>Introduction

The stature of Jacob Lawrence and Langston Hughes, two artists of the Harlem Renaissance, has increased with the passage of time. The similarity between the Harlem Riots of 1935 and the Watts riots in 1965 and the Rodney King riots in 1992 in Los Angeles are clear; the conditions under which both artists worked are familiar. Jacob Lawrence's documentation of African American experiences in The Migration Series is particularly apt in our own era of immigration issues. The direct portrayal of African Americans in exodus from the plantation South to the industrial North resonates today as we experience many of the same suspended states of reality and expectations in our teaching and learning with students in South Central Los Angeles and other urban areas.

Langston Hughes's "Montage of a Dream Deferred" is a possessing echo of both Harlem's past and of our own students' depictions of their present and future. Within the 75 page poem, Hughes employs a "jam-session technique" which has relevance to vernacular languages in use today. The characterizing quality of Hughes's poetry is its simplicity: the common acts of everyday people written in the common language of their speech. This quality coincides with the artistic style of Jacob Lawrence and has meaning for our students in their everyday experiences which they tell in their writing and art making.

This unit is divided into six interdisciplinary activities, and takes approximately one month to complete. Upon completing this unit, students have constructed understandings of the Harlem Renaissance and two of its artists' contributions. Students will be able to relate experiences important to Jacob Lawrence and Langston Hughes to their own experiences as theyl learn about Harlem Renaissance artists and develop their own voices in literature and visual art.

Throughout this unit there exists references and examples of literature and art works not directly correlated to the study of Jacob Lawrence and Langston Hughes. These references help to reinforce student learning and transfer of knowledge to a broad range of artists, arts movements and works of literature and art.

Learning standards for art and literature sections of this unit can be found at the beginning of each activity.

Art Activity 1