Harlem Renaissance & the Hip Hop Movement

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1912 , the 18th Amendment being added to the Constitution (prohibiting the use of intoxicating liquors) and then being repealed in 1933 , the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote in 1920 , Amelia Earhart becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic in 1928 , and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.

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 years between World War I and the Great Depression were important times for the United States, and jobs were in demand for many cities, especially in the North. In the early and mid 1900’s almost 750,000 African Americans left the South, and many of them migrated to urban areas in the North to take advantage of the job outlook and for a more racially tolerant environment. The Harlem section of Manhattan, was where a lot of African Americans migrated during this time.

The time period that the fiction sets is the 1920s, when the society was experiencing significant transformations in every aspect of life. The Progressive Movement, which aimed at eliminating various means of political corruption and illegal business practices, had just abated. Harlem Renaissance, a new element of the 1920s, took place in City of New York and its effect swept across the country. Harlem Renaissance, a rebirth of African American culture and art, exerted substantial influence on black people, regardless of the social status and wealth they had. Nevertheless, such splendid cultural explosion could not conceal the limitations and inequality of the 1920s. Gender and race restrictions were not uncommon across the nation. Based on her own experience as a mulatto, Nella Larsen showcased the struggling and miserable life of mixed-blood people.

Through its inspiring start up with the Renaissance Harlem with that alone has produced a lifetime worth of culture and knowledge to Americans during the 1920s and early 1930s. Even with its downfall during the 1930s through the late 1980s and disowning from its very own golden child James Baldwin, Harlem grew old and unpleasant yet still held onto its own wisdom. Today, Harlem is a completely renovated area made possible by the rich and the famous and is constantly sought after by young families and businesses. Though it hasn’t been a pretty journey Harlem has provided so much value to America which is why even though Harlem has been through a lot of changes over the last century it is still a beautiful place and important to American

The Harlem Renaissance, which is also known as the “New Negro Movement”, was a movement that was considered to have spanned throughout history from 1918and lasted until the mid-1930s. The main reason for the migration from the north to the south resulted from the Jim Crow Laws. Most Negroes felt they would be better off in the north than in the south. However the Ku Klux Klan was renounced by the republican whites but Democratic whites maintained power in the South by denying blacks the right to exercise their civil and political rights with lynch mobs and other forms of corporal punishment.

The Harlem Renaissance was part of the 1920’s. This was an important time for African American culture because jazz, art and literature become popular for the African American people. Ethnic neighborhoods contributed to the rise of jazz, art, and literature that promoted a new influence among the African community. Now, other ethnicities began to appreciate and adopt this new culture.

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.

Over the course of time, many different movements have occurred. The most influential types have ranged from revolutionary movements to feminism. These movements have changed the course of society and kept a different outlook on new ideas. A very important idea that needed to be stressed was the freedom of African Americans. For so long they were slaves and treated extremely poorly. Eventually, they became free people. However, they were still not viewed as equal. It took many years to move even one step in the right direction. A specific movement did help the African America appear independent and equal. One of the most influential movements and still occurring to this day is the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance is the cultural movement of the 1920’s. The movement essentially kindled a new black cultural identity through art, literature and intellect.

During the beginning of the twentieth century, there was a “Great Migration” of African Americans from the southern part of our country to the northern areas. The journey North was made in order to escape racial inequalities and injustices as well as to find employment. There was a sudden population boom to an area of New York City known as Harlem. “The Harlem Renaissance was a result of the cultural, social, and artistic explosion that occurred just after World War I to the middle of the 1930s” (Harlem Renaissance). The amazing writers, musicians, and artists which emerged during this “renaissance” had a profound effect on the way society viewed racism and racial discriminations and also paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement years

Majority of the African-American literary movement came from a generation that had lived through the hardships of the Reconstruction Era after the Civil War. Sometimes their parents or grandparents had previously been slaves. Their ancestry sometimes benefited by generating investments in cultural capital, for example education. Most African American in the Harlem Renaissance were part of the Great Migration from the South into the Negro neighborhoods of the North and Midwestern parts of the United States. African Americans sought out better living standards and relief from the institutionalized racism in the South. Others were of African descent from racially separated communities among the Caribbean Islands who came to the United States In hopes of a better life. During this major migration of African Americans as they were once again united in Harlem. “During the early 20th century, Harlem was the cultural haven for African American immigrants from around the country, attracting those seeking work from the South, and those educated African Americans who made the area a nucleus of culture, as well as a rapidly increasing middle class of African Americans and African descendants. “The district had originally been intended for upper class and

During the time of the bustling 1920’s a new movement in American culture was booming. As the great migration was rapidly growing, new ways of expressing emotions were blossoming into a revolutionary movement. This movement of the “New Negro,” also known as the “Harlem Renaissance” was quickly coming into the light of society, exploding in the Harlem neighborhoods of New York City as artistic ideas took turns that nobody could ever imagine. Among these new creations of artistic creativity the most prominent was the clear transformation that music went through during this time. Boundaries were beginning to break in society as well as in music as rules were being broken and new forms of music were simmering, thus, Jazz was born.

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.

By 1921, seventeen magazines and newspapers had been published by black people. Moreover by the mid to late-1920’s Harlem had surpassed Broadway has the place to go to enjoy nightlife to the