Their goal was to create an outlet for group cohesion and self determination, as a means for achieving equality and civil rights. The Harlem Renaissance was a period of time that was responsible for creating a new cultural and social landscape and its significance is something that played a major role in how African-Americans live today. Harlem, New York, can be seen as the
Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most influential African-American activists in American History and was a key participant in the Civil Rights movement, the goal of which was to provide full civil rights to all rights in America. MLK has written many, many speeches and letters in favor of the Civil Rights movement in America, the most famous of them being his legendary “I Have a Dream” Speech and the monumental “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. To attempt to gain support for his cause, MLK employs the use of emotional appeals, also known as pathos, and logical appeals, also known as logos, which aid to stir emotion and reasoning in the listener. It is more than obvious that MLK tends to tug at the heartstrings of his listeners with his emotionally charged language essential to his success. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. uses more powerful and plentiful examples of pathos in his literature, examples of which being his “I Have a Dream” speech and his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, than logos due to the more powerful emotional connection they carry which can convince his listeners to sympathize with his civil rights movement.
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.
1. Describe the major art project of Jacob Lawrence; discuss his style, theme, purpose, materials, and the reason why his work is so important to the Harlem Renaissance. • The major art project of Jacob Lawrence that he is best known for is the “Migration Series” which was originally entitled “Migration of the Negro”. Lawrence is known for his dynamic cubism style which is an abstract art. In addition, his paintings showed a comparison of black and brown v. vivid colors.
The Harlem Renaissance was an awakening of African American culture which began to spread and influence society in areas including music, art and poetry. The moment gained popularity and for the first time, African American culture was being celebrated in American society, which led to the concept of the “New Negro”. (Doc. 2 Harlem Renaissance) Jazz music and Louis Armstrong, a famous African American jazz artist, began gaining popularity across the United states and became a big part of the American culture (Doc 3. Lois Armstrong’s Trumpet).The Harlem Renaissance was also remembered for bringing powerful poetry to literacy, including the great work of Langston Hughes (Doc 4.
Modernism Essay By definition, Modernism refers to the period beginning in the early 1900s climaxing between 1910 and 1930. It was during this time that the world experiences two World Wars and also the Great Depression. In the United States of America, the period saw the emergence of the black movement known as the Harlem Renaissance which was a great artistic movement in Harlem New York. The movement places much emphasis on creating a new black identity through arts, social and cultural explosion in the 1920s until the mid-1930s (www.history.com). Ironically, while the black community was experiencing this awakening, the Klu Klux Klan or KKK, America’s most deadly hate group was also experiencing its climax.
The United States was very prominent with the racism and unjust treatment of African Americans in the 20th century. Because of the law that was corrupt and because of the victimization of African Americans, civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech on August 28, 1963. He gave a speech to thousands of people in order to end segregation, racism, and the unjust treatment of African Americans. Not only did King have a goal to end racism across the nation, but he fought so that there would be equal rights throughout the nation as well. King uses rhetorical features such as repetition, metaphors, allusion, hyperbole, along with both ethos and pathos throughout his speech.
Hughes’s works were a success despite the criticism they had received for their emphasis on the true portrayal of lower-class life and the hostile image of his race.James Mercer Langston Hughes is an American poet, novelist and playwright whose works that tackled African American issues which involved him as main participant in the Harlem Renaissance in 1920s. Langston Hughes, a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance, was born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri and died in 1967. His works encouraged the African Americans and voiced up his concern about race and social justice. Poverty and instability were the titles of his childhood. His parents were separated after his birth.
African Americans thrived in American culture during the 1920’s, as the Harlem Renaissance invigorated and empowered people of color to create artistic and literary works. The expressive movement allowed Africans to gain a new identify in America and prove their worth in a predominantly white society. The African American literary prolificacy soon ended as the Great Depression caused colored people to return back to their pre-established assumptions of artistic inadequacy and incompetence. The decline in the American economy increased political and social tensions, resulting in the return of African American discrimination. Zora Neale Hurston addresses the recurrent African oppression in the 1930’s with her publication, Their Eyes Were Watching God.
In a time when the United States was hurling into a decade full of change with regards to society, with flappers and the New Negro Movement, many American citizens change the idea of themselves. Women turned their modest, Victorian image of themselves into a modern Flapper. African American citizens began to challenge the second class position given to them by fellow white Americans. With the New Negro Movement and the First Great Migration came the Jazz age, the explosion of a new musical and cultural phenomenon, from which the Harlem Renaissance sprouted from. However, the explosion of change brought about by women and African Americans was met with resistance led by the resurged Ku Klux Klan, which specifically targeted African Americans.