'Aspirations', by Aaron Douglas

Aaron Douglas was an awesome artist. He painted scenes filled with Black Americans, and in every one made them look powerful and statuesque. 

"At a time when it was unpopular to dignify the black image in white America, Douglas refused to compromise and see blacks as anything less than a proud and majestic people." -David C. Driskell, Hidden Heritage: the Roots of Black American Painting
Douglas' style is very distinct and stand out to me as directly representing the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance and the concept of the "New Negro": that Black Americans will not bow and scrape to anyone, that they have every reason to be proud and no reason to make anyone approve. Take a good look at how he frames the figures above. His choice to silhoutte them and not actually show their features, a universal stylistic choice in his art, along with their placing and posing, makes them look like gods. He represents Black Americans as proud and strong.
This specific piece, Aspirations, shows African Americans rising up out of slavery and into modern, industrialized society. The chained hands at the bottom are the roots of Africans in this country, and I think that Douglas intentionally place them at the base of the scene to symbolize the fact that America was built on the backs of slaves, raised up by their chained hands. The figures on the platform above the slaves are, in Driskell's words, majestic. Their poses are subtly dramatic. Also, they are wearing suits, symbolizing the new negro as contributing member of society, moving up in the world. The male figure in the middle looks off into the background and points, with calm determination, at the form of an industrial city perched on a mountaintop, as if to say " That's where we're going." The placement of the city on the mountaintop is of key importance, as it frames the city as a high goal to be reached.