Aaron Douglas African American Art Museum

The New Negro and the rise of Harlem came about at a time when African-Americans began to urbanize and form a unique urban culture. These African-Americans defined themselves on their own terms, were proud to be both of African descent and American citizens, and were not afraid to push back against racism. After WWI more than one million African-Americans moved from the South to Northern cities beginning in 1915 in what became known as the Great Migration. There were several push and pull factors that contributed to the Great Migration. Blacks sought to escape poverty, Jim Crow, and racism as a new KKK formed.

The Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation where ninety percent of black Americans lived. This gave black people hope for a new better life in the Northern states where those laws weren’t enforced. This renaissance was a cultural party that helped expose black writers, musicians, poets, artists, etc. This changed the culture forever and the talent started to spillover within the black community. Art was pushed to its limits and was a form of a statement and representation.

All the composers, artists, musicians, and poets introduced new ideas in ways of expressing their pride in their race and culture. The Harlem Renaissance was the general notion where it was the time for African Americans to take their place the society and contribute their way of culture. Art in the time of the Harlem Renaissance often presented usage of bold colors displayed in an expressionist manner. Work from most artists would portray African Americans dancing, dining playing music, or engaging in what seems to be amusing festivities. Harlem Renaissance impacted art, literature, and music in a manner that forever altered the American cultural landscape.

The Harlem Renaissance started the Civil Rights movement because it gave African Americans “racial pride, they gained more respect through the movement, and the music, writing, and art challenged the stereotypes they had of themselves. The Harlem Renaissance was an exciting and lively movement for all the races in the United States and influenced the music, art, and writing industry of today. It also inspired people of all races to be proud of their origin, and speak up for what they believe in. By speaking through their music, paintings, and writing, African Americans caught the attention of various people and gave them the courage to start the Civil Rights Movement, leading one another to great

Additionally, the Great Migration made a better life possible for African Americans. During and after WWI, African Americans moved north to evade the rampant racism and discrimination in the south and to seize opportunities for jobs and new land (Document G). White Americans, their oppressors, began to see African Americans as humans because of their supposedly new culture and aspirations. While they weren’t viewed as equal, it was still a start. As expected, when juxtaposing the racial climate of the 1920s and 1998, there is a great disparity.

Due to the large scale of diverse people of African descent, some newly arrived and some deeply rooted in America, there was a remake of the way African Americans saw themselves collectively and a new society was created. The old story of movement and rootedness was about to play itself out yet again. The image of black immigrants began to have a more influential role in politics and the culture of African America, where they have earned their rights, rather have them being given. The newcomers’ focus was access to visas, the treatment of asylees, and other matters, which revealed a greater occupation with their homeland rather than their new one. This changed during the presidential campaign in 2006, as the newly arrived found a candidate who not only looked like them but also shared many of their experiences.

My trip to the Weeksville Heritage Center was an inspiring experience. Learning how a community not only managed to form, but to thrive against insurmountable odds was quite striking to me. As I left the refurbished homes and exited through the newly created, multimillion dollar facility that now acts as a community center, an art center and a living record of African-American history, I could not help but imagine how proud James Weeks would be to know that his community continues to be a force for change and education in countless people 's lives

They liked Roosevelt because he was big on helping them out on getting their rights that they deserved. "One important demographic change underlay the experience of African-Americans during the Roosevelt years. The migration of African-Americans from the South to the urban North, which began in 1910, continued in the 1930s and accelerated in the 1940s during World War II. As a result, black Americans during the Roosevelt years lived for the most part either in the urban North or in the rural South, although the Depression chased increasingly large numbers of blacks to southern cities as well. In the North, blacks encountered de facto segregation, racism, and discrimination in housing and public services; nevertheless, they were able to vote and had better job opportunities.

Arguably the most profound effect of World War I on African Americans was the acceleration of the multi-decade mass movement of black, southern rural farm laborers northward and westward in search of higher wages in industrial jobs and better social and political opportunities. This Great Migration led to the rapid growth of black urban communities in cities like New York, Chicago, St. Louis, and Los Angeles.117 While relatively small groups of southern African Americans migrated after Reconstruction to border states such as Kansas and into the Appalachians, it was not until the imposition of Jim Crow segregation and disfranchisement in the South that large numbers of blacks left their homes and families to search elsewhere for a better life. Still, in 1910, nearly 90 percent of American blacks lived in the South, four-fifths of them in rural

Martin Luther King Jr. and the fight for Civil Rights When the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, lots of people thought it was a large step in the right direction for equal rights for all. This was not the case though because one hundred years after this important document was signed, the question of Civil Rights was still a massive topic of discussion because of the segregation and discrimination that the African Americans we 're faced with. One of the most influential African American leaders during this time was Martin Luther King Jr. This is because he helped publicize events for the African Americans, he spoke at many different events to show the world what he wanted out of the Civil Rights Movement, and no matter what happened to him, he never stopped fighting for what was right. Martin Luther King Jr. was a large reason for why the Civil Rights Movement had such a large impact on the lives of African Americans.