African American Negro Movement: The Harlem Renaissance

These great numbers of blacks along with economic aggressive black businessmen is how Harlem's newly developed real estate was seized from the white middle-class and was converted into the biggest and most elegant black community in the Western world (Huggins p.14). With this acquisition, Harlem had become a great concentration of blacks from all over the country within the most urbane of American cities (New York) just feeling its youthful strength and posturing in self-conscious sophistication. The growth and flourishing of Harlem came at just the right time for black Americans to rekindle dreams of innocence and a new start in America . An essay written by one of Harlem's most prominent leaders Alaine Locke stated that "without pretense to their political significance, Harlem had the same role to play for the New Negro as Dublin has had for the New Ireland or Prague for the New Czechoslovakia."(Knopf p.115). This idea spread like wildfire causing Harlem to be viewed by many as the "black metropolis or mecca".

The Harlem Renaissance, or back then referred to as the “New Negro Movement,” was a movement that took place in Harlem, New York around the 1920s which consisted of art, music, and creative writing. The Harlem Renaissance was an important and memorable movement because it brought a voice, never before found freedom, and joy to African Americans who had been hushed and persecuted for too long. Shortly after the Civil War ended in 1865 some blacks expected that just because there was more education and jobs available for them that they would finally be treated “equal.” This was until Plessy versus Ferguson case where the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation was okay. “Separate but equal” was the legal doctrine used

African Americans had to push very hard to be seen and noticed. The Harlem Renaissance was a time where they created beautiful works of art to express the strength that they had. Zora Neale Hurston, author of How It Feels to Be Colored Me, expresses the importance of white people seeing and understanding African American’s pride and history. Augusta Savage creates the sculpture Gamin as a symbol for all African Americans. Within Our Gates, starring Evelyn Preer and directed by Oscar Micheaux, gives insight into what went on in the rural south in the 1920s. How It Feels to Be Colored Me, Gamin and Within Our Gates, though different art forms, are similar in that they all demonstrate the same theme of the African American perspective.

Many African Americans had been enslaved and remained living in the south. After the end of slavery, the emancipated African Americans, started to act for civic participation, political equality and economic and cultural independence. Right after the civil war had ended many African American Congressmen began to give speeches after the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. 6 of the congressmen were black by 1875 as part of the Republican Party’s reconstruction legislation By the 1870s, the predominately white Democratic Party managed to regain power in the South. Between 1890 and 1908 the Democratic Party proceeded to pass legislation that were not favorable for

The New Negro Movement, also known as The Harlem Renaissance, was a time in the early twentieth century where African Americans embraced literature, music, theatre, and visual arts (Alchin). They were inspired and gave inspiration to many blacks in the community. The Great Migration was the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance – it is, where it began the most significant movement in the black history. After World War I, “more than six million African Americans” traveled from “the rural South to the cities of the North, Midwest, and West” to achieve economic and social benefit, and a new home in Harlem, New York City (History.com Staff). It “has been a synonym for being a center of culture, intelligence, and fashion” (Harlem). That exact time period gave black people opportunity to grow, to prosper, and to express. Through art, they have shown the value of life, even though there was brutal racism, injustice in black identity, and slavery. This is a movement in the black culture to show that they are just more than the color of their skin.

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement, in the early 1920’s, that involved vibrancies of new life, ideas, and perceptions. The large migration of African Americans northward, after World War I, allowed people of color the opportunity to collaborate in the New York City neighborhood, known as Harlem. This renaissance allowed the city to thrive on a refined understanding and appreciation of the arts. Many individuals were involved in this movement including doctors, students, shopkeepers, and painters who were apart of forming and molding the vibrant and inspirational gem (Holt Elements of Literature – Fifth Course 734). In addition, artists, performers, musicians, and writers gathered together in Harlem to start the beginning of one of the most influential time periods in African American history. However, many factors contributed to the huge impacts of this renaissance, including the effects of the Great Migration, why Harlem was the location for this movement, and the achievements of specific individuals during this time period, such as Augusta Savage.

Witnessing thirty-seven million people perish in The Great War, now known as World War I, rattled the survivors, who resultantly would go on to change the world. Around the world, particularly in America, a pessimistic lost generation of Caucasian male survivors, pivoted away from typical conservative, faith-based values, turning towards excessive consumerism, hedonism, and drinking (Boyes 2016). In contrast, optimistic African Americans were able to find a light, the possibility of equality in the North, in the darkness that was the rebirth of white supremacy in the South. This light fueled the New Negro Movement, better known as the Harlem Renaissance. You can live your life in one of two ways, either like the Lost Generation and see a

During the early 19th century going on in the 1910s through the middle of the 1930s, There was black movement in the north that set a huge statement. The name of that organization was called the Harlem Renaissance. And that was a way to show the talents in culture from african americans mainly during a hard period for blacks and the U.S.A also.So the question is what was a very influnenental culture time period in history.And heres the history or timeline of the renaissance an what it lead up too, and also the impact of it.

During the 1920’s a new movement began to arise. This movement known as the Harlem Renaissance expressed the new African American culture. The new African American culture was expressed through the writing of books, poetry, essays, the playing of music, and through sculptures and paintings. Three poems and their poets express the new African American culture with ease. (Jordan 848-891) The poems also express the position of themselves and other African Americans during this time. “You and Your Whole Race”, “Yet Do I Marvel”, and “The Lynching” are the three poems whose themes are the same. The poets of these poems are, as in order, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude Mckay.

James Weldon Johnson once said that "Harlem is indeed the great Mecca for the sight-seer; the pleasure seeker, the curious, the adventurous, the enterprising, the ambitious and the talented of the whole Negro world."("Harlem Renaissance") When one thinks of the Harlem Renaissance, one thinks of the great explosion of creativity bursting from the talented minds of African-Americans in the 1920s. Although principally thought of as an African-American literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance's influence extended through every form of culture: art, dance, music, theatre, literature, history, and politics. Along with the great contribution this period made towards art and entertainment,

The most successful club out of all the ones in Harlem was known as the Cotton Club. Ellington and Calloway would perform there regularly. Others believed they were a sign that African American culture was moving towards greater acceptance. The culture boom in Harlem gave African Americans actors opportunities for stage work.

period. The Renaissance was more than a literary movement: It involved racial pride, fueled in

The 1920 's were a time of battle for African-Americans. Servitude was nullified, yet blacks were still persecuted and were not the slightest bit equivalent to whites. Nevertheless, right now blacks were beginning to gain some ground toward racial equity. The Harlem renaissance began the principal genuine feeling of African-American society through workmanship, jazz, move, and writing. There was additionally right now the start of solid African-American developments to facilitate the dark race. An unmistakable development was driven by W.E.B Dubois that concentrated on instructing blacks to make fairness. On the other side of the political range was Marcus Garvey, who drove the development for blacks to join as a race against mistreatment.

The Harlem Renaissance is better known as, “The New Negro Movement” began in the 1920’s. It was a product of centuries of African American suffering and oppression especially in southern states and their subsequent migration to northern states. As White supremacy began increasing in the south, Jim Crow laws involving segregation of African Americans did as well. Thousands of African Americans began migrating from the south to the urban northern states, specifically New York. This movement is known as the Great Migration. African Americans believed that they would receive better treatment in the north because they did not have laws of segregation. However, the whites in the north were also prejudiced and did not accept African Americans with

The idiopathic themes expressed in both, Langston Hughes and W.E.B Du Bois during their time period were expounded in great detail. One line from W.E.B Du Bois poem “The Song of the Smoke” said “For blackness was ancient ere whiteness began”, this shows the