Literary Works Of The Harlem Renaissance

     The Harlem Renaissance was a time of racism, injustice, and importance. Somewhere in between the 1920s and 1930s an African American movement occurred in Harlem, New York City. The Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. It was the result of Blacks migrating in the North, mostly Chicago and New York. There were many significant figures, both male and female, that had taken part in the Harlem Renaissance. Ida B. Wells and Langston Hughes exemplify the like and work of this movement.

Who was involved? Langston Hughes, W. E. B. Du Bois, Wallace Thurman, Zora Neale Hurston, Jessie Redman Fauset, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Walter White are just a few of the literary contributors of the Harlem Renaissance (Richard Wormser, pbs.org). These people, through their writings, offered a better understanding of what it meant to be African American during this time in history. Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Paul Robeson, Florence Mills, Cab Calloway, and Billy Pierce are just a few of the musical contributors (bio.com).

A reflection of the truth. The Harlem Renaissance is real. It is identified as a spiritual re-awakening, a rebirth in culture, a sense of pride and self awareness. However, African Americans were not always allowed this prodigious freedom. Prior to the Harlem Renaissance African Americans were slaves; considered a piece of property who had no rights whatsoever. Despite, their harsh history, Civil Rights were enforced, this helped bring them out of their misery; which is why the harlem renaissance is such an important era for the African American culture. Zora Neale Hurston plays a very critical role in the identification of Harlem Renaissance. She was born in Alabama on January 7, 1891. Both of her parents were former

The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and literary period of growth promoting a new African American cultural identity in the United States. The years of 1920 and 1990 and “were clear peak periods of African American cultural production.” During these years blacks were able to come together and form a united group that expressed a desire for enlightenment. “It is difficult not to recognize the signs that African Americans are in the midst of a cultural renaissance” (English 807). This renaissance allowed Blacks to have a uniform voice in a society based upon intellectual growth. The front-runners of this revival were extremely focused on cultural growth through means of intellect, literature, art and music. By using these means

 Harlem Renaissance 2015, Wikipedia, accessed 23 August 2015, .  Harlem Renaissance n.d., History, accessed 23 August 2015, .  Harlem Renaissance n.d., Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed 23 August 2015, .  Great Migration 2015, Wikipedia, accessed 23 August 2015, .  Claude McKay 2015, Wikipedia, accessed 24 August 2015, .

The Harlem Renaissance was a period from the end of World War I through the middle

The Harlem Renaissance began with the Great Migration, when black men and women from the southern United States began moving to Northern cities. They were escaping Jim Crow laws and searching for better jobs ("The Harlem Renaissance"). Many people moved into Harlem, a neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. It was relatively empty and apartments were cheap, though small. The sudden influx of African Americans, all filled with hope for better lives, ignited an artistic revolution of music, and literature. Black men and women began depicting their lives realistically and uniquely, breaking down common stereotypes that surrounded their culture (Boundless, "The Harlem Renaissance"). Civil rights activists were afraid that

Explores how gender influences the importance of skin color for determining one’s self-worth in the African American community. Notes that skin tone is a matter self-worth largely impacts black females more heavily than their male counter parts. Emphasizes how The Blacker the Berry (1929) asserts that in the African American Community the disadvantages that

The second half of the eighteenth century introduced a new expression to the literary world. The new expression was a voice that belonged to the African American writers. The African American writers wrote with a flair and brought a new perspective to the realm of literature. Literature, as America had known it, consisted of works from Christopher Columbus, John Smith, William Bradford, and Mary Rowlandson; these writers captured the essence of life, through their eyes. Through their eyes, the readers were able to see what life was like for Christopher Columbus through his letters capturing details of the voyages. Another famous writing in the eighteenth century was a voice from a different perspective than voyages but, it was a voice dealing with savages, as they were called. This voice was the voice of Mary Rowlandson, one of the first female writers in American Literature. Rowlandson’s narrative was based on her captivity with the Indians and the reestablishment of her life after she was returned to her hometown. Through narration and translation, the Native Americans were able to capture their literature in their native tongue. What type of literature could the Native Americans have to contribute to the literary world? The Native Americans, like other cultures, have stories that have been passed down from generation to generation, in the form of oral expressions. The oral expressions the Native

Harlem renaissance was an explosion of culture, art, and music that primarily took place in urban areas in the Northeast and Midwest of the united states.in the 1920’s and 1930’s. There were many famous dancers, musicians, poets and composers that had a great impact on the Harlem Renaissance. Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement in the 1920s that led to the evolution of African-American culture, expression through art, music, and literary works, and the establishment of African roots in America. Zora Neale Hurston contributed to the Harlem Renaissance with her original and enticing stories. However, Hurston’s works are notorious (specifically How it Feels to Be Colored Me and Their Eyes Were Watching God) because they illustrate the author’s view of black women and demonstrate the differences between their views and from earlier literary works.

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".

“Mention of the Harlem Renaissance conjures up images of glitzy nightclubs, glamorous figures, great literary achievements, and the birth of new trends in painting and sculpture, as well as a growing intellectual movement.” It was the becoming of and the publicization of black culture that was born during times of enslavement. The Renaissance was the first opportunity that African Americans felt they had had to exhibit their culture and uniquely-black talents without fear of repercussion or prejudice; due to the sense of heritage identity granted to the African Americans by their collective Harlem settlement, it no longer mattered what racist whites thought of

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.

Imagine the bustling streets of Harlem during the 1920s, African Americans are in finest clothing that they can buy going to their new jobs, people are chatting loudly as they walk down the stone streets; Harlem clubs were vivid during the night, as people danced to swing music and Jazz music. It was during this time where the african americans were free to work, to create, and to learn without any backlash. They were no longer considered slaves; but rather brothers and sisters of america who now held the power to change society and culture. They were no longer considered slaves; but now considered themselves brothers and sisters of america. The african american community were the ones that caused the phenomenon known as the Harlem Renaissance by showing their growth of unique talents in the ways of fine arts, literature, and music to change their society.