HAMPTON RENAISSANCE

If this is your first time coming across our pages, thank you for taking time out of your day to check us out! If you’re a returning reader, as always, thank you for your continued support in our magazine. Our goal at Hampton Renaissance is to provide a much needed space for the arts on Hampton’s campus and all of our readers and contributors help us achieve that goal. So thank you. If you’re interested in submitting your work, joining our editorial team, or just learning more about who we are and what we do on campus, shoot us an email at hurenaissance@gmail.com or Instagram DM at @hurenaissance. We’d be happy to answer any questions you may have!

 

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Dear Reader, 

 

Welcome back to the Hampton Renaissance, magazine of the arts! We have missed you all during our semester hiatus, but that does not mean we were sitting stagnant. 

 

During the fall, our digitization of Hampton University’s retired literary magazine, The Saracen, has made significant headway. Please take a chance to visit “The Saracen” tab and embrace all the student poetry from 1970. A snapshot of the Black Arts Movement from an HBCU campus,  The Saracen is a means to connect with student artists across decades and is a nod to those who came before the Renaissance. With titles from “For The Un-Uniformed Panthers” to “Where Was God?” there is something for everyone. 

 

As we reconnect with our past, the Renaissance also looks toward the future. The theme of this issue is “Healing,” whether that be emotional, spiritual, or physical. Healing feels especially apt as campus comes alive in the wake of the pandemic. With a surge in freshmen, a flood of tour groups, and a fresh administration, there is plenty of potential for healing. Spring is also an age-old season for rebirth, so as we stitch old wounds we turn to Audre Lorde. 

 

“Pain is important: how we evade it, how we succumb to it, how we deal with it, how we transcend it.” 

 

Thank you to everyone who submitted to this issue. You all have taught us at the Renaissance, so much about healing through your art. To everyone reading, we thank you as well for your continued support. 

 

This issue is also my farewell to Hampton University. It has been a gift to see the Renaissance through the last few years, and it is my greatest wish that you stick with us for the next few. 

Sincerely, 

Erin Townsend, senior editor