Jacob Lawrence: The Harlem Renaissance

EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com. Accessed 18 Mar. 2018. “Langston Hughes” by Carl Brucker attempts to explain the accomplishments Langston Hughes has had and who inspired his famous poem, “Mother to Son.” Langston Hughes won an Opportunity poetry prize, leading him to the publications of his other writings. Brucker justifies Hughes as not only a successful writer, but he also “used grant money to establish African American theatrical groups in Harlem and Chicago that produced several of his plays.” (5) After overcoming much criticism by blacks and whites, Langston Hughes influenced several generations of African American authors, and that is widely acknowledged.

Though not totally free from critics, Harlem Renaissance was the first time that a considerable number of mainstream publishers and critics took African American literature seriously, and it was the first time that African American literature and the arts attracted significant attention from the nation at large. During the period of Harlem Renaissance, many black artists emerged and took forward the mission of promoting black identity and expressing the black or the Negro thoughts at time. At start, this movement was viewed or was seen as a literary movement which changed with time and became to be known as a national movement with links with international development in arts and culture. Harlem Renaissance is believed to

Harlem became one of the largest African- American communities in The United States, and during the Harlem Renaissance and soon became a center for art and literature. Many great writers came about during this time, one of which was Langston Hughes.

He contributed to artistry of black culture and history in many different ways. Not to mention, Motley was a great importance during the Harlem Renaissance time period, known as a symbolic painter. Greatly known for his paintings of jazz culture in passionate city scenes and black social life. Motley made many contributions to life in

The most influential movement in African American literary history, which contributed the phase of the “New Negro”, is known as The Harlem Renaissance. This movement played a pivotal role in creating a different identity for the black culture (History.com). Emerging in the 1920s, The Harlem Renaissance allowed black writers, artists, photographers, scholars, poets, and musicians to express their talents Part of the foundations of the movement was the Great Migration of African Americans from South to North, drastically expanding their knowledge and socioeconomic opportunities. Certainly the movement was more than literary, for having such a proximate relation to civil rights, the “New Negro” demanded civil and political privileges. Additionally, it had a revitalizing influence for African Americans to develop race pride; giving such a prestige to their work affected African Americans in a manner of desiring to reconnect with their unwanted African heritage.

Langston Hughes was probably one the greatest poets ever lived. He was better known as the Jazz Poet during the Harlem Renaissance, and he was also one of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance too. In history I learned, that the Harlem Renaissance was a rebirth period of African-American arts using dance, music, poems, articles, stories, plays and paintings. Most of the arts reflected on the hardship of the African-American community past and present during that time. Hughes wrote "Harlem" in 1951, the poem addressed as one of his most common themes of the American Dream for African Americans.

Many people of the Harlem Renaissance and Black Arts movements, along with later movements, described Toomer’s work in Cane as an inspiration in their own works. “When the writers of the early Harlem Renaissance read Cane, they were pleasantly surprised. Jean Toomer mostly associated with progressive white writers of the late 1910s and 1920s. After writing Cane, he was proclaimed by the black writers as the most promising black writer of that time” (Whisenton 5). His work in Cane was applauded for its recognition of African American culture and struggles, along with its representation of sexual issues that are still overly present.

The Harlem Renaissance The 1920’s was a historic time period in which many things changed from beliefs to technology in the U.S..One of the most important events in this time period was The Harlem Renaissance.The Harlem Renaissance was an important period in the U.S.’s history in which African American culture was finally appreciated because of their achievements in the arts , literature, and music. Like every other story , they all have a beginning , someplace where everything started. It began with many African Americans moving from the south to the north of the U.S. to avoid racism. Harlem was meant to be a fancy neighborhood but “rapid overdevelopment led to empty buildings and desperate landlords seeking to fill them” causing African Americans to ocupate those Vacant homes(History.com Staff,). At first we know white people tried to keep African Americans distance far from their homes but as more and more African American people came the white people fled the harlem area.

Biography/Context: Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is widely considered as one of the most successful African-American poets of all time. He was also a columnist, playwright, novelist, and social activist for African-American rights. Consequently, Hughes wrote all sorts of literature about 20th century African-Americans living in Harlem--a major black residential within the Manhattan borough of New York City--and soon became an extremely influential figure in the Harlem Renaissance, which was the rebirth movement of African-American culture in the arts during the 1920s. Hughes also had great admiration for music, and was inspired by a variety of genres/musicians such as boogie, Bach, jazz, and blues. His special love for blues music caused

Immersed in passion for art, growing acceptance of the black community, and a booming economy, Harlem, New York was enduring the 1920’s era what is now known be the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance is not only responsible for the roots of black culture in the United States, but it stood as an advocate for African American rights. Every artistic media was flourishing with ideas of equality among the races; things such as poetry, songs, and stories flooded the minds of the American people and paved the way for change. By expressing tones of sorrow and imprisonment, poets such as Paul Laurence Dunbar were able to inspire their readers by promoting the dire need for a revolution in the minds of the American people. Known as

“They burned down white own tire company that burned on for days and nights, and all you could see was smoke from it all the way in uptown Miami.” (Floyd). “The actions that the National guard did was arrest the rioters.” (Donnie). The Impact it had on the rioters was that the national guard and police arrested 600 people during the riot. “When President Jim Carey came into town when he was on the middle of the speech the rioters were about to start a riot and harm the president”(Donnie). These events made the Blacks realize we are hurting our comment and need to stop.

The Harlem Renaissance Was One Of The Most Rememberable Topics We’ve Went Over . It Consisted Of Some Of The Best Painters , Music Composers , Poets/Singers , And Actors Of The 1920s And 1930s . This Time Had Its Hardships But Not All Was Bad In Harlem ; They Had Blacks Coming For All Over Wanting To Pursue Their Career In WhatEver Involved Expressing ThemSelves But Still Looked Or Sounded Good To The Eyes And Ears Of Other People , Far And Near . With The Harlem Renaissance Came Some Great Painters Like Aaron Douglas Who Was A Painter That Called His Collection The New Negro Philosophy Mainly Because He Was Painting About Blacks And Their Struggles That They Have To Deal With On A Daily Basis , But Believes That We Were In The Hands