3 chapters across the catalog
The segment profiles Charlotte Osgood Mason, a wealthy philanthropist who supported Harlem Renaissance luminaries like Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Mason viewed herself as a "Black God" and a "psychic physician" meant to heal the "washed out" West using "primitive" Black energy. The hosts critique her controlling nature, noting she required her proteges to call her "Godmother," mirroring the control record labels exert over artists today.
The 1959 play "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry is analyzed for its portrayal of a black family's attempt to integrate into a white Chicago neighborhood. The hosts discuss the play's lasting cultural impact and how it promoted the idea of the "talented tenth" moving out of their communities, which contributed to the creation of modern ghettos.
The Harlem Renaissance is characterized as a movement that was "as gay as it was black," featuring numerous queer artists like Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen. This artistic flourishing was tied to W.E.B. Du Bois's "Talented Tenth" philosophy, which sought to elevate an elite class of Black intellectuals. Modern parallels are drawn to John Legend's comments about the inherent liberalism of creative professionals.
