Harlem Speaks: A Living History of the Harlem Renaissance, a collection edited by Texas Southern University history professor Dr. Gary D. Wintz, demystifies several heralded individuals through precise, detailed essays from 21 experts on the era’s finest writers, artists, poets, intellectuals and performers. The list of contributors includes literary biographers Arnold Rampersad, Tyrone Tillery and M. Genevieve West; jazz experts Dan Morgenstern and Chip Deffaa; and political analysts and historians like Williams H. Harris and Martha Jane Nadell.
An accompanying CD augments the written material, presenting more than 60 minutes of music, poetry, interviews and speeches. Whether it’s the sparkling piano work of Eubie Blake featured in a previously unpublished performance, or extensive interviews by David Levering Lewis, the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of acclaimed biographies on Dr. W.E.
B. Du Bois, Harlem Speaks combines fresh insights with informed analysis and vivid, striking performances to broaden readers’ awareness and knowledge of the Harlem Renaissance.
Ron Wynn writes for the Nashville City Paper and other publications.
