Shubham Keshri - Shared Hardship Throughout African American Literature lyrics

In studying African-American literary works, one cannot help but feel a sense of kinship and bonding between the author and those who the author is writing about. There is a particular theme a**ociated with this form of bonding in black culture, more specifically New York City black culture, which is ‘Shared Hardship'. Within black urban culture, there exists a rich and vibrant history that has been painstakingly carved out by hardship. This struggle through history is portrayed repeatedly throughout black urban literary art. It has created a foundation for African-Americans everywhere to stand upon and experience a timeless bond as they continue to build the better future that their ancestors began struggling to build so many years ago. In 1922, Langston Hughes wrote a poem titled ‘Mother to Son' in which he tells a story of a mother encouraging her son to never give-up in the face of hardship. The mother tells the boy of her own difficulties in life and how she keeps going even though life has been less than kind to her. “Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor – bare.” The bond between mother and child creates a beautiful metaphor for the bond among African-Americans. Just as the mother shares her struggles with her son to encourage him, so do black urban writers share their tales of woe to encourage those who share in their hardship. The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, released in 1982, modernizes the theme through hip-hop music and video accompaniment broadcasted on MTV. Through public televised media, Grandmaster Flash shows the conditions in which so many African-Americans are forced to survive in since they do not have enough money to move out of the neighborhood they live in. “I tried to get away but I couldn't get far cause a man with a tow truck repossessed my car.” But, seeing people like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five encouraged black people still living in impoverished communities to see that there is hope and opportunities for a better life. One of the more famous examples of a person who grew up in an impoverished urban community and worked their way to the top is Jay-Z . Jay-Z of course is no stranger to hardship and he talks about that specifically in his rap song 99 Problems, released in 2003. The opening line in 99 Problems “If you're having girl problems I feel bad for you son I got 99 problems but a b**h ain't one” really sets the tone for the rest of his song in which he describes several stereotypical hardships he has endured. A particular scene that stands out in Jay-Z's song is when he tells a theoretical story of being pulled over by police while having d** hidden in the car. Jay-Z, like many others living in poverty, turn to less conventional methods of acquiring money, which almost always means getting into trouble with law-enforcement. Unfortunately, one particular hardship that has plagued black urban culture is d**. James Baldwin wrote about the problems involved with d** in his short story Sonny's Blues, published in 1957. Through the eyes of a high-school math teacher, James Baldwin describes how the promising expectations of the teacher's brother are wasted when the brother is arrested for using d**. “They were growing up with a rush and their heads bumped abruptly against the low ceiling of their actual possibilities.” However, in the end, Baldwin still paints a picture of hope as the brother begins to rebuild his life and begins to again pursue his dreams in jazz music. Jazz music is another crucial corner stone in urban African-American culture and it too faced several forms of hardship in its own right. Henry Dumas's Will the Circle be Unbroken, published 1966, gives a glimpse into the mythical beginnings of jazz music in black urban culture. As jazz music began to express itself and grow in dark stuffy clubs, it was being threatened to be appropriated by rich white elitist society. “He could not understand why the cats would want to bury themselves in Harlem and close the doors to the outside world. Ron's articles and reviews had helped many black musicians, but of all of them, Probe Adams had benefited the most.” The frailty of black urban culture is apparent as many aspects of it become over looked and criticized by self-righteous communities. African-American achievements are often dismissed as their own and the credit stolen from them. In City of Refuge by Rudolph Fisher, published in 1925, Mr. Fisher tells the tale of a young black man leaving the rural South to go live in the urban North in hopes of living a better life. The main character, King Solomon Gillis, becomes caught up and overwhelmed when he gets to New York City. “He felt as if he had been caught up in the jaws of a steam-shovel, jammed together with the other help-less lumps of dirt, swept blindly along for a time, and at last abruptly dumped.” This is a feeling that many African-American's living in poverty share. When trying to find work or a better paying job, the overwhelming sensation of their situation is often overbearing. Moreover, it often feels as if there is no hope at all. Yet, throughout all of these songs, all of these poems, and all of these stories, black urban literature is built around the idea of community and sharing the burden. Their stories are not told as to discourage those living in poverty and going through hard-times. Instead, black urban literature is written and composed as a means of uplifting one another within the struggle. When one black artist makes it to the “big time”, it is a victory for all black people who share in the struggle. For every black child who grows up learning of the culture their ancestors have worked to build and decide themselves to carry on the burden, there is a renewed hope for the future and the struggle becomes easier when it is a shared hardship.