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Countee Cullen (May 30, 1903 – January 9, 1946), born Countee LeRoy Porter, was a prominent African-American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright during the Harlem Renaissance.

Early life[edit | edit source]

Childhood

Countee Cullen was born on May 30, 1903, but due to a lack of records of his early childhood, it has been difficult to pinpoint his city of birth. Baltimore, Maryland, New York City, and Louisville, Kentucky have been cited as his possible cities of birth. Although Cullen claimed he was born in New York City, it's is strongly believed that he was born in Louisville Kentucky, due to Cullen constantly referring to it as his birthplace on legal applications. Cullen was brought to Harlem at age nine by his paternal grandmother who looked after the young Cullen until her death in 1918. Reverend Frederick A. Cullen, pastor of Salem Methodist Episcopal Church, Harlem's largest congregation, became the guardian of the 15 year old Countee LeRoy Porter. Frederick A. Cullen was a central figure in the young Countee Cullen's life, as the influential clergymen would become president of the Harlem chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Major Works

"Heritage"

"Heritage" is one of Countee Cullen's most known poems. Although it is published in Color, it originally appeared in The Survey , March 1, 1925. Count Cullen wrote Heritage during a time when African American artists were dreaming of Africa. During the Harlem Renaissance Cullen, Hughes, and other poets were using thier creative energy trying fuse Africa into the narrative of their African American lives.In Heritage Countee Cullen grapples with the separation of his African culture and history created by the institution of slavery. To Cullen, Africa was not a place he had personal knowledge. It was a place the he knew through someone else description passed down through generation. Africa was a place of heritage. Throughout the poem he struggles with the cost of the cultural conversion and religious conversion of his ancestors when they were away torn form Africa.

The Black Christ

The Black Christ was published at the height of Cullen's career in 1929. The poems examine the relationship of faith and justice among African Americans. In some of the poems, Cullen equates the suffering of Christ in his crucifixion and the suffering of African Americans. This collection poems captures Cullen's idealistic aesthetic of race pride and religious skepticism. The Black Christ also takes a close look at the racial violence in America during the 1920's. By the time Cullen published this book of poetry, the concept of the Black Messiah was prevalent in other African American writers such as Langston Hughes, Claude Mackay,and Jean Toomer Cullen.

Literary Influences

Due to Cullen's mixed identity, he developed an aesthetic that embraced both black and white cultures. He was a firm believer that poetry surpassed race and that it could be used to bring the races closer together. Although race was a recurring theme in his works, Cullen wanted to be known as a poet not strictly defined by race.

Countee Cullen developed his Eurocentric style of writing from his exposure to Graeco-Roman Classics and English Literature, work he was exposed to while attending prestigious Universities like, New York University and Harvard. In his collection of poems To the Three for Whom the Book Cullen uses Greek methodology to explore race and identity and writes about Medusa, Theseus, Phasiphae, and the Minotaur. Although Cullen's continued to develop themes of race and identity in his work, Cullen found artist inspiration in ancient Greek and Roman literature..

Cullen was also influenced by the Romantics and studied subjects of love, romance, and religion. John Keats and Vincent Millay influenced Cullen's style of writing. In Caroling Dusk, an anthology edited by Cullen, he expands on his belief of using a Eurocentric style of writing. He writes, "As heretical as it may sound, there is the probability that Negro poets, dependent as they are on the English language, may have more to gain from the rich background of English and American poetry than form the nebulous atavistic yearnings towards an African inheritance." Countee Cullen believed that African-American poets should work within the English conventions of poetry to prove to white Americans that African Americans could participate in these classic traditions. He believed using a more traditional style of writing poetry would allow African-Americans to build bridges between the black and white communities.