the great migration jacob lawrence. what are the reasons african americans left the south?
TRANSCRIPT
Life in the Rural SouthWhen wages were paid, they averaged about 75¢ a day before World War I.
A minister from Alabama commented,
"The Negro farm hand gets his compensation hardly more than the mule he plows; that is his board and shelter. Some mules fare better than Negroes."
I am fed up With Jim Crow laws.People who are cruel
And afraid,Who lynch and run,
Who are scared of meAnd me of them.I pick up my life And take it away
On a one-way ticket—Gone up North,Gone out West,
Gone
--Langston Hughes, One Way Ticket (1949);
Lawrence on his art
I don't think in terms of history about that series. I think in terms of contemporary life. It was such a part of me that I didn't think of something outside. It was like I was doing a portrait of something. If it was a portrait, it was a portrait of myself, a portrait of my family, a portrait of my peers.
Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000)Source: http://www.whitney.org/jacoblawrence/art/migration_series.html