The Harlem Renaissance enriched America through its music. Countless African Americans became key figures in music during this time. The Harlem Renaissance was a time of African American expression in art, music, and literature. The Harlem Renaissance was instigated by the migration of African Americans to northern cities that was taking place in America at that time. (Hutchinson) The music of the Harlem Renaissance brought about a sense of equality among black and white Americans and was a sense of inspiration, which was made possible through African American migration and led to civil rights movement of the 1960s.
A huge player in the Harlem Renaissance was the Great Migration. Before the late 1910s most African Americans lived in rural America. Starting in 1917, African Americans began moving to northern cities in search of work and equality. (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica) Once African Americans began moving north their demographics in certain areas became much more dense. During the Great Migration over 6 million African Americans migrated to northern cities like Chicago. New York's African American population rose by 40 percent. (NPR) African Americans migrated in search of opportunity due to the laborer shortage that WWI caused. These newly founded "clusters" of African Americans allowed them to congregate and eventually begin the Harlem Renaissance. This migration also allowed blacks to indulge in the freedom of learning, which rose the literacy rates among blacks drastically. (Hutchinson)
The Renaissance's impact on African Americans was a great one. The Renaissance, which took place from about 1918-1937, was an initiative for the civil rights movement that took place in the 40s,50s, and 60s. (Hutchinson) Th...
... middle of paper ...
...hecked/topic/973069/Great-Migration>.
"Great Migration: The African-American Exodus North." . N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. .
"The Harlem Renaissance." ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. .
"The Harlem Renaissance - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. .
"Popular Entertainment." The Harlem Renaissance. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. .
"The Harlem Renaissance Poets and Musicians." The Harlem Renaissance Poets and Musicians. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
Frustrated, African Americans moved North to escape Jim Crow laws and for more opportunities. This was known as the Great Migration. They migrated to East St. Louis, Illinois, Chicago's south side, and Washington, D.C., but another place they migrated to and the main place they focused on in the renaissance is Harlem. The Harlem Renaissance created two goals. “The first was that black authors tried to point out the injustices of racism in American life.
The Harlem Renaissance is the name given to a period at the end of World War I through the mid-30s, in which a group of talented African-Americans managed to produce outstanding work through a cultural, social, and artistic explosion. Also known as the New Negro Movement. It is one of the greatest periods of cultural and intellectual development of a population historically repressed. The Harlem Renaissance was the rebirth of art in the African-American community mostly centering in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s. Jazz, literature, and painting emphasized significantly between the artistic creations of the main components of this impressive movement. It was in this time of great
Many historians contribute to the Harlem Renaissance, the beginning of the civil rights movement. With the Civil War ending, African Americans were greatly displaced. The feeling of displacement came about for the African Americans because they were now legally free citizens, but they were still trapped in a country and culture that was not accepting of African Americans. After trying to find their place among the rest of America, the African Americans began a movement that has become known as "The Great Migration." The great migration was a mass exodus of African Americans from around America, to Harlem, New York.
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement of blacks that helped changed their identity. Creative expression flourished because it was the only chance blacks had to express themselves in any way and be taken seriously. World War I and the need for workers up North were a few pull factors for the migration and eventually the Renaissance. A push was the growing discrimination and danger blacks were being faced with in the southern cities. When blacks migrated they saw the opportunity to express themselves in ways they hadn’t been able to do down south. While the Harlem Renaissance taught blacks about their heritage and whites the heritage of others, there were also negative effects. The blacks up North were having the time of their lives, being mostly free from discrimination and racism but down South the KKK was at its peak and blacks that didn’t have the opportunities to migrate experienced fatal hatred and discrimination.
Labbe, Sarah L. "Writers of the Harlem Renaissance at Odds: Wright and Hurston's Different Approaches." Salve Digital Commons. Salve Regina Universtiy, 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2014. .
Kellner, Bruce, ed. The Harlem Renaissance: A Historical Dictionary for the Era. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1984
In the 1920s, the great migration of blacks from the rural South to the urban North sparked an African–American cultural renaissance that took its name from the New York City neighborhood of Harlem but became a widespread movement in cities throughout the North and West. Also known as the Black Renaissance or the New Negro Movement, the Harlem Renaissance marked the first time that mainstream publishers and critics turned their attention seriously to African–American literature, music, art and politics(Hornsby, 1993; Hazen, 2004).
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and literary period of growth promoting a new African American cultural identity in the United States. The decade between 1920 and 1930 was an extremely influential span of time for the Black culture. During these years Blacks were able to come together and form a united group that expressed a desire for enlightenment. 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 of growth, they hoped to destroy the pervading racism and stereotypes suffocating the African American society and yearned for racial and social integration. Many Black writers spoke out during this span of time with books proving their natural humanity and desire for equality.
All in all, the Harlem Renaissance was a black cultural movement that took place in the North, particularly in Harlem. Many African Americans stood out, including Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey, and W.E.B. Du Bois. They were all different kinds of artists who were part of the Great Migration. These artists traveled from the South and other parts of the world to the North because of the increase in black population and culture. Each one of them made a large impact on the Harlem Renaissance and changed black culture forever.
Harlem Renaissance, a developing of African American culture, particularly in the innovative affirmations, and the best change in African American connected history. Understanding astute, musical, energetic, and visual announcements, individuals attempted to conceptualize "the Negro" nearby the white speculations that had impacted dull society's relationship to their legacy and to each other. They relatively attempted to break free of Victorian mind boggling qualities and normal thoughtlessness about parts of their lives that may, as seen by whites, reinforce enthusiast feelings. Never overpowered by a particular school of thought yet genuinely depicted by noteworthy open considering, the change laid the explanation behind all later African American making and had a titan impact on happening weak made work and care around the globe. While the renaissance was not bound to the Harlem region of New York City, Harlem pulled in a fabulous centralization of judgment and confine and served as the ordinary capital of this social arousing.
During the Great Migration, an influx of African Americans fled to Northern cities from the South wishing to flee oppression and the harshness of life as sharecroppers. They brought about a new, black social and cultural identity- a period that later became known as the Harlem Renaissance. Originally the Harlem Renaissance was referred to as the “New Negro Movement” (Reader’s Companion). It made a huge impact on urban life. The Harlem Renaissance played a major role in African American art, music, poetic writing styles, culture and society.
Many other African American people were becoming famous through theatres, music, art , and literature. The people that were directly involved with the renaissance were often more of the educated and middle class blacks (Jackson 2) . During the 1920's in the United States the Great Migration was going on. This would cause many African Americans to move away from the south and head north. By doing this, this caused them to populate more and more in New York, which was the heart of the Harlem Renaissance. (Jackson 2).
Musicians during the Harlem Renaissance created a style and movement that simply took Americans by storm. Musicians such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong have inspired others all over the country. The Renaissance itself was not only an observation of life for African Americans, but it also showed Americans that they have a place in society. All of the musicians, writers, and artists shared a common purpose. This purpose was to create art that reflected the Afro American community. Through this era, African Americans provided themselves with their cultural roots and a promise for a better future. Music in this era was the beginning. It was the beginning of new life for musicians and African Americans.
... The Harlem Renaissance was a time of growth and development for African-Americans. They wrote novels, performed in clubs, and created the genre of Jazz. However, the Renaissance was imprisoned by its flaws. Rather than celebrating the unique culture of African-American’s, it oftentimes caters to what the White Americans would want to see and hear.
Scott, Freda L. "Black Drama and the Harlem Renaissance." Theatre Journal 37.4 (1985): 426-439. Print.