The Harlem Renaissance
Chapter 1
Introduction Harlem Renaissance, an African American cultural movement of the 1920s and early 1930s that was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. According to Wintz:
The Harlem Renaissance was “variously known as the New Negro movement, the New Negro Renaissance, and the Negro Renaissance, the movement emerged toward the end of World War I in 1918, blossomed in the mid- to late 1920s, and then withered in the mid-1930s. The Harlem Renaissance marked the first time mainstream publishers, critics took African American literature seriously, and that African American literature and arts attracted significant attention from the nation as a whole (1).”
Although
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In the early 1920s, three works signaled the new creative energy in African American literature. McKay’s volume of poetry, Harlem Shadows (1922), became one of the first works by a black writer to be published by a mainstream, national publisher (Harcourt, Brace and Company). Cane (1923), by Jean Toomer, was an experimental novel that combined poetry and prose in documenting the life of American blacks in the rural South and urban North (Andrews 4). Finally, There Is Confusion (1924), the first novel by writer and Editor Jessie Fauset, depicted middle-class life among black Americans from a woman’s perspective (Andrews 4).
According to Bassett, these early works as the foundation and three events between 1924 and 1926 launched the Harlem Renaissance.
First, on March 21, 1924, Charles S. Johnson of the National Urban League hosted a dinner to recognize the new literary talent in the black community and to introduce the young writers to New York’s white literary establishment. The National Urban League was founded in 1910 to help black Americans address the economic and social problems they encountered as they resettled in the urban North . Because of this dinner, The Survey Graphic, a magazine of social analysis and criticism that was interested in cultural pluralism, produced a Harlem issue in March 1925. Devoted to defining the artistic ness of black literature and art, the Harlem issue featured work by black writers and was edited by black
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.
The Harlem Renaissance was regarded as a blossoming of African -American culture particularly in the genre of creative art and one of the most influential movement in African- American literary history. While the Harlem Renaissance embraced musical, theatrical, literary and visual arts, the participants within the movementsought to re-conceptualize
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
History.com (2009) describes the Harlem Renaissance movement as “a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement that kindled a new black cultural identity.” The 1920s and 1930s emcompass a time in history where blacks found themselves ostracized from mainstream society. It was uncommon to see the expressions of black artistry in everyday life, especially on a literary level.
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
In the 1920’s the Great Migration occured. A lot of African American started arriving at the northern states as a result of the increased job opportunities, seeking a new beginning in towns such as Detroit, Chicago or New York City. The Great Migration acted as a domino effect allowing the Harlem Renaissance to materialize at a similar time. The Harlem Renaissance was an artistic movement which enabled African Americans to display their artistic talent not only to a black audience but to a white one as well. It was named after a neighborhood in New York City- Harlem- since it attracted a lot of artists. The most important outcome of the Harlem Renaissance was that it empowered African Americans and led them to focus on their roots. This explosion
The Harlem Renaissance started during the Roaring Twenties. It took place in Harlem, New York. It became most prominent in the mid to late 1920’s and it diminished toward the early 1930’s (Henderson). The Harlem Renaissance was initially called the New Negro Movement or the New Negro Renaissance. It was the result of numerous components, including the Great Migration. After World War I, countless African-Americans left the country South for urban communities of the North looking for better employment and a more tolerant environment. By 1918, Harlem, New York had the highest number of black people on the planet,
A group of people who had at one point held no power and position in society were now thriving in the nation, as they spread their culture and ideas. It was the start of an era known as the Harlem Renaissance. This was a more than a literary movement, it was a cultural movement based on pride in the Africa-American life. They were demanded civil and political rights (Stewart). The Harlem Renaissance changed the way African Americans were viewed by society. It, “changes the image of the African-American from rural, undereducated peasants to one of urban, cosmopolitan sophistication”. This era expanded from the early 1920s to the mid 1930s (Wikipedia). It generated great pride in the people
“The Harlem Renaissance was the development of the Harlem neighborhood in New York City as a black cultural mecca in the early 20th Century and the subsequent social and artistic explosion that resulted.” (Historycom, 2017). The movement allowed African Americans to receive exposure for their art, Moreover, it lasted for over 20 years. The African American Art provided a distinct perspective of creativity from the artists. The Harlem Renaissance was the focal point of African American Music, as a result of the movement was the birth of many Genres.
During the 1920?s, a ?flowering of creativity,? as many have called it, began to sweep the nation. The movement, now known as ?The Harlem Renaissance,? caught like wildfire. Harlem, a part of Manhattan in New York City, became a hugely successful showcase for African American talent. Starting with black literature, the Harlem Renaissance quickly grew to incredible proportions. W.E.B. Du Bois, Claude McKay, and Langston Hughes, along with many other writers, experienced incredible popularity, respect, and success. Art, music, and photography from blacks also flourished, resulting in many masterpieces in all mediums. New ideas began to take wings among circles of black intellectuals. The
Originally called the New Negro movement, the Harlem Renaissance was a time for African Americans to prove to the world that they had finally overcome oppression. According to the Harlem Renaissance by Richard Wormser, “The Harlem Renaissance was the name given to the 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. Many had come from the South, fleeing its oppressive caste system in order to find a place where they could freely express their talents.” (Wormser)
Harlem Renaissance, a blossoming (c. 1918–37) of African American culture, particularly in the creative arts, and the most influential movement in African American literary history. Embracing literary, musical, theatrical, and visual arts, participants sought to reconceptualize “the Negro” apart from the white stereotypes that had influenced black peoples’ relationship to their heritage and to each other. They also sought to break free of Victorian moral values and bourgeois shame about aspects of their lives that might, as seen by whites, reinforce racist beliefs. Never dominated by a particular school of thought but rather characterized by intense debate, the movement laid the groundwork for all later African American literature and had
The Harlem Renaissance was a wonderful allotment of advancement for the black poets and writers of the 1920s and early ‘30s. I see the Harlem Renaissance as a time where people gather together and express their work throughout the world for everyone to see the brilliance and talent the black descendants harness.
The term ‘‘Harlem Renaissance’’ refers to the efflorescence of African-American cultural production that occurred in New York City in the 1920s and early 1930s. One sometimes sees Harlem Renaissance used interchangeably with ‘‘New Negro Renaissance,’’ a term that includes all African Americans, regardless of their location, who participated in this cultural revolution. Followers of the New Negro dicta, which emphasized blacks’ inclusion in and empowerment by American society, were undeniably spread throughout the nation, and most major cities had pockets of the African-American elite that W. E. B. Du Bois dubbed the ‘‘Talented Tenth.’’ Nevertheless, New York City was, arguably, the most crucial
The Harlem Renaissance began in the 1910’s and lasted until the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. This movement of hope was strategically placed: Harlem was the largest black community in the country and New York was the center of the arts and also America’s top publishing center. "The Harlem Renaissance was a moment of hope and confidence, a proclamation of independence, and the celebration of a new spirit exemplified in the New Negro" (Fabre & Feith, 2001, p.2).