Harlem Renaissance Influence On American Culture

The Harlem Renaissance was the period in the 1920’s that came with a flourish of new African American artistic culture. Louis Armstrong became prominent during this time and would influence the world to come with his music. Little did he know, African American artists, such as Nicholas Payton, would look to him for inspiration for their music and livelihood. He created a legacy for himself and was adored by many people. Louis Armstrong directly influenced the Harlem Renaissance with his new style of jazz music, his performances, and the legacy he left on the world.

There were many notable events taking place in the years 1900-1940, some being Pablo Picasso painting one of the first cubist paintings is 1907 , the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 , the 18th Amendment being added to the Constitution (prohibiting the use of intoxicating liquors) and then being repealed in 1933 , the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote in 1920 , Amelia Earhart becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic in 1928 , and the list continues. Undoubtedly one of the most influential of events during this time was the Harlem Renaissance. Even with its many leaders and innovators, it wouldn’t have been nearly as effective had it not been for Alain LeRoy Locke: black writer, philosopher, and teacher who influenced black artists to look to African sources for pride and inspiration. Without Locke’s contribution, the Renaissance would not have flourished as much as it did, and black pride would have taken longer to develop and accept.

As Deng Xiaoping once states, “It doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice”. Xiaoping implied that it doesn't matter the color of someone's skin, but their strength of will. For the past few hundred years, skin color was weighed significantly more than level of ability. This lead in entire race of people in the dark, unavailable to take full advantage of their unique gifts. However, the Harlem Renaissance allowed these people to be able to step into the light and use their abilities to their fullest potential. The Harlem Renaissance allowed African Americans to be able to better humanity in by increasing America's culture through music, literature, and art, and beginning to create equality between two

The Harlem Renaissance was a time period where African American influencers of the arts found cultural identity in a white domain in the city of Harlem New York. The Harlem Renaissance is the rebirth of African American culture in the United States. The rebirth of the African American Culture was not limited to Harlem, because it also took root in other places, such as Washington DC, Chicago, and Illinois. The positive culture of the Harlem Renaissance pointed out some of the injustices African Americans were experiencing throughout the United States, and it was portrayed in their literary arts. Original leaders in the Harlem Renaissance included James Weldon Johnson. James Weldon Johnson was one of the first publishers of contemporary black poetry of the 20th century. The name of the book he published titled “The book of American Negro Poetry” was a reflection of the writings of African American poets in the 1920s. James Weldon Johnson helped revitalize African American culture through his literary works and poetry; the Harlem Renaissance continues to influence the African American culture through the literary arts, poetry, and the influence of the originators of the Harlem Renaissance.

The early 1900s was a time marked with tragedy in America. Started and ended with the Great Depression in between, it was not America 's finest moment. Prohibition was in place, the Klu Klux Klan was still marching, and the Lost Generation was leaving for Paris. But despite the troubling times, people still found beauty and meaning in the world around them. They still created art and celebrated life. The Harlem Renaissance was an artistic and literary movement that developed a new black cultural identity through artistic expression. It fused African traditions with slave history and American culture, and revealed to the world what life was like as a black person in America.

The Harlem Renaissance and the Hip-Hop Movement are a culmination of co-related cultural art forms that have emerged out of the black experience. White people understood black people more through their expression of art during both movements. Both movements brought about a broad cross-racial following and, ironically, in both instances brought about a better understanding of the black experience for white America. The bridge between Be-Bop and Hip-Hop was made by Quincy Jones with the “Back on the Block” project; which featured such artists as Dizzie Gillespie, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Tevin Campbell, Ice Tea, Big Daddy Kane, Al B Sure, Barry White and many

The Harlem people group was viewed as one of the music realms of the world in the mid-1900s. Relatively insufficient of the desire black craftsmen, artists, or scholars of the time were from Harlem; however, it appears that all had achieved or sought after their vocations there. James Weldon Johnson, Claude McKay, Alain Locke, and Charles S. Johnson were all magnificent motivations for rising craftsmen destined to be. They helped tutor individuals, for example, Langston Hughes into being a world-known name. These inventors existed vocally gifted and given as vivid good examples to the new stars. Near 1920 and 1930, tremendously approximately thousands African Americans left the South. These individuals sang and assured through their encounters amongst defeat and Civil War; this made their music and artistry meaningfully additional deep with even more feeling and enthusiasm. Natives crosswise over America appreciate hearing the stories of the difficulties in the newest era and how they overwhelmed these.

I think something that Louis Armstrong did for the Harlem Renaissance is that he made a lot of African Americans feel beautiful by his music. People could listen to his music and dance while forget the world around them. He was important because he was one of the first African Americans to write an Autobiography (“Swing That Music”). He continued to appear in movies and that is something else that is good for African Americans during that

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.

The Harlem Renaissance was a product of the mass migration of African Americans to the industrial north which eventually lead to the change of various styles of art. During the late 20’s, and early 30’s many African Americans from the agricultural south migrated to start a new, brighter life in the industrial north. By 1930 40% of blacks lived in northern areas(Rose, 2). African Americans saw the opportunity they had in response to WWI. Factory jobs opened and African Americans were being hired(Rose, 2). Many whites in the north did not accept them, and forced African Americans into segregated urban households(Cobblestone, 2). While segregation was not legalized in the north racism was widespread, and had the same effect. The Harlem Renaissance

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.

The Chicago Tribune explains how Claude McKay was a man who had been rejected physically, emotionally, and mentally by the world. He had wrestled with people's rudeness towards the black community. It explains how his work was a mark to end how people saw the black community. McKay poems created made a wall between the Harlem Renaissance and modernism. His work changes much does time and how people saw each other.

There have been many cultural movements throughout history in this world. One of the greatest movements in this world was the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance movement is defined as a cultural movement that spanned in the 1920’s, at this time known as the Negro Movement; the movement also relied on white patronage. White patronage had a profound effect on the vitality of the Harlem Renaissance, and the evidence says the Harlem Renaissance would not have reached the heights it did without generous white contributions. The Harlem Renaissance spurred events that affected the African Americans society in areas such as migration, the work force, and also racial pride (www.yale.edu).

The great philosopher Plato once orated: “Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. PBS defines the the Harlem Renaissance a “Cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem between the end of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. During this period Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars.” Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.”Authors such as Langston Hughes, Lucille Clifton, and Colleen McElroy explore their cultural heritage through hard-hitting poetry.

Credited as being the most recognizable figure of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes played a vital role in the Modernist literary movement and the movement to revitalize African American culture in the early 20th century. Hughes’s poems reflect his personal struggle and the collective struggle of African Americans during this cultural revival.