UCLA Library

In this research, I examine the music of composer Margaret Allison Bonds and her collaborations with poet and social activist Langston Hughes. Drawing on Black feminist thought, I assert that the collaborations of Margaret Allison Bonds and Langston Hughes exemplify the importance of artistic collaboration between Black men and Black women in struggles for racial liberation and the significance of the experience of Black women in artistic expressions of Black vernacular culture. I also expand on previous literature’s analysis of the unique role Black women played in fostering artistic relationships and connection during the respective Black Renaissances of Harlem and Chicago. My analysis draws on a meta-synthesis of literature on both Margaret Allison Bonds and Langston Hughes’ artistic outputs, as well as works with archival materials such as correspondences between Bonds and Hughes, original musical scores, and program notes. I also consider musical quotes, form, rhythm, melody and harmony. In this study, I especially consider Bond’s use of Langston Hughes’ poems “Minstrel Man”, “Dream Variation” and “I, Too” in her song cycle Three Dream Portraits. I argue that Bond’s longstanding musical relationship with Hughes represents an artistic anti-racist, Black feminist mutual aid network and creative safe space. Lastly, I contend that Bonds and Hughes work together creates a nuanced image of the Black experience, and, by merging the European art song with the Pan-Africanism of Harlem Renaissance literature, the pair uniquely reconcile their African American heritage and identity with their artistic affinities for European classicism and tradition. This project addresses a gap in musicological work in regards to Black feminist theory and the collaborations between Black men and Black women in twentieth-century classical music. Lastly, I suggest further research on these unique artistic collaborations between Black women and men during the Black Renaissances of the 1920s and 1930s, and how this has shaped continued expressions of Black vernacular tradition.