February is finally here! To celebrate U.S. Black History month, we decided to host The Harlem Renaissance through the Classics Circuit. I am so excited to see thoughts on these classic works this week. Make sure you follow the tour by visiting these great blogs.

February 1, 2010   Shelf Love The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois

February 2, 2010   Evening All Afternoon Cane by Jean Toomer

February 3, 2010   Daily Words and Acts Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

February 4, 2010   Paperback_Reader Passing and/or Quicksand by Nella Larsen

February 4, 2010   BookNAround The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories by Charles Chesnutt

February 5, 2010   A Striped Armchair The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man by James Weldon Johnson

February 6, 2010   Moored at Sea Overview: The relationship between the Harlem Renaissance and the Negritude movement of the French Colonies that grew from it.

February 6, 2010   Joyfully Retired His Eye is On the Sparrow by Ethel Waters (autobiography) and the life of Ethel Waters

February 7, 2010   Stephanie’s Confessions of a Book-a-Holic Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes or The Conjure Man Dies by Rudolph Fisher

The button for this month’s tour has a picture by Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas (1899-1979). He moved to Harlem in 1925 and his art was an important part of the Renaissance movement.

This picture is called “Song of the Towers.” It is a panel from the four-part mural Douglas painted for Fisk University called “Aspects of Negro Life.” I think it captures the artistic aspects of the Harlem Renaissance by making jazz music it’s icon.

I hope you enjoy the tour this week!