Exploring African American History : The Harlem Renaissance

This was a pivotal turning point for the former slaves to the white man. This renaissance finally allowed many of the poor and rural black communities to have a collective voice and make a significant change. Authors also helped by putting major books and poems out into America for everyone to read and learn about how the black culture operated and thrived. These authors, such as Hughes and Hurston, were single representations to put alongside the Harlem Renaissance that allow others to have a picture of what the actual black life was all about. It was no longer about slavery or persecution from the white people, but instead African Americans found a voice they used to give them an even greater freedom. African Americans showed everyone that they were no longer beneath those who forced them to tend their lands, but were instead equal and quite possibly could be better than many of them. African Americans no longer lived in fear of each and every day, but pushed themselves to the front pages of important newspaper, magazines, and everything else imaginable. They published works and obtained awards just as the white men did, and created their own music to express themselves just as the white man had once done. This

As a whole the Harlem Renaissance ended slowly from the early 30s to the early 40s. This was due to the Great Depression and the world's attention shifting towards the war in Europe. The Harlem Renaissance was very important because it was a time in American history where black people openly expressed their culture and their pride for being black. The effect that the Harlem Renaissance had was unique to the 1920s because of the proximity to WWI. After the war the black community wanted recognition for their bravery and valor overseas and at home. Another factor that helped with the Harlem renaissance was Prohibition. Prohibition had helped because people needed entertainment when they drank illegally. Also people were tired of the old was which was also seen in the new found power that women had grasped in society. Recently before this there was Red Summer where lots of people had died during the race riots that broke out all across the country. In American history the Harlem Renaissence gave black culture and influence a major kickstart which still shows its influence today. Many black artists of all varieties go back to the style of the 1920s to get back in touch which their roots. The Harlem Renaissance has had an everlasting effect on the black community in

One of the many revolutionary eras in history was the Harlem renaissance. This was a sudden cultural revolution that was realized in the 1920s and it became popularly known as the “Harlem Renaissance” or “The New Negro movement”. This is a particular era that the African American people draw pride in. the era saw a cultural, social, music and art explosion of epic proportions This was aimed at shifting the stereotypical view of black people as uneducated, intellectually deprived farmers to one of a complex, organized and intellectually equal to the whites. The Harlem renaissance took place in 1920s thru 1930s. This era saw a phenomenon rise in famous black writers and marked the onset of blues, musical theatre, blues, dance and poetry. The new art caught on an appealed to the whites as well. Harlem became a cultural and literature center. The African Americans artists and writers were gaining recognition from the white. [2]

The Harlem Renaissance, was a big movement that happened in the northern part of New York city, were African American finally were able to share their art with the world, changing the culture of America. They expressed their art though painting, literature, dancing, and music, the music name specifically is Jazz. Harlem was once a white suburbia, that later down the road became greater in population of African Americans. During the First World War, the war opened a lot of good paying jobs opportunities to the citizen of the U.S. When the War broke out many African Americans finally had reason to move up north and get away from their poor environment in the south, hoping for a better place to race their families, a place to fulfil their dreams, and for a better life, this was called the second Great Migration. A lot of African American chose to move to mostly to Chicago, Detroit, and New York because these places were the top places other African American were already living, and lot of African American wanted to stay within their familiar culture.

During the Harlem Renaissance, all the politic works, theater and arts has sense of pride in the African American experience. Also, the politicians and artists at that period committed to create works that could uplift the African American’s social position.

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural, social, and artistic movement that took place in Harlem, New York. This mainly took place starting from the end of the First World War until the mid-1930s. Harlem, at this time, was the center of the African-American culture, and Harlem appealed lot of black artists, writers, scholars, musicians, poets, and photographers. Lots of these artists had fled from the South because they needed to get away from their oppressive caste system so that they could express themselves freely, and display their talents. The Harlem Renaissance was considered to be the “rebirth of African-American arts”. This movement mainly started around 1918 and ended during the mid-1930s. Some of the major writers during this time of the Harlem Renaissance were Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Du Bois, Countee Cullen, Zoe Neale Hurston, and Marcus Gravey. Lots of these themes that these writers wrote about are themes that to this day artists try to make a point of emphasis, including the American Dream, effects of racism on the black population, black identity, and human rights (Wormser).

The Harlem Renaissance was a literary, musical, and cultural movement for African Americans. It centered in Harlem, New York, 1910 to mid- 1930's ("Articles"). We also refer to the Harlem Renaissance as, "the New Negro Renaissance, the New Negro Movement, the Negro Renaissance, and the Jazz Age"("Articles"). The Harlem Renaissance was the beginning for African Americans to start expressing themselves through art, music, and literature. While this movement influenced artistic expression, "it also affected politics, social development, and almost every aspect of the African American experience in the mid-1920's"("Articles").

The Harlem Renaissance, originally called the New Negro Movement, was a movement that shook the 1920’s in the United States of America. The Harlem Renaissance spanned between the years of 1918 all the way to the mid 1930’s. This movement was a movement of the arts. It has been said that this time period was a rebirth to the African American arts. The Harlem Renaissance is an extremely important piece of history for America.

The Harlem Renaissance was the rebirth of black literary and musical culture, during the years after War War, which started around 1914 and ended around 1919, in the Harlem section of New York City. The Harlem Renaissance was the most influential times of cultural black history, in so many different aspects. The Harlem Renaissance helped “blacks” in ways that pretty much launched them to a high level them to a higher level in the arts, music, and literature. It is very important because in the 20th century and now in the 21st century, the Harlem Renaissance enabled African Americans to express their feelings through the arts and it also created a trend for other generations because them too could express their feelings.

Reasons for the phenomenon included both racial and economic. Although the Civil War had outlawed slavery, white supremacy was still prevalent in the Reconstruction South. Jim Crowe laws created racial segregation and hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan flourished. This environment of racial tension and the frequency of hate crimes led blacks to want to escape the south (“A New”). Also, blacks were no longer slaves but they were still economically dependent on agriculture. They became sharecroppers but were often exploited by the white landowners. When boll weevils devastated the cotton crop, blacks were left poor and powerless. In contrast, industrial jobs were abundant in the north. Factories even sent recruiters to the south looking for workers (“Harlem Renaissance”). So, for both safety and economic reasons, many blacks felt that hope for a better life was outside of the south thus the motivation for the Great Migration (“A

The “Harlem Renaissance” which we also refer to as “The Jazz Age” and/or “New Negro Movement” was the time where underprivileged African Americans migrated to the north mostly to Chicago and New York in search for a better life. This was a time of a cultural, social, and creative movement that enhanced the African American Community mostly in New York and Chicago between the years of 1917 and 1935. The Harlem Renaissance was the defining moment when African American photographers, writers, musicians, poets, artists, actors, scholars, dancers, composers and etc. migrated from the south to escape the oppression of Caucasian supremacy and poor conditions. They traveled in order to be able to express their talents freely. The movement allowed oppressed African Americans to express their creativity, skills, intelligence and determination. The Harlem Renaissance is the movement that contributed a fundamental part of the culture we know today. During this time African Americans started to embrace things of their culture such as music, theatre, and art.

The Harlem Renaissance was a creative movement. African Americans began using their talents in order to get their points across. African Americans used their experience from their everyday lives in order to form great music, art, and literature. The creative movement set an example for further years. Artists in the 20th century began using their knowledge of the Harlem Renaissance as a reference for their work.

The mass migrations of blacks into Harlem happened around the early 1900 as living conditions worsen in other parts of the country. Specifically, the KKK in South Carolina, and racial segregation and biases across the south enforced by the Jim Crow Laws, forced black families to go north in search of better housing, jobs and education for their children, and more so, to move away from a culture of lynching and violence. They did not anticipate the violent situations they would face in the North. Due to discrimination they were pushed further and further up Manhattan and into neighborhoods that were over concentrated with blacks and minorities. At times, they faced worsen financial and social conditions that resulted in riots over employment

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.

The Harlem Renaissance represents the rebirth and flowering of African-American culture. Although the Harlem Renaissance was concentrated in the Harlem district of New York City, its legacy reverberated throughout the United States and even abroad, to regions with large numbers of former slaves or blacks needing to construct ethnic identities amid a dominant white culture. The primary means of cultural expression during the Harlem Renaissance were literature and poetry, although visual art, drama, and music also played a role in the development of the new, urban African-American identity. Urbanization and population migration prompted large numbers of blacks to move away from the Jim Crow south, where slavery had only transformed into institutionalized racism and political disenfranchisement. The urban enclave of Harlem enabled blacks from different parts of the south to coalescence, share experiences, and most importantly, share ideas, visions, and dreams. Therefore, the Harlem Renaissance had a huge impact in framing African-American politics, social life, and public institutions.