Harlem Globetrotters In The 1930's

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The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural, social, and artistic revolution that took place in Harlem between the end of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. During this time there was a flood of major influential black artists and musicians that are credited for changing the way America viewed African Americans. This was however not limited to those artists and musicians. The Harlem Globetrotters for example, now a world renowned, iconic team, was a major influential group which changed the way America viewed African-Americans in sports and paved the way for many other key influential African-American athletes such as Jacky Robinson and Althea Gibson. In the 1920s the Harlem Globetrotters started out on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. …show more content…

In 1959 they played 9 games in Moscow, invited personally by Vasily Gricorevich, who was the director of Lenin Central Stadium at the time. The team was welcomed enthusiastically by spectators and authorities alike, and collectively received the Athletic Order of Lenin medal. This was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union. They played in front of 14,000 Soviet citizens who lit up at the realization that they were more of a show then a competition. They praised the Globetrotters' skills and suggested that "they have some techniques to show us. “A review in Pravda stated, "This is not basketball; it is too full of tricks" but praised the Globetrotters' skills and suggested that "they have some techniques to show us" (web). Their games in Moscow not only served to broaden their reputation, but to also show that relationships between Russia and the US were improving. “The games were used as evidence that U.S.–Soviet relations were improving, that Moscow was backing off its criticism of race relations inside America, and that the USSR was becoming more capitalist (Pearson suggested that the games were held because Lenin Stadium needed money)” (Eagle

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