... formal poetry," locking him into the poem ignores its efficacy as cultural commentary. Given the increasing number of whites traveling to Harlem to be entertained in clubs like The Cotton Club, the poem can be seen as an attempt on Hughes's part to warn the community that African American expression was being appropriated by mainstream culture. The poem's structure enables this ... lyrics, but never allows his own voice to give way to them. Moreover, the speaker is "Down on Lenox Avenue. . . " which also, interestingly enough, marks the location of the Cotton Club and thus implies trave...

• Word Count: 547
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... written by Rdolph Fisher, and stated "the best of Harlem's black cabarets have changed their names and turned white" and found himself was the only Negro in that club" (Fisher 74). No matter what was the main point of Fisher, his article implied that how much the whites liked the black entertainment as becoming the major audience of ... ...

• Word Count: 1512
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... -buying public. African American musicians and other performers also played to mixed audiences. Harlem's cabarets attracted both Harlem residents and white New Yorkers seeking out Harlem nightlife. Harlem's famous Cotton Club carried this to an extreme, by providing black entertainment for exclusively white audiences. To Harlem's aficionados the best clubs were the ones few downtown Whites knew about. Ultimately, the more ... ...

• Word Count: 2619
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: Undergraduate