George Schuyler

The documentary takes us back to a 1972 gathering of surviving contributors to the Harlem Renaissance, that 1920s and 30s era of tremendous Black cultural, artistic, and intellectual ferment.

The legendary figures included pianist and composer U.B. Blake, poet and novelist Arna Bontemps, journalist Jerry Major, socialist bookstore owner Richard B. Moore, photographer James Van Der Zee, and social commentator George Schuyler.

These and many other additional distinguished guests arrive on an afternoon at the townhouse of Duke Ellington in New York City.

They are assembled by by a filmmaker who for many years had wanted to put together the survivors of the Harlem Renaissance to tell their stories.

We're talking about the documentary that is in theaters for the second week, looking at the greats of the Harlem Renaissance, all assembled at Duke Ellington's apartment in 1972, once upon a time in Harlem.

Let's listen to a selection from the film.

George Schuyler, social commentator, was recounting in an interview at this gathering— His controversial essay, The Negro Art Hocum, which was published in The Nation, a large national publication, Schuyler argued against trying to invent, as he saw it, a category of Negro art.

He called it American art.

Sure.

Well, George Schuyler was there.

He was a very conservative person.

And Louise Patterson, who was a confidant of Langston Hughes and his secretary, in fact.

They were honest debates.

Um, George, George Schuyler, a very, very conservative man, uh, was also very highly respected in that room.

And, uh, even though his views were, um, uh, separate from [laughs] if you will, uh, others in, in the space, but they all respected him, and they, uh, uh, they enjoyed...

You know, speak up, you know? They wanted to hear, hear, hear from him.

That's the plan, so let's get this started with Once Upon a Time in Harlem.

[upbeat music] In August 1972, filmmaker William Greaves set out to capture a reunion of artists, poets, journalists, and educators whose work defined the Harlem Renaissance.

Greaves died in 2014, and now his son has completed the film titled Once Upon a Time in Harlem.

Shot at Duke Ellington's townhouse on St. Nicholas Ave, the rare footage shows luminaries in a spirited conversation about the cultural movement and moment.

And it's just them arguing with each other about what it meant.

You have George Schuyler in there being like, I have no idea why these people think there is a particularly Black culture.

There's a socialist in there saying, you all are ridiculous Garveyites.

It's amazing.

Mm

... and George Schuyler, and they blew my mind.

Um, I was just like, wow, you can do this much play and satirical work in your literature.

And so they've always remained big influences for me.

Black satirists and people who do a lot of, like, cultural commentary have been my major influences.

I'm sorry, who was it you said after Ishmael Reed? Schuyler?

George, George Schuyler.

Okay.

Mm.

That you are encouraged to in- to engage mediums like i- I read, um, "Mumbo Jumbo" by Ishmael Reed, and I spent some time reading George Schuyler's "Black No More." And, um, then I went and read Nella Larsen's "Passing" to write the introduction to my paper on Garvey and the UNIA for a history class.

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.