How Did The Harlem Renaissance Influence The 20's

The Harlem Renaissance, or the New Negro Movement as it was known at the time, was an intellectual, artistic, and social outpouring that celebrated black culture with themes of what it meant to be black in America. This movement lasted from the 1920s through the 1930s and included artists and intellectuals such as Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, and Duke Ellington. The Harlem Renaissance went beyond art, literature, and music, there were also political, social, and economic aspects as African-Americans questioned how the United States viewed them and how they viewed themselves. 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.

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.

The 1920s paved the way for many developments in African American culture and resolutions to their challenges. Consequently, out of the 1920s, the Harlem Renaissance was born. The Harlem Renaissance was a reawakening of African American culture throughout the decade. During this period, an explosion of art and music, particularly jazz, advanced the perception of African American culture and people (Document H). Additionally, the Great Migration made a better life possible for African Americans.

One writer of the Harlem Renaissance was Langston Hughes.Hughes cast off the influences of white poets and and used blues and jazz to write his poems. Claude Mckay urged African Americans to stand up for their rights in his work. Jean Toomer wrote plays,short stories, and poems to capture the spirit of his times. Zora Neale Hurston was noticed quickly with her moving novel, “THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD”. In conclusion these were some of the people that changed African American traditions for the better.

This movement inspired a rise in African-American artists and gave them a way to express their feelings in many art forms. Langston Hughes, a popular writer from this point in history, used his magazine to lift young African-American artists on to

African Americans lived in a world of racial injustices and cultural restrictions until the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a time where there is an African American literary and art movement in the uptown Manhattan neighborhood. It is the turning point in African American culture, as well as their place in America. The African Americans were starting to become equal in American society. While the Renaissance built on earlier traditions of African American culture, it was greatly affected by the trends of the Europeans and white Americans.

With the cotton industry taking a turn for the worst many African Americans were living very undesirable. So, they decided to pack up and head North taking their musical traditions and talents with them. The Harlem Renaissance was one of the greatest cultural movements that took place in the 1920’s. During this period of the time the African American culture began to take shape and flourish like never before. The Harlem Renaissance was a time when African American authors, poets, writers, musicians and photographers began to make their mark in big northern cities such as Washington DC, Chicago, Detroit and New York City.

Many blacks were punished for their freedom of speech, and actions. During the Harlem Renaissance many blacks were harmed due the the explicit evidence. This let whites to realize that they were harming blacks which led to social change. “Go Harlem” by Chick Webb was an upbeat rhythm that helped other African Americans relate to the society. Webb talked about, “Up and down the avenue, You see faces old and new, With a smile that, welcomes you, 'Cause it's holiday in Harlem” (Webb).

Many African Americans ought to express themselves through art and literature to exercise their rights. The Harlem Renaissance occurred between the very end of World War I and right in the middle of the depression. Many African-Americans migrated from the South all the way to the North in order to seek

There are different factors that lead to the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance brought about great change. This was period a of cultural achievement for African American. The African American way of life became a well known lifestyle. The introduction of the uniqueness of art, jazz, literature and dancing became the new attraction.