Harlem Rhapsody

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and racism.

After the anniversary party, Will travels to Europe to deliver lectures about democracy. Jessie manages The Crisis while he is away, including the financials. To prepare for Will’s return, she goes to a salon to get her hair done. As Lucille works on Jessie’s hair, Grace Nail Johnson arrives. The women gossip about Marcus Garvey’s affair, but Jessie doesn’t participate in the conversation. Lucille changes the subject to a new book titled Birthright by T. S. Stribling, and another client gives Jessie a newspaper with a review of the book in it. Because it is about an educated Black man, Jessie compares it to her novel about an educated Black woman and worries that this book will eclipse her own. However, T.S. is a white man, and Jessie thinks back to her debate with Will about The Emperor Jones.

Jessie goes to the 135th Street library, briefly greets Maman, and talks to Nella. Nella gets Jessie a copy of Birthright, and Jessie decides to read it in its entirety in one day at the library. She enjoys some of the writing but despises the derogatory terms for Black people that the author uses and realizes that this book will not find a receptive