the harlem renaissance

THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

End of WWI – 1930s

ORIGINS1920-1936

African-American cultural movement that originated in Harlem (in New York’s Manhattan area).

Great Migration (1910-1930) almost 750,000 African Americans migrated to Northern cities.

Nearly 175,000 moved to Harlem (largest black community in the country).

Brought the music of the South and their ambitions along with them to Harlem.

Slavery, the Civil War, and WWI paved the way.

With the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, Blacks were given opportunities to succeed.

Striving for political equality, self-expression, and economical self-determination.

HR artists impact the American society through their intellectual and artistic talents.

CHARACTERISTICS

Time frame: end of WWI – 1930s

A group of gifted African-American writers produced a sizable body of literature.

More than just a literary movement: it included racial consciousness, the “back to Africa” movement led by Marcus Garvey, racial integration, the explosion of music (especially jazz and blues), and visual and dramatic arts.

GENRES

LITERATURE/POETRY Common themes:

African American experience Cultural identity/heritage Equality and exclusion

Authors: Langston Hughes Claude McKay James Weldon Johnson Countee Cullen Zora Neale Hurston Richard Wright

HARLEM

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry uplike a raisin in the sun?Or fester like a sore—And then run?Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over—like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sagslike a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

--Langston Hughes

MUSIC Jazz

Innovative & vibrant Uplifting Integrates spirituals, blues Brass instruments & piano

Artists Duke Ellington Louis Armstrong Billie Holliday Dizzy Gillespie Billie Holiday

ART/PERFORMING ARTS Visual Arts

Reinterprets everyday life Captures emotions and struggles Embraces heritage

Performing Arts Tap Dancing Acting

Artists Palmer Hayden James Van Der Zee Paul Robeson Bill “Bojangles” Robinson

IMPACT

THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE… opened up a new doorway to African American

writers allowed for African Americans to become a force in

America -- in many northern cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago and New York, African Americans gained power.

allowed for blacks to express their ideas and concerns in ways they have never done so before -- this would lead to the civil rights movement.

changed the African American image from rural to urban, from peasant to sophisticate.

cultivated the “black culture”

The End