[3] The Poetry Foundation wrote that poets in the Harlem Renaissance "explored the beauty and pain of black life and sought to define themselves and their community outside of white stereotypes.
"[2] Poets such as Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, and Countee Cullen became well known for their poetry, which was often inspired by jazz.
There is a forty-seven page preface written by Johnson and the collection ends with a "biographical index" containing information about the poets whose work is included.
The reviewer particularly praised Johnson's preface, and described the anthology as "a splendid piece of writing, valuable to all those interested in race relations.
"[5] Another review of this edition, published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, considered it to suffer "from not being sufficiently inclusive", but still felt it to be "a valuable" record "of what poetry the Negro has contributed to American letters".