Jesus was introduced to the slaves by their Christian captors, the White man. The people in Harlem trace their roots back to West Africa where the goddess Shango is worshipped. 'Shango and Jesus' are mentioned in the same breath. Slave traders went up and down the river looking for African people to enslave during the Transatlantic slave trade. 'A journey on the A train / That started on the banks of the Niger / And had not ended' Myles mentions the Niger River which was a major route deep into the West African mainland.

He could be anything he wanted starting with not being a slave- this is what Myers meant when he wrote: 'Have to know his place.' The spirit and freedom offered by Harlem even before the Harlem Renaissance made it easy for the poets, writers, and Pan Africanists to make a name for themselves boldly especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In Harlem, a black man could simply be a man and not a slave. Harlem indeed was a place that represented a promise from the early days of slavery in the 17th, 18th and 19th century.Įscaped slaves from the South (Georgia is mentioned) sought refuge in Harlem and indeed 'Harlem was a promise' as it represented hope.

The woman being described as a Saint is a beautiful black woman from the illustrations, and she is full of life and vigor. Usually, women prepare meals as in many places. Halfway through this particular part of the poem, the reader has to think to understand what Walter Myers is writing, and in many instances, a re-read or two helps one understand.Ĭollard greens are a popular vegetable of choice for meals in Harlem then and now. Ghana, Mali, and Senegal are of course West African countries the homeland. Myers is not only recognizing the Harlem literature greats who influenced him, he is subtly making a point that there is something special about Harlem the streets, the people, the gray-area history of the people taken from the West African coast as slaves 'They brought a call / a song First heard in the villages of / Ghana/Mali/Senegal'.

He manages to make the wordings sound seamless with the effortless and musical cascade of poetry he uses. Myers knew all these backstories when he was writing these lines of poetry of course.

James Baldwin, another accomplished writer from Harlem, was taught by Countee Cullen who himself married Yolanda du Bois, albeit for a short time. Du Bois was, of course, a great Pan-African leader and spiritual guide for not just Harlem but black people all over the world. Countee Cullen was a brilliant, writer, poet and orator from Harlem who few ranks at the same level as Langston Hughes now but not Walter Dean Myers. Harlem poet and writer Langston Hughes published a poem called 'A weary blues' in 1926.

Harlem a poem walter dean myers