Speech to the Young: Speech to the Progress-Toward (Among them Nora and Henry III)

It’s difficult to discuss Brooks’s poem apart from the context of two crucial literary movements: the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement. The former occurred in New York during the 1920s and 30s, and encouraged Black writers and artists to express their lives, voices, and multidimensional identities. The latter was also centered in New York and brought force and experimentation to the works of many Black writers throughout the United States.

While the topics addressed in "Speech to the Young: Speech to the Progress-Toward (Among them Nora and Henry III)" are universal since all young people—regardless of their skin color—can be bold, loud, and rebellious, they also specifically tie into the context of the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement. These literary developments helped provide the platform for Brooks to address the young people in such a unique and assertive voice.

As Brooks’s children Nora and Henry are among the audience, the idea of race can’t be entirely removed from the picture—even if it’s not an explicit issue in the poem. The absence of overtly racial words is likely intentional. As much as the Harlem Renaissance informed Brooks, she rejected what she felt to be the movement’s fetishistic portrayal of Black people.