Countee Cullen: The Groundbreaking, Unintentionally Racial Poet

Countee Cullen helped influence the fluid identity of Blacks in the U.S. by setting an
example for other black men to follow during the Harlem Renaissance through his poetry and
other racial literature. His racial poems, for which he is best known, such as Incident, From
the Dark Tower, and Yet Do I Marvel inspired the lives of many and helped start the Harlem
Renaissance with the assistance of Claude McKay and Langston Hughes in the literary portion of
the movement and musicians such as Louis Armstrong. Together, this group of educated African
Americans spread black culture through the country and inspired other blacks to add to their
culture and be successful.
Much to Cullens dismay he is often only remembered for his racial poems and writings
as he said early in his life, If I am going to be a poet at all, I am going to be a POET and not a
NEGRO POET (Sarah). His other, non-racial poetry and the insignificant amount of prose he
wrote had little success and led to a decline in his literary career.
One of Cullens most successful non-racial poems, The Wise, explained a sense of
envy for the dead. He referred to the dead as wrapped in their cool immunity. (Cullen, Wise)
and shows a morbid side to him that isnt often seen through his other poetry. It is all but
unusual for a poet to be emotionally and mentally troubled especially an orphaned one such as
Countee Cullen.
Cullen left his readers in the dark mostly with his pre-adoption childhood. His birthplace
was disputed as he never gave a firm answer, but it is likely he was born in Louisville, Baltimore,
or New York. When Cullens grandmother died, he was adopted by Reverend Fredrick Cullen
who had taken a liking the boy from their interactions at the church (Verde). The reverend helped
Also Im not sure if this really ties into mental instability, but I thought that it is
hilarious that the co-authored The Lost Zoo with his cat.

Cullen get into a prestigious school, De Witt Clinton High School in Manhattan in which he was
a part of the miniscule minority of black students. His childhood was mostly a mystery as he
didnt let much of it come to light, but it shaped him into the poet that brought meaning to many
peoples lives.
Cullens devotion to supporting a creation of an African culture through literature was
shown through his work in the Harlem Renaissance along with W.E.B. Dubois and his fellow
writers, Langston Hughes and Claude McKay. Cullens most popular book, Color, and
McKays arguably most popular poem, America, practically launched the Harlem Renaissance
in which other writers such as Hughes and even musicians such as Louis Armstrong added to the
movement.
The Harlem Renaissance followed the popular idea of the talented tenth pioneered by
W.E.B. Dubois. Leaders such as Cullen, McKay, Dubois, Armstrong, and Hughes led the fight in
creating this culture for the African American race as a whole. Through racial literature and the
creation of Jazz music they were partially successful in their plight and started the basis of the
culture that has since evolved and is prominent now in the U.S.
Music was nearly as large of a part of the Harlem Renaissance as literature. The African
American race through the aforementioned talented tenth including Armstrong, Darius Milhaud
and Kurt Weill practically created a whole genre of music that many white Americans and
Europeans loved and attempted to replicate (Berg Carol). This new style of music solidified part
of the identity of African Americans in the U.S.
African Americans in the U.S. who read the Dark Tower (Cullens column in a
magazine) and his other racial poems were often inspired to contest the current ideals of the

society. They gave confidence and supported the idea that a black man can be successful in the
United States! Along with the rest of the poets, writers, and musicians that influenced the Harlem
Renaissance he mentally assisted blacks start to create their own identity separate from the
previous slave culture, but legally not much was done in civil rights because of complications
with the Great Depression and other serious oncoming issues in the country including the Second
World War.
One of Cullens main goals was to support African Americans trying to make a life for
themselves. When he was no longer able to only empower them through literature he took a job
teaching blacks at a local school. He also took this job as his literary career was no longer
profitable enough to support him.
Cullens poem Incident is a deep, powerful poem that incites dismay and disapproval
and was one of his more influential poems, especially in the Harlem Renaissance. He describes a
scene where he is, at age eight, insulted by a child of a similar age: Now I was eight and very
small, / And he was no whit bigger, /And so I smiled, but he poked out /His tongue, and called
me, "Nigger (Cullen, Incident). He makes an example of the little racist boy, not incriminating
him specifically, but the culture behind the common belief that blacks are a lesser people. He
attacks that perspective and hopes for improvement.
Cullen was, for a time, unsure of his devotion to the Harlem Renaissance movement. As
stated previously, he wanted to be known as a POET and not a NEGRO POET (Stoeckle).
Also, in his poem From the Dark Tower, he struggles with the prospect of literary and social
rebellion. In the poem he supports the outcry against inequality by saying, We were not made
to eternally weep (Cullen, Dark Tower). In saying this, he addresses that they cant stand down
and be submissive forever. However, he also sees that this isnt the best time for this revolt: So

in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds, /And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds. (Cullen, Dark
Tower) He is unsure of what exactly is needed in the circumstance and doesnt know how to
move forward, except for supporting the creation of an identity and culture of African Americans
through literature and music.
Cullens poem Yet Do I Marvel uses interesting allusions to polytheism and
Christianity that show his different position on inequality than other reformers. He seems to
believe (at least partially) that blacks in some insane way deserve the inequality. He uses
Tantalus and Sisyphus as symbols of the struggles of African Americans and racism. He was
most likely more focused on the fact that Sisyphus and Tantalus punishments were torturous and
unending, but both characters deserve their punishment which makes his choice odd. This idea
of him believing that blacks are at least slightly lesser people is also shown in his disbelief that
the Christian God gave him the abilities to be a poet who happens to be black (he might turn in
his grave if I say black poet), Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: / To make a poet black, and
bid him sing! (Cullen, Marvel)
Cullens career first began to decline after his early literary peak, Color. His writings
seemed less powerful to his patrons and the populous. They also declined in influence of the
Harlem Renaissance and society. Cullen had multiple white patrons that started to give him less
and less as the Great Depression worsened and especially after he published his book The Black
Christ and Other Poems. He compared a lynched black man to the Christian crucifixion of
Christ which offended many of his patrons and the general public supplying them more reason to
stop supporting him.
Cullen may not have approved of his sole importance in racial poetry, but he was
immensely influential in the movement. The culture he assisted to create begrudgingly remains

to this day to be much more influential than any of his more philosophical, non-racial, works.
With his large decline at the end of his career, he may not have realized how important he was to
the culture of African Americans and to the current culture of the whole country.

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