...The Harlem Renaissance From 1920 until about 1930 an unprecedented outburst of activity among African-Americans occurred in all field of art. Beginning as a series of literary discussions in the lower Manhattan (Greenwich Village) and upper Manhattan (Harlem) sections of New York City, this African-American cultural movement became known as “The New Negro Movement’’ and later as the Harlem Renaissance. More than a literary movement and more than a social revolt against racism, the Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African- Americans and redefined African-Americans were encouraged to celebrate their heritage and to become “The New Negro,” a term coined in 1925 by sociologist and critic Alain LeRoy Locke. One of the factors contributing to the rise of the Harlem Renaissance was the great migration of African-Americans to northern cities (such as New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.) between 1919 and 1926. In his influential book The New Negro (1925), Locke described the northward migration of blacks as "something like a spiritual emancipation." One of the factors contributing to the rise of the Harlem Renaissance was the great migration of African-Americans to northern cities (such as New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.) between 1919 and 1926. In his influential book The New Negro (1925), Locke described the northward migration of blacks as "something like a spiritual emancipation." In the 1920's African-Americans seemed to have passed...
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...Standing on a street corner at the intersection of 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue, in Harlem, New York, New York, around the year 1930, dazzling lights would flash, a sign would read Cotton Club. Inside could be heard, on any given night, the likes of Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, or even the great Satchmo himself, Louis Armstrong wailing on his trumpet. Welcome to the Harlem Renaissance, a period of time where according to the book Harlem Renaissance, is said to be: “Harlem intellectuals, sharing in that belief and seeing themselves as living out the moment of their race’s rebirth” (Huggins 9). The Harlem Renaissance was a time of a great cultural blossoming, not only for New York, but for the United States. During this period, one man stands above the rest, Louis Armstrong. Louis Armstrong is the most noteworthy jazz player of the Harlem Renaissance. Not only is Armstrong’s skill with a trumpet unmatched, the length and depth of his career is a tell tale sign of a legend.The affect in which Louis imprinted on jazz, elevated jazz itself. Armstrong raised the bar for the next generation. Louis Armstrong's ever lasting legacy rings throughout time....
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...The Harlem Renaissance was a classical period during 1919-1940 that used humor to address, societal, racism, and other cultural issues. Langston Hughes was a major figure during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance helped African American authors develop better in art in writing. It helped African Americans leave a bigger legacy and inspire those around them. The Harlem Renaissance gave a clear understanding of how blacks go through racism but in a humorous way. It was seen a big cultural movement for African Americans to over step racial prejudice. One of the major authors during the Harlem Renaissance was Langston Hughes. Hughes helped in shaping the artistic view of how we see certain situations. One of his famous poems during...
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...The American track record of its treatment to African Americans is saturated discrimination and segregation. To fight against the separate but equal reality African Americans, chose different ways to protest against that reality. It was through the different forms of writings that some educated and distinguished African American writers tried to portray the notion of double consciousness. Double consciousness is a term created by famous Harlem Renaissance writer W.E.B DuBois. The term double consciousness defines the action of African Americans to not only view themselves from their own unique perspective, but to also view themselves as they might be perceived by others ( in this case white people). Harlem Renaissance period provided the African American writers with the opportunity to expose the majority to double consciousness. It allowed the Caucasians to see the internal conflict of keeping with one’s heritage but wanting to make it in America under “white” standards. W.E.B Du Bois first citied double consciousness in The Souls of Black Folk and his writings signify “how a veil has come to be put over African-Americans, so that others do not see them as they are; African-Americans are obscured in America; they cannot be seen clearly, but only through the lens of race prejudice. Till this very day many African-Americans feel “unwanted” in America. I think back to a news video I saw about a black man named Earl Sampson that was arrested fifty six times and stopped and...
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...Harlem Renaissance was a time of explosive culture and growth in the black community. During this time in the 1920s and 30s, it was not only the birth place of jazz but also we heard voices of the African American Authors who were taken serious by their white connects for the first time in history. It focused on portraying black culture and life in the ghetto. And it gave the African American Culture uniqueness within literature and art. Harlem Renaissance was an evident racial pride that symbolized the melodic theme of the New Negro. New Negro challenged the penetrating racial discrimination to encourage socialistic help of art and literature. As to be significant in the Harlem Renaissance the writers used poetry to present the African American experiences. Grabbing the attention between both black and white readers around the world. One Poet that set that bar really was Langston Hughes he was one of the most popular black poets of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes was great at his job with more diversity in his choice of writings. He had written Plays, Novels, Poems, and Short Stories, Most of his writings were the real situations that really happened in black cultures. Movies were highly looked up upon in the Harlem Renaissance. D.W. Griffith directed “The Birth of a Nation” the film was over African Americans directors who countered negative stereotypes promoted in majority of the mainstream movies. Then released films in The Harlem Renaissance showcased the struggle of the...
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...“Sweat” and the “Man Who Was Almost a Man” Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright were distinguished black writers from the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Coming only two generations after slavery, this was an amazing resurgence of black creativity in all fields from writing, art, dance, and music to philosophy, history, and the social and natural sciences. The Harlem Renaissance died out with the Great Depression, but it has left behind a lasting legacy for all Americans including these powerful stories. One idea that emerged from the Harlem Renaissance was called "double consciousness." This theory developed by writer-activist W. E. B. DuBois articulated the psychological effects of living under racism. DuBois's theory focused on the ways that blacks who were confronted with stereotypes but also were aware of a reality of black life much different from the stereotypes lived with both of these conflicting modes of thought. Double consciousness is an idea that seeks to explain the effects of segregation and racism in the daily lives of blacks, and can be seen in the choices Harlem Renaissance artists made. Harlem renaissance authors wrote during a time of self-awareness, which also included an awareness of self as perceived by others, primarily through the eyes of racism. The language choices made by these authors reflect this duality, as the characters "code switch" (a linguistic term for the way people use both dialect and Standard English in different circumstances) between...
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...It wasn’t until 1920 that a group of literary writers began their own cry for emancipation and through their compassion for their fellow African Americans, began putting those feelings and thoughts on paper in the form of writings and poetry. This cry of lamentation, expressed through heart rending writings and heart felt poetry, was known as the Harlem Renaissance, and otherwise referred to as the “New Negro Movement.” There were many changes that were to be seen during this rebirth that lasted twenty four years. The writings were not only the lament of men and women voicing their rage and empathy for their fellow African Americans plight of slavery, but were writings that would sooth the wounds of former slavery and take the former slaves trough the far reaching effects of a stock market crash and the further woes of the ensuing Great Depression. The renaissance period brought forth the movement that changed the entire social, physiological, and personal views of Negro Americans of themselves as it related to their past and catapulted them into creating a social standing never before seen until that time. What began in Harlem would forever change the face of the Negro American in the eyes of all other races. The new writings and poetry that resulted from this period, encouraged the African American to...
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...a Road, was her account of her rise from childhood poverty in the rural south to a prominent place among the leading artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance.” Many people viewed Dust Tracks on a Road, as a fantasy life she idealized not the actual truth. While others believed in Hurston’s portrayal. Zora Neale Hurston was the fifth of eight children of John Hurston and Lucy Ann Hurston. She was born in Notasulga, Alabama, on January 7, 1891. When she was 3 years old, her family moved to Eatonville, Florida. Zora Neale Hurston felt like Eatonville was “home” so she claimed it as her birthplace. Hurston glorify it in her stories as a place where African Americans could live as they desired, independent of white society, once her father became mayor. She would later call Eatonville, Florida a utopia. Hurston's childhood in this all black environment may have shaped her later views on race. Zora Neale Hurston represented Eatonville as a perfect place in reality. It was a Negro town, a self sufficient, independent place, filled with African American pride. She didn’t felt the same way as all the rest of black people living there. Hurston believed in black individuals and places to gain economic and social justice for them. Eatonville may be a small town but bundle with African American account, traditions, and legacy. It is one of the oldest out of twelve that...
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...The Harlem Renaissance Poets XXX XXXX Strayer University HUM 112 August 17, 2014 XXX XXXX The Harlem Renaissance Poets The Harlem Renaissance, notably deemed as the “New Negro Movement” by Alain Locke, aggrandized the creativity in literature and music from the African American culture. Much of the art from this era mostly portrayed their experiences of inequality and their search for better quality of life in the North and Midwest, henceforth the Great Migration. Some of the most prominent names during this time was African American poets Langston Hughes and Claude McKay, both playing an essential role to the literary movement. As stated by McKay, “their poems are full of hushes, whispers, sighs, songs, tongues, throats, wails, moans, voices, speech, music, hymns, blues, sobs, cries, lashes, yowls, jazz, scatting, drums, thunder, drones, shouts, trumpets, trains, whistles, choirs, horns, and all sorts of other raucous sound” (1926). Langston Hughes was notably known as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance and also deemed as the “Father of Harlem Renaissance poetry”. Hughes solidified his legacy in the Harlem Renaissance subsequently after the publishing of his first poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, which is one of his most notable poems. The Negro Speaks of Rivers, which was influenced from his time passing the Mississippi River to visit his family, was later published in 1926 in his first book of poetry, The Weary Blues. In regards to the poem, Phillipson...
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...The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke. Though it was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, many French-speaking black writers from African and Caribbean colonies who lived in Paris were also influenced by the Harlem Renaissance.[1][2][3][4] The Harlem Renaissance is unofficially recognized to have spanned from about 1919 until the early or mid-1930s. Many of its ideas lived on much longer. The zenith of this "flowering of Negro literature", as James Weldon Johnson preferred to call the Harlem Renaissance, was placed between 1924 (the year that Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life hosted a party for black writers where many white publishers were in attendance) and 1929 (the year of the stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression). Contents [hide] 1 Background to Harlem 2 Development of African-American community in Harlem 2.1 An explosion of culture in Harlem 3 Music 4 Characteristics and themes 5 Influence of the Harlem Renaissance 5.1 A new black Identity 5.2 Criticism of the movement 6 Notable figures and their works 6.1 Novels 6.2 Short story collections 6.3 Drama 6.4 Poetry 6.5 Leading intellectuals 6.6 Visual artists 6.7 Popular entertainment 6.8 Musicians and composers 7 See also 8 References 9 External links 10 Bibliography Background to Harlem [edit] Until the...
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...A. Actress, singer, dancer, activist and war spy Josephine Baker was a significant figure during the Harlem Renaissance who’s “commitment to the continued struggle honored millions” who felt the same pain that she did (Williamson). B. The events of both her “run down, rat-infested” childhood and glamorous adulthood had impacts on her future and the work she did (Caravantes, 3) C. Her actions did not end with the Harlem Renaissance, but live on today because of her determination “to prove that all people […] should be treated the same” (Caravantes, 60). D. Throughout her life, Baker carved a pathway for America to follow in order to obtain equality and be able to live in harmony. II. Baker’s troubling childhood and eventful adulthood carved...
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...Archibald Motley Archibald Motley, Junior was born on September 2nd, 1891. He is mostly known for his work colorful portraying African Americans in many activities in the 1920s and 1930s such as, dancing in nightclubs and social gatherings. Motley had a strong fascination with the variety of skin tones and he painted many African American women with varying blood qualities (mulatos, octoroon, ect.). With his focus on the variety of skin tones, it is said that Motley celebrated skin tones as something to be diverse and something that made the black community feel ore inclusive with one another. Motley is said to be one of the many contributors of artwork during the Harlem renaissance. However, Motley was not born in Harlem nor did he grow up in Harlem. Motley was actually a New Orleans native, but spent majority of his time in Chicago. With his family being the only black family in a predominately European neighborhood, plus his the type of social class he was a part of, Motley was able to benefit from art training at the Art Institute of Chicago. However, since he lived in a particular neighbor hood, it wasn’t one that was in touch with the actual black culture. Motley actually had to travel to the inner parts of Chicago to actually observe the high impact of jazz on the social, and cultural aspect of African American life. His training later benefited him in the long run, after he was able to receive his own person exhibit in New York City, and also being the only African American...
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...“I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.” This is a quote from the great Langston Hughes, a famous black author and poet in the 20th century. He’s most widely known for his poetry, which has been featured on books such as The Raisin in the Sun. He was a social activist for African-Americans around the world and painted African American life in a positive, colorful life. His legacy still continues today as one of the greatest black poets of all time. Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri on February 1st, 1902. He was introduced to poetry at quite a young age and took inspiration from Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman. In the 1920’s he published one of his first poems which...
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...struggles of the Great Depression laid the foundation for the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Art would play an important role in influencing the future. Despite its limitations, the New Deal, through the Works Progress Administration’s (WPA) Federal Arts Program (FAP), was responsible for reshaping the cultural agenda and “marked a significant turning point in the production of black culture.”1 The artists of the Great Depression built upon the work done during the Harlem Renaissance. New Deal art extended and affirmed art that translated “politics into cultural terms.”2 The FAP looked for a “new sense of authentic American culture – one that championed national values and traditions by celebrating regional and racial diversity.”3 As a result, many artists worked to place African Americans in the historical narrative of the United States while combating long held stereotypes. None were less important than Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, Dox Trash, and the creators of the Harlem Hospital murals. Throughout the decade, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples (NAACP) continued its struggles to gain social and political equality for African Americans. The NAACP employed many avenues to achieve its goals. An Art Commentary on Lynching and the Marian Anderson concert were two such...
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...Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman were two highly influential poets with two very different backgrounds. Hughes was a seaman from Missouri. Whitman was a journalist from Long Island. Surprisingly, they’re differences do not show in their work. They discussed working class culture in America, and rejected the usual writing styles of their time. Even in death, they were praised for bending the rules of poetry. Born in Joplin, Missouri, James Mercer Langston Hughes would soon become one of the foremost voices of the Harlem Renaissance. His writing style was heavily influenced by jazz music (his funeral was full of jazz and blues) and he even cited Walt Whitman as one of his inspirations. Hughes wrote about African American culture, mostly...
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