...Famous Harlem Renaissance During the early 20th century, African-American poets, musicians, actors, artists and intellectuals moved to Harlem in New York City and brought new ideas that shifted the culture forever. From approximately 1918 to the mid 1930s, talent began to overflow within this newfound culture of the black community in Harlem, as prominent figures—Langston Hughes ( The most prolific writer of the Harlem Renaissance. He casted off the influences of white poets and wrote with the rhythmic meter of blues and jazz), Claude McKay (urged African Americans to stand up for their rights in his powerful verses),Billie Holiday (Billie Holiday was one of the most influential jazz singers of all time. She had a thriving career for many years before she lost her battle with addiction), and Jean Toomer wrote plays and short stories, as well as poems, to capture the spirit of his times), to name a few—pushed art to its limit as a form of expression and representation. These are some of the famous African Americans who shaped the influential movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. During this period Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. In November 1924, Langston Hughes returned to the United States and worked various jobs. In 1925, he was working as a busboy in a Washington, D.C. hotel restaurant when he met American poet Vachel Lindsay. Hughes showed some of his poems to Lindsay, who was impressed...
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...June 6, 2011 The Harlem Renaissance – An Era of Great Change The music, clubs, sports, fashions, and people all together with change, composed together created a movement of power and control for blacks in the northern Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem. Life in Harlem wasn’t your average Southern hospitality. It was filled with excitement and fun. Any two A.M. morning was a simple 12 P.M. afternoon. The streets were blazing with jazz, dance, and people on their way to dance clubs, jobs, or simply roaming the streets to enjoy what Harlem had to offer. Clubs were the main attraction. That went for both blacks and whites. Young whites were entertained with the new style of music rather than the traditional music they listened to with parents who disapproved of “Harlem Music.” Two of the most famous black clubs in Harlem were the Cotton Club and Renaissance Casino and Ballroom. The Cotton Club was a place of great entertainment, featuring three stage shows nightly with anyone from Billie Holiday to Cab Calloway, all the way to Duke Ellington. The club was originally owned by a black icon, then sold to Jack Johnson, a famous black heavyweight champion. He later sold the club to Owney Madden- a mobster of Harlem. A major part of its’ popularity was because many white patrons wanted to see the infamous Owney Madden and Al Capone. Another reason for its’ popularity was when CBS began broadcasting in the Cotton Club in 1927(Npr). Although the Renaissance Casino is unknown...
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...Blacks World Spotlight: on the International Stage in the 1920s During World War I the United States bought nearly 200,000 African-American soldiers to France. Majority of the African American soldiers were from the southern region of the United States of America. Many Blacks stayed after the war, generating a permanent Black population in France. The ending of the First World War also marked the beginning of the New Negro Movement or Harlem Renaissance in the United States. During this time African Americans emerged as talented, creative intellectuals leaving their footprint on 1920s America. While much focus of the New Negro Movement is centered in the United States, it indeed was an international affair. The purpose of this research is to examine how a number of African Americans launched their creative debut from the international stage of Paris, France. Additional focus will center on black artists turning to Africa as a source and facture in the art. Last but not least, the effort of Author Schomburg to collect and house international works about blacks will be addressed. Utterly intrigued by African Americans and thoroughly consumed with their talents, the French displayed a respect for Blacks unseen in the United States. While a great number of African-American soldiers remain in Paris, many journeyed back to the United States. Those soldiers certainly were not greeted by change. The United States remained the same racially tensed nation. If there was any change, it...
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...Assignment 2: Harlem Renaissance Poets Demetria Davenport HUM 112 Dr. Jeff Kersh Countee Cullen (1903-1996) “Heritage” (1925) What is Africa to me: Copper sun or scarlet sea, Jungle star or jungle track, Strong bronzed men, or regal black Women from whose loins I sprang When the birds of Eden sang? One three centuries removed From the scenes his fathers loved, Spicy grove, cinnamon tree, What is Africa to me? So I lie, who all day long Want no sound except the song Sung by wild barbaric birds Goading massive jungle herds, Juggernauts of flesh that pass Trampling tall defiant grass Where young forest lovers lie, Plighting troth beneath the sky, So I lie, who always hear, Though I cram against my ear Both my thumbs, and keep them there, Great drums throbbing through the air, So I lie, whose fount of pride, Dear distress and joy allied, Is my somber flesh and skin, With the dark blood dammed within Like great pulsing tides of wine That, I fear, must burst the fine Channels of the chafing net Where they surge and form and fret. Africa? A book one thumbs Listlessly, till slumber comes, Unremembered are the bats Circling through the night, her cats Crouching in the river reeds, Stalking gentle flesh that feeds, By the river brink; no more Does the bugle throated roar Cry that monarch claws have leapt From the scabbards where they slept, Silver snakes that once a year Doff the lovely coats you wear, Seek no covert in your fear Lest...
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...The Roaring Twenties, The most memorable decade. The 1920s are remembered as a decade of political and cultural change. Women finally got rights, there were Prohibition Laws, The Great Migration, and The Harlem Renaissance. For the first time ever more people lived in cities than on farms. The nation's wealth doubled between 1920 and 1929. These years were the best, but it was all coming to an end. “The New Women” One of the most important political reforms of the 1920s in the Women's Suffrage Movement. Female citizens didn't have as many rights as men. On august 18th, 1920 the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. Women wanted this change, by the end of the 1920s women were represented on local, state, and national political committees....
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...worked as sharecroppers, which Sarah herself participated in when she was of age. However; when she turned six, both of her parents died leaving her to be taken in by her older sister, Louvenia, who lived in Mississippi. When Ms. Breedlover turned 14 she married Moses Jeff McWilliams, who they then had a daughter named A’Lelia Walker, who would become one of the most influential painters during the Harlem Renaissance, which was a time period in Harlem that ideals and artistic influences changed the culture of then Modern African-Americans....
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...Having at least one radio in a household grew more common (Smith), making it possible for people to listen to music without the need to physically head out their doors. One of the many music played on these radios was, of course, Jazz. The convenience that the radio gave to people brought more awareness to Jazz and broadened the audience for the music. Along with influencing the changing cultural music in New York during the Harlem Renaissance, Jazz music also inspired the fashion-side of the society: Men had begun to wear baggy pants, and young women cut their hair short. Loose high-cut dresses were practically mandatory for flappers due to dancing along with the fast-paced rhythm that Jazz music consisted of (McClendon). Unfortunately, like all other good things, the prosperous age that began in 1920 came to an end as America—along with the rest of the Western industrialized countries—entered the Great Depression in 1929 (Garraty). The American culture that was heavily based on credit backfired as the stock market on Wall Street crashed, sending millions of people into poverty because of it. When everyone was mourning over the negative impacts of the Great Depression, Jazz music was there to lift the moods of the...
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...Marcos Reyes Reyes Page.1 Prof. De Los Reyes ENG 112 December 10th 2011 Maya Angelou is a well-known American author, especially during the times of the civil rights movement which she was an activist. Maya had a long career, which includes different works from poetry, plays, screenplays for television and film, directing, acting, and public speaking. She is a profound writer of poetry. Her style of writing is geared for self-empowerment. To rise over all odds and to take pride in who you really are. She shows her honesty and emotions. Mostly her experiences that she went through in life or read about. Most of her works flow and rhyme well and usually very inspiring. Some of her poems are even considered autobiographical kind of poems. The style of Maya Angelou can range from complex symbolical ideas to easy, straightforward concepts. Her style is like a story. The vocabulary is usually easy to understand, and not too complicated. Her works are not always conventional either. (Study World 1) Maya Angelou was born April 4, 1928 as Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis. She was raised in segregated rural Arkansas. She came from a broken home. Angelou was raped at eight, and was an unwed Reyes Page. 2 mother at 16 years old (Williams 1). Angelou...
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...Dark skinned and light skinned blacks have battled each other since the American slavery era; this division has fueled African-American cultural movements, societal achievements, and economic systems. Light skinned blacks have undoubtedly maintained the hypothetical lead, receiving the upper hand in American slavery and the post Reconstruction era. However, dark skinned blacks made slight gains from the 1920’s to the 1960’s. In order to further assert white dominance, slaveholders annihilated African ethnic identities. Slaves were instead classified them as tools to be used by whites in any way whites saw fit. Consequently, racial miscegenation between Caucasians and African slaves became a common component of slave culture. In order to obstruct...
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...Chapter 21: The Roaring Life of the 1920s Section 1: Changing Ways of Life I. Rural and Urban Differences A. Between 1922 and 1929, migration to the cities accelerated, with nearly 2 million people leaving farms and towns each year (small town values change) 1. City dwellers judged one another by their accomplishments more often than their background a. City dwellers tolerated drinking, gambling, and casual dating (shocking and sinful in small towns) 2. Cities could be impersonal and frightening b. Life was fast paced and neighbors were not as neighborly B. Prohibition: the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages were legally prohibited 3. 18th Amendment: ratified Jan, 1919 and repealed by the 21st Amendment in Dec, 1933 C. Positive Opinions/Results of Prohibition: 4. Progressives wanted it banned to stop family violence, crime, and poverty c. Support for prohibition was found in the rural native-Protestant dominated West and South d. The church-affiliated Anti-Saloon League led the drive to pass Prohibition e. Woman’s Christian Temperance Union considered drinking a sin 5. WW I reformers advocated prohibition as a war measure f. People were concerned that many German Americans owned many of the brewers g. Drinking reduced the efficiency of soldiers and workers 6. Learned we must...
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...History 112 05/09/2013 World War I triggered a number of important changes in American society: gradual and immediate. At war’s end, with the return of male workers, women were expected to quit their jobs. Between 1910 and 1920, only 500,000 more women were added to the workforce. The war had harsh consequences for immigrant families. Further immigration to the United States was halted. Many immigrant families already in the country faced fierce social and job discrimination in an antiforeign climate whipped up by the war. Most African American civil rights leaders supported World War I and some 400,000 African Americans Discrimination was common. Where they saw combat, African American soldiers served with distinction. Many returning black soldiers questioned why the liberties and freedoms they had fought to preserve in Europe were denied them in their own country. Civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois expressedresentment. American economy slows as war-time production ends. Returning troops face difficult adjustment to civilian society. Many women and minority workers faced with loss of jobs as men returned to the workforce. Despite contribution to war effort, returning African American I troops continue to face discrimination and segregation. Death and destruction of war leads to feelings of gloom among many Americans. Migration to the North World War I accelerated the migration of African Americans to northern cities. This immigration began after the Civil...
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...singing the tone right to but to shape it. We wear the mask poem: Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 – 1906) • Mask – façade, disguises you, hides you, masquerade, protection, performers. Performance v. rituals • Ritual o Gospel • Performance o For others/benefits o Entertainment o Image Video: Education on Minstrel – goes into the Images topic • Developed in 1820. • T.D. Rice • Jim crow presents himself as an African (black face) by performing how the Africans perform. Performance within a performance. • Compromise of 4, etc. o Paid performances • Call and response Images: • Co-opted • Corruption of the history image • Massive available – were everywhere. • The images like the lips exaggerated, clothing, hair. • Looked more animalistic in the pictures • Children in images that they were alligator bait • Food that they ate – watermelon and chickens. Watermelons grow in Africa so they eat it a lot which people didn’t know that.. o Letter from home – is food that you recognize (watermelons) • Clown – dressing them as that in images and plays. • Sheet...
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...African Americans Gloria Graham HIS 204 American History Katie Filbeck February 25, 2013 This paper will discuss the progress of African Americans before and after the 1930s. It will also show their struggles and triumphs before and after they were given freedom. African Americans are descendents of Africa, They were brought to America around the 18th century to work and serve as slaves to some of the wealthier whites. They were force to work for little or nothing. They were treated very badly and lived on the plantations of their owners who purchased them through slave trades. African Americans before the 1930s During the Great Depression, blacks suffered a great deal when it came to jobs. Blacks were pushed out of jobs which they held before the depression by whites who would not be caught doing the types of jobs they held. Although Roosevelt administration National Recovery Act (NRA) stated that there was not to be nondiscriminatory in hiring, and blacks should get the same equal pay as whites, it didn’t employ blacks, but it remained to be racist whenever a black was hired. During the Great Depression, unemployment was very high, but there were some like “William Green” President of the American Federation of Labor that opposed segregation, but did nothing to support civil rights. Therefore blacks were forced to organize a separate union. Women during the Great Depression before the 1930s There were also women in the work force. The unemployment was...
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...Aren Lim Jimmy Lopez Ryu Masuda Michael Ta American Literature Period 2 May 13, 2014 The Jazz Age As the 19th century came to an end, the start of a meaningless war triggered an era known as The Great Jazz Age. The year was 1914, as the world came together and fought in a useless war. The naive Americans partied as news spread that the war had ended. By 1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald coined the term, The Jazz age when he published his successful book, This side of Paradise. This era was sparked with ideas of jovial times and world peace. F. Scott Fitzgerald quoted, “Though the Jazz Age continued it became less and less an affair of youth. The sequel was like a children's party taken over by the elders.” The music was louder and the alcohol consumption was stronger. The correlation of people and alcohol consumption was increasing as the expansion of rebellious youths and usage of Jazz music increased. The effects of the war, triggered an unconditional response that changed American ideals. As hands shook, and papers were signed, Armistice Day marked the end of World War One and ignited a new beginning for America. Everyone celebrated the American victory of the biggest war of the time. In a way, the end of the war was a wake up call. The war helped open people’s eyes and made them realize that life was short and you should cherish every moment you have. Everything seemed to conveniently fall into place. Soldiers were reunited with their families, and the economy blossomed...
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...clubs, was signed to successful labels, and released singles that revolutionized jazz music. Holiday later battled with alcoholism and drug abuse which damaged her voice. In 1959 she died of cirrhosis of the liver. 10.Jazz - Jazz is a genre of music originating from New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz was created as a creative outlet for the African American community. Jazz is a combination of blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and country music in which instruments such as the trumpet, bass, and saxophone are featured. Significant Jazz figures include Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Dizzy Gillespie. 11."Flappers" - In the 1920s, after the suffrage movement, the term “flapper” emerged. This word pertained to young, middle class women who disregarded conventional standards of style and sexuality. Flappers had a distinctive look including shoulder-length hair, elaborate makeup, boyish physiques, straight, loose dresses, and bare arms. These women experimented with their lifestyles, often frequenting dance...
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