, temperature-wise.) So, the subject of my 6-word-memoir  for this posting...

  I now have to change the CHIROPRACTOR sign to that of a NEUROSURGEON...if only it were that easy!!!

One of the things I've really been enjoying is the little garden just outside my den/art room window. I have some bird feeders set up out there and there continues to be a great deal of activity...my favorite sight is when there are a few birds of different species at one feeder at the same time...a mixed neighborhood of sorts...

 Then, there's a particular pesky squirrel that entertains me with his outstanding and clever  gymnastic skills...I've solved THAT problem by scattering bird seed on the rocks and in the grass under the feeders. That keeps him from climbing...

I've managed to answer some artistic challenges in my standing-up mode... like this one...a challenge from CRAZY AMIGOS- the lazy days of summer.

THEME THURSDAY ...

 is all about WINGS this week...  TAKE A WORD 

 

 is about STARS AND STRIPES. 

DIGITAL WHISPER is all about WINDMILLS...

THREE MUSES...

is all about the 1920's...that happens to be one of my most favorite eras in our country's cultural history...the time of the HARLEM RENAISSANCE.  So much of our rich, cultural history came out of this era...around 1919 through the 1930's...ending with the Great Depression. It was during this time that  African-Americans seized their chance for group expression and self determination. A movement started to flourish, reaching all areas of literature, the arts, music, entertainment... finally, a celebration and recognition of the rich and unique heritage that is distinctly AFRICAN-AMERICAN. The Harlem Renaissance was not an isolated phenomenon confined to artists of color in a single district of Manhattan, but a modernist movement of global significance with links to Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and other parts of the United States. The art of this Renaissance was cosmopolitan...artists traveled and exchanged ideas and were inspired by European modernism as well as the cultural groundswell of black America. It so inspired me...in poetry...

uneasy life

jim crow strife,

from

southern segregation

to

1920's new york pride...

HARLEM RENAISSANCE

cultural revolution 

for this darker brother

and

the world...

not just singing,

dancing,

music"ing,"

now culturally dynamic,

sophisticated,

plethoric...

HARLEM RENAISSANCE

still

confronting race hatred

but part of

the struggling working class-

a new frontier...

a chance.

feel

Harlem's heartbeat,

lenox avenue drumbeat,

cultural awakening...

I sing America, too,

in the quarter of the Negro

new york city

HARLEM RENAISSANCE. 

                            abbyj

and in art...

 Thanks so much for stopping by...I'll try to post again next week...we'll see how my back (and the medication) holds out!

Appreciatively,

abbyj