The Harlem Renaissance

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The Harlem Renaissance, originally called the New Negro Movement, was a time period in which all freed African Americans began to make music and express themselves unwillingly. This era was described as a boom in the evolution of music, the arts, poetry, and novels. African Americans migrated towards Harlem, a community in Northern Manhattan. According to outsiders, Harlem was mostly referred to as the “ Decentered Black Social World.” It acquired this name because only the most well-known black socialists lived and worked in this small, yet powerful society.
The Harlem community was considered one of the music empires of the world in the early 1900s. Not many of the aspiring black artists, musicians, or writers of the time were from Harlem; though it seems that almost all had performed or pursued their careers there. James Weldon Johnson, Claude McKay, Alain Locke, and Charles S. Johnson were all wonderful inspirations for rising artists soon to be. They helped mentor people such as Langston Hughes into being a world-known name. These leaders were vocally talented and provided as wonderful role-models for the new stars. Between 1920 and 1930, almost 750,000 African Americans left the South. These individuals sang and fought through their struggles during slavery and Civil War; this made their music and art even deeper with more feeling and passion. Citizens all across America enjoy hearing the stories of the hardships in the last century and how they overcame these.

Jazz was the most influential genre of music throughout the Harlem Renaissance. Famous musicians such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Bessie Smith had a massive impact on the aspect of Jazz to this day. As stated in The New York Times, 1922, it seems a...

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...ent though; Hughes was writing for the members of the black community and writing for the safety for their lives.

Hughes brought much attention and praise to all of the writers of Harlem when he wrote his famous poem, “Harlem”. This poem is short but very meaningful while accurately describing the struggles of his life before and his newly found life in the city of Harlem.
The musicians, artists and writers living during The Harlem Renaissance changed the view on creative arts completely. These people put diversity into the once “all-white” society and transformed it into something wonderful.This era was filled with a ton of talent, but all of the talent was soon forgotten and The Harlem Renaissance ended when the Great Depression started. The Harlem Renaissance was remembered for embracing the literary, musical, theatrical, and visual arts of the 1900s.

Analysis: The Harlem Renaissance
946 Words | 2 Pages
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
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The Harlem Renaissance: The New Negro Movement
1679 Words | 4 Pages
“Poetry, like jazz, is one of those dazzling diamonds of creative industry that help human beings make sense out of the comedies and tragedies that contextualize our lives” This was said by Aberjhani in the book Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotation from a Life Made Out of Poetry. Poetry during the Harlem Renaissance was the way that African Americans made sense out of everything, good or bad, that “contextualized” their lives. The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the Black Renaissance or New Negro Movement, was a cultural movement among African Americans. It began roughly after the end of World War 1 in 1918. Blacks were considered second class citizens and were treated as such. 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 second was to promote a more unified and positive culture among African Americans"(Charles Scribner 's Sons). The Harlem Renaissance is a period
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The Voice of the Harlem Renaissance
1587 Words | 4 Pages
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural revolution that happened mainly in Harlem, New York but also in other parts of America. The Harlem Renaissance took place from 1918 until 1937. The Harlem Renaissance was never about a single entity or event but the gathering of the best and brightest minds around the America. These great minds helped create one of the biggest cultural movements in American history. The work contributed during the renaissance helped future African American artist in the future. Many historians contribute the Harlem Renaissance to the beginning of the civil rights movement.
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Harlem Renaissance and Jessie Redmon Fauset
728 Words | 2 Pages
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.
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How Did Countee Cullen Impact The Harlem Renaissance
276 Words | 1 Pages
The Harlem Renaissance is a term used to describe the expansion and development of African American culture and history, particularly in Harlem. It is believed to have started around 1919, after World War I, and ended around the time of the great depression. During this time period African Americans writers, artists, musicians, and poets all gathered in Harlem and created a center for African American culture.
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The Impact Of Louis Armstrong's Influence On American History
1133 Words | 3 Pages
Throughout history, and even today, music has shaped America’s culture, society, and even politics. One of the most outstanding and enduring musical movement has been from African American artists, ranging from bebop to jazz to hip-hop to rap. During the 1920’s , jazz artists stepped into the limelight and began their impact on American and even world history. Louis Armstrong was one of the most influential leaders during the Harlem Renaissance and his jazz legacy and impact of American history is everlasting. A master of his craft, Armstrong and his music heavily influenced America’s white and black populations from the 1920’s and up until his death.
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Jacob Lawrence: The Harlem Renaissance
531 Words | 2 Pages
According to www.PBS.org The Harlem Renaissance was a 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. The Renaissance was more than a literary movement: It involved racial pride, fueled in part by the militancy of the "New Negro" demanding civil and political rights.
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Alcohol And The Prohibition During The Harlem Renaissance
286 Words | 1 Pages
The Harlem Renaissance was a movement in the 1920s in which African American writers, painters and musicians flourished, changing American culture. It was a time of cultural celebration because African Americans had gone through centuries of slavery and other social problems. The Harlem Renaissance helped
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Race and Society in Jean Toomer's Cane
1900 Words | 4 Pages
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.
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The Harlem Renaissance
641 Words | 2 Pages
The Harlem Renaissance, originally known as “the New Negro Movement”, was a cultural, social, and artistic movement during the 1920’s that took place in Harlem. This movement occurred after the World War I and drew in many African Americans who wanted to escape from the South to the North where they could freely express their artistic abilities. This movement was known as The Great Migration. During the 1920’s, many black writers, singers, musicians, artists, and poets gained success including Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey, and W.E.B. Du Bois. These creative black artists made an influence to society in the 1920’s and an impact on the Harlem Renaissance.
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Langston Hughes And The Harlem Renaissance
634 Words | 2 Pages
During the 1920's and 30’s, America went through a period of astonishing artistic creativity, the majority of which was concentrated in one neighborhood of New York City, Harlem. The creators of this period of growth in the arts were African-American writers and other artists. Langston Hughes is considered to be one of the most influential writers of the period know as the Harlem Renaissance. With the use of blues and jazz Hughes managed to express a range of different themes all revolving around the Negro. He played a major role in the Harlem Renaissance, helping to create and express black culture. He also wrote of political views and ideas, racial inequality and his opinion on religion. I believe that Langston Hughes’ poetry helps to capture the era know as the Harlem Renaissance.
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Harlem Renaissance
569 Words | 2 Pages
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.
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Impact of Music of the Harlem Renaissance Upon the Artists of Today
1614 Words | 4 Pages
By the end of World War I, Black Americans were facing their lowest point in history since slavery. Most of the blacks migrated to the northern states such as New York and Chicago. It was in New York where the “Harlem Renaissance” was born. This movement with jazz was used to rid of the restraints held against African Americans. One of the main reasons that jazz was so popular was that it allowed the performer to create the rhythm. With This in Mind performers realized that there could no...
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Issues of Racial Identity during the Harlem Renaissance
2024 Words | 5 Pages
The Harlem Renaissance was a period of great rebirth for African American people and according to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, the “Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s.” Wikipedia also indicates that it was also known as the “Negro Movement, named after the 1925 Anthology by Alan Locke.” Blacks from all over America and the Caribbean and flocked to Harlem, New York. Harlem became a sort of “melting pot” for Black America. Writers, artists, poets, musicians and dancers converged there spanning a renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was also one of the most important chapters in the era of African American literature. This literary period gave way to a new type of writing style. This style is known as “creative literature.” Creative literature enabled writers to express their thoughts and feelings about various issues that were of importance to African Americans. These issues include racism, gender and identity, and others that we...
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The Negative Impacts of the Harlem Renaissance
1138 Words | 3 Pages
... 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.
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The Harlem Renaissance

Analysis: The Harlem Renaissance