How Did The Harlem Renaissance Change The Lives Of African Americans?

During the 1920s through the 1930s, blacks weren’t fulfilled with the way they were living. Before the Harlem Renaissance began, African Americans faced poor conditions in which they were treated. They had no rights and were given nothing during their time in the south. Blacks living in the south were treated as slaves. They were treated like dirt that the people of higher power could walk over. Many African Americans were promised things that they never received. For example, land, they wanted land in which they could use. They were guaranteed this land, but never got what they asked for. These people faced much grief and wanted to change this. They wanted to start a new life of freedom and respect. Thanks to the Harlem Renaissance, African Americans were able to accomplish this. The Harlem Renaissance supported African Americans through art, music and literature.

In 1914 the world was forever changed when World War 1 had started. In August of 1914 most Americans, including African Americans in Europe saw no reason for the United States to become involved in the war. With a desire for better and an economic motivation from the oppression of the south blacks traveled north out of the south. This became known as the great migration where according to Chad Williams in the article African Americans and World War I around 500,000 black southerners moved north. The war had created demand for workers in northern factories, hence many blacks from the south took this opportunity for change. The migration took place from 1914-1920. Williams explains how the great migration effected and transformed the social, cultural, and political landscape of many cities such as Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Detroit. During this time, the Harlem Renaissance was born. The Harlem Renaissance was an early twentieth century cultural and political movement in which writers and artist of color explored what it means to be an artist while being to be black, and what that means as an American. This gave the Harlem Renaissance a significant impact on the evolution of African American art, culture and life.

How the Harlem Renaissance changed the lifestyle of African-Americans. The Harlem Renaissance was the cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place after World War I and between the 1930s.

The Harlem Renaissance was the first period in the history of the United States in which a group of black poets, authors, and essayist seized the opportunity to express themselves. The Great Migration was the movement of six million African Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North during 1916 to 1970. Driven from their homes by unsatisfactory economic opportunities and harsh segregationist laws, many African Americans headed north in search for a better future. Due to the aftermath of World War One , it brought many African Americans into the thriving New York City. Moreover, during the early 1920s the African Americans developed their own culture by the creation of art, music, literature, including the battle in fighting for their civil rights and the effect of the Great Depression.

There is no doubt that the United States has gone through serious transformation in as far as racial relations is concerned. So far, the country has seen a reduction in racial prejudices and discrimination , yet such changes have never be a one-off event, rather, it has been a process that has seen so many fighting so hard for this course. Talking of racism and racial discrimination, African-Americans would always be taken as the greatest victims to such discrimination. Whereas African-Americans have played victim to racial discrimination over the years, there has been a great level of transformation within the American society over the years to see to it that institutionalized racial discrimination amongst blacks is kept at the bare minimal

While African Americans were viewed as inferior to the white race, and look upon as a race without intellectually, culturally and morally values, incapable of performing any task without supervision thus justifying why white race portraying African Americans. Even when bills were passed by the government and turned into laws African Americans were victims of violence. I will demonstrate in my thesis several events that African American had to endure during the 18th century and the Jim Crow laws that restrict African Americans and were state and local laws ( Henry 1949) enforcing racial segregation in the Southern. In my report, I will display what accomplish made during the 19th century, and how the Harlem Renaissance ( Henry 1994) was a

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.

Travel back in time several centuries ago to the 1900’s and imagine how different life would be – oil lamps/candles, outhouses or one toilet shared between several people, movies known as “flickers” and lasting no longer than 10 minutes, no television, ice boxes as opposed to refrigerators, baseball being the main sport that people followed as opposed to football, and unless you were a White male, your lifestyle was not filled with many opportunities or rights. With slavery being abolished not too long ago, discrimination and segregation was still widely accepted and practiced. Life was much different back then. Although people were heavily being judged for the color of their skin, a movement called the Harlem Renaissance had a major influence on people’s views on African-Americans across the United States. The Harlem Renaissance created a new Black cultural identity through literature, music, theater, art, and politics. One of the leading voices was Langston Hughes, a writer whom wrote realistic portrayals, both suffering and victories of African-American lifestyles through poetry, short stories, novels, and plays. Through short, effective, and expressive words, Langston Hughes’s poetry promoted African-American culture and also addressed the oppression and injustice of African-Americans.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” (King). Today's society is based on the appearance of a person, and the color of a their skin. African Americans should not have to cover up themselves because of their race. In Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem, “We Wear the Mask”, he speaks up about slavery and inequality. The meaning in Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” is discrimination of African Americans and how they get treated because the color of their skin.

Paul’s Dunbar poem “We Wear the Mask” is one of his many famous works published in 1896, first African American poet writer. He was the son of two former slaves, born in Dayton, Ohio, who escaped slavery and was the only color student during his high school years. During his life of being an African American, he faced many aspects in life, such as discrimination, and being denied as well as his own kind were during the Harlem Renaissance. Dunbar’s poem “We Wear the Mask” corresponds to his life as well as many others like him that lived in a society of abomination, where African Americans were judged by their skin tone. The poem talks about how Africans “wore the mask” to conceal the truth, the truth about how they felt around living in

Everyone you meet is not necessarily who you think they are. Many hide their fears and aspirations just like the speaker in “We Wear the Masks”. This poem was written in 1896. Its focal point was the African American race having to hide their real feelings about slavery, and the white man; with fear of retaliation. The concealed pain and suffering that they as a culture endured then is still felt today. However, this poem is very pertinent to the lives of many today. There are groups out there purposely dividing the citizens of today. This poem stands true with every race, not just the African Americans it was written about.

The “Civil Rights Movement“ urged the abolition of the “Separate-but-Equal“ doctrine that formed the basis for social, economical and political discrimination of black Americans. This concern as well as the demand for complying the promises made in the “Emancipation Proclamation“ are to been seen in Hughes's late works, depicting the sociopolitical incidents of that time. In contradistinction to his early works in the 1920s,when Hughes merely sparked hopes of a better future, he now wants the black population to do their utmost to realise the African-American dream, if necessary even by force.

Inequality in America is expressed in many ways, for example literature and media. Today, I’d like to focus on American Literature of African American inequality through Narrative Identity. Narrative can be expressed as “a basic human strategy for coming to terms with fundamental elements of our experience, such as time, process, and change.” While Narrative Identity is identified as is the study of “the distinctive nature of narrative and its various structures, elements, uses, and effects.” (Course Notes). I have chosen three authors who expressed their views of racial inequality through poems and short stories. Frederick Douglas, Zora Neale Hurston, and Langston Hughes are all African American descendants who have personally experienced inequality in American and has chosen to express their experiences in American Literature. Even though these authors have shared experiencing inequality, they are all different because of the time in which their experienced occurred.

Capturing the essence of the black narrative is task that many attempt, but few truly capture. Two of the most famous writers to get it right in their own way were Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Each writer’s upbringing influenced their depiction of the black experience. Hurston was raised in Eatonville, Florida, a predominately black town where discrimination was rare. Since she had minimal encounters with white people, she was able to capture a black narrative of resilience rather than redemption. Hughes, on the other hand, was born in Joplin, Missouri to an affluent family. Although he was never able to flex that wealth, he still had an ideal of success, which heavily influence his depiction of common black folks. Hughes focuses on common black people who have or haven’t been able to capture the “American” dream, but are finding alternatives of the dream. Two different ideas, yet each writer uses their work to define success and happiness. In this paper, I will argue that Hurston illustrates “common folk” as a resilient people who find success by gaining happiness and comfort in spaces created just for them. I will also assert that Hughes depicts a two sided “common folk” that is defined through their level of success.