Beacon’s Closet

There are shops where you can buy, you can trade, or you can even sell the clothing and I think it sounds pretty good. You can find shops like this everywhere, but there is one that became a destination for fashionable people, the location which tourists who come to Williamsburg, New York, usually visit and can get some cheap but very nice clothing for their friends or themselves. The store is called “Beacon’s Closet” and it is just perfect if you or some of your friends are an adherent of Hipster culture।


Middle age adults or teenagers who think independently, try to be different, and listen to music that no one else, but them listen are the most committed to shop in “Beacon’s Closet”। They wear vintage clothes which perfectly suits the way they act and it attracts the sights of other people. Very tight jeans, loose T-shirts with easily noticeable prints on it are very often part of Hipster’s outfit। I would say that their goal is to be as different as possible and to give as little money as possible.




Lately, Hipsters are becoming stingier and they are starting to pretend that don’t have money even if they do। The gutter of their stinginess is ‘dumpster diving’। The trials to find ‘good trash’ in some of the trashes discarded by factories, offices, stores, etc is exactly what they are doing now। Unfortunately they are not looking only for the clothing; they are also looking for food, electronics, or furniture। An educated person is what Hipster is said to be, but in these actions they don’t seem like that।


Making differences to extent of being miserable and desperate or, even worse, just pretending to be that is something I find very humiliating। Hipsters are not very popular and accepted at the moment, and if they keep doing things like this I doubt they will ever be.


But if you still like it and you find it ‘cool’ you should definitely visit “Beacon’s Closet ” and get some cheap but apparently very nice Hipster clothing. You have the right to choose! And since the demand for the products sold in this shop is very high, you won’t be the only one walking in vintage pieces of clothes.

267 House

Harlem Renaissance was very well known as region of night life and entertainment, but at the same time as the region where very famous and talented people created their wonderful, famous and instructive work; all of them led by the idea of “The

Negro Movement.” All artists in Harlem were divided in some groups, according to their interests, genres or styles or writing or painting. More or less, they stuck together.

There is one house in Central Harlem, New York which has big historical meaning. It is visited by many tourists nowadays, because of the role it had during Harlem Renaissance. It is “267 House” in 136^th Street in Harlem, famous because it used to be a temporary home of many young artists at the time they made the biggest steps in their careers. The artists were writers Zora Neal Hurston, Wallacce Thurman, Langston Hughes, and a painter Richard Bruce Nugent.

“267 House” was one of the big houses which owner used to rent for one or more nights, sometimes weeks, months or even years. It was owed by Iolanthe Sydney, black philanthropist, who supported work of black people. Nugent, one of the artistes who lived in “267 House” painted the whole interior of the house.

The house has unique address because it is the place where all the artist I mentioned before joined together and made a literary magazine called Fire!!. It was a first magazine written by African Americans which contained discussions about issues which were not mentioned before; such as homosexuality, prostitution, color prejudice and bisexuality within black community. The magazine Fire!! wasn’t well received within the black race so the sales were very poor. It was opposite of what black people in Harlem Renaissance wanted to promote. It was found offensive and vulgar, but at the same time very popular.

Knowing that something that was written up to date, and very realistically was rejected by audience, which was black community makes me think of black people as someone who wanted to hide and cover their drawbacks and present themselves as best as possible. Where they trying to get someone’s attention or admiration by pretending that they do only good and right thing? I think so. What do you think?

Personal Response to “The New Negro”


The writers in Harlem Renaissance had different opinions and different progresses in their writing. In the poetry of this period can be found very different strategies and viewpoints of the writers. Some were trying to represent their race to be equal to white; they were saying that they are as good as the white are, just whites had more opportunities and weren’t withheld to do what they wanted to.
The example of this type of writer is Countee Cullen. His poem, called “Yet Do I Marvel”, is based on the myths, religion and unfairness towards black people. There are many phrases in this poem that describe his misunderstanding of God, His acts, and the life he determined black people for. The writer is very curious throughout the whole poem. “Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: To make a poet black, and bid him sing!” are the lines that describe his curiosity the most. Even if he didn’t understand God, he hoped that everything will work out the best. Cullen compares black people to blind moles, as people who are struggling to find their ways and aims in their life. There are also some comparisons with mythological figures, as Sisyphus or Tantalus who were doing hard tasks given by the Lord, over and over.
The others had a different point of view; they were trying to create their own identity. The example is a poem written also by the writer from Harlem Renaissance. "The White House" is his expression of racism as something that occupied his life. The poet was called Claude McKay and he describes himself as sharp person, who became sharpened by very cruel racism in America. Throughout the poem, the writer tries to keep himself out of the poison, which is a symbol for racism in his life.
Something that these poems have in common is impact of religion and God on writer’s opinion and view of life.

“The New Negro” was the movement that inspired both writers I’ve mentioned before to write about their races. The styles of writings are totally different, and the poems have different morals. If I would have to choose between writer who is trying to get life better and the one who is continuously reflecting on the past and writing about the racist issues, my choice would be the first one. The reason I like him better is his more visible vision into the future. He tried to represent hope and faith, but at the same time the realistic situation of black people. Unlike him, the other poet talks about violent, anger and racism as a very painful point in his life that he can’t get over.

To Be or Not To Be?

To be or not to be?

The period when the darkest people had their brightest leaf in the big book of American history was Harlem Renaissance. It was the period which gave us many amazing writers, artists and musicians who were striving to promote their race and to represent their intellect. They were black! Black people tried to confront racism and get over stereotypes. The only thing African-Americans wanted was to be equal, respected and taken serious as the others were.

As the one of the biggest movement that African-American ever created, Harlem Renaissance was the topic of our English assignments. By researching it I ‘met’ someone who captured my interest. She is Nella Larsen, one of the greatest writers of the Harlem Renaissance. I’ve already written a blog about her so you can have a look at it: http://harlemitetohipster.blogspot.com/2011/09/nella-larsen.html

Throughout this new blog, I’d like to take a closer look at her novel called “Passing”, and the experiences protagonist had. Larsen was a writer inspired by her own identity, so the situation of the plot of “Passing” is very realistic. Nella was black, BUT she wanted to identify herself in terms of both races, black and white, since her mother was white and her father was black. The question “normal life or struggle for existence?” could be phrased as “White or black?” at the time she lived (1920-1930). The only thing black people could do if they wanted to have a normal life was to pretend. They had to be what they are not!

How often do we actually have to act in our lives? Do we ever pretend to be someone that we are not in order to achieve something that we can’t achieve by being ourselves?

My opinion is that we shouldn’t pretend and that we should always be ourselves. Sometimes it can be difficult, sometime it just happens…unconsciously. Is it desire to be like everyone else, or is it just human’s habit to be better than others, and do what everyone else does? Striving to be something that you are not can get you into very uncomfortable situations, but not if you are skilled and you do it on purpose, and with a certain aim. The character in Larson’s book was very skilled. Pretending that she is white, even though black heritage runs her veins, bring her to a normal, successful life with a white husband. After a while, she meets an old friend who has the same ancestry as she has, but who has married for a black man, and lives in ‘black’ part of the city; who lives black life. The same origins, the same childhood but completely different life stories bring me to wonder who acted correctly.

Which of them is not the one she is meant to be? Who pretends?

Did the woman leading the ‘white life’ have any choices if she wanted to get the most out of life? Was she forced to do that? Or was she just too ashamed to say that she was black? On the other hand, what about the woman who led a ‘black life’; was she perhaps too proud of her black rice? Did her pride cause her to miss out on a better life? There are many arguments which can justify and at the same time not justify, the acts of these women. They knew why they were doing that and that is important – to be what you actually are!

What do you think? Do you always act the way you are?