The Renaissance, And Racism In The Harlem Renaissance

The purpose of this essay is to provide a thorough yet concise explanation on the ways in which The Harlem Renaissance helped shaped the culture and perceptions of the “New Negro” in modern era of the 1920s and early 1930s. I will analyze the socioeconomic forces that led to the Harlem Renaissance and describe the motivation behind the outburst of Black American creativity, and the ideas that continue to have a lasting impact on American culture. In addition, I will discuss the effects as well as the failures of the movement in its relationship to power and resistance, highlighting key figures and events that are linked to the renaissance movement.

For African Americans during the early 1900’s was a scary place. . People were filled with racism and hate towards those who are black. Ever thought of how much power a group of people have if they all unite for a similar purpose? The Harlem Renaissance shows exactly that. The African Americans of this time came together with the purpose of social change. Digging back into their roots to show the world just how beautiful it is. They chose to express their culture in writing, music, and art.

As America saw an end to World war 1 and entered the 1920s, the country was faced with rapid changes in American society. These changes challenged the old traditional American values and introduced tension between modernists and traditionalist. Tension grew in churches and schools after new scientific discoveries were being made which supported the idea of evolution, rather than the bible. American society saw dramatic changes in it’s old, familiar culture as the Harlem Renaissance emerged and women gained more rights, which began taking affect on the customary American lifestyle.

The 1920s was a time of great change. From fashion to politics, this period is known as one of the most explosive decades in American history. After WWI, America became one of the world’s most formidable superpowers. The rise to power prompted the 1920s to become a decade of evolution for women’s rights, African American’s rights, and consumerism.

Imagine Harlem, New York in the mid 1920’s; the rising amount of free African Americans to find a new life with jobs in the North. Imagine the burst of African American culture, the new music, art, and literature. This image represents the Harlem Renaissance; the rebirth of African American culture. The Harlem Renaissance is the name given to the cultural and social movement which took place in Harlem, New York between the end of World War I and towards the middle of the 1930s. The Renaissance focused on the culture of African Americans and the new forms of music, art, and literature. Specifically, jazz and blues, poetry, dance, and musical theater became more apparent. After struggling for years for the abolishment of slavery, African Americans

Years before we started our constitution with “we the people…;” years before we distinguished society to be separated into colors -- black, white or somewhere in between; years before we pledged together to be “...one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all…,” we lived under the British rule. However, with the sacrifices of many men who made history come to life, we gained our freedom. Soon our America turned into my America -- my as in the “white” America. The cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance approached later on in the early twentieth century, where vibrancies of new perceptions emerged in the minds of many African Americans. However, this white America proved to be an obstacle, taking away the freedom and excitement that the African Americans felt after years of oppression. The

The Harlem Renaissance was the development of African American culture, particularly in the creative arts, and the most influential movement in the African American history. It started in the early 1920s and lasted up till the mid 1930s. During this time period, there was a lot of advancements in African American literacy, music, theatre and and visual arts. The African Americans became significant figures in the American society. The Harlem Renaissance was beneficial and had a positive impact on the African Americans because they became important figures with creativity in the American society.

Feel the smooth jazz notes go through your body and straight into your feet, and before you know it you’re dancing in a dimly lit speakeasy while the colorful band plays a lively tune. Your date, a flapper, is smoking and drinking right next to you, along with important political leaders of your city. The room is full of promise, and devoid of concern, alcohol is illegal to everybody, yet everybody is drinking. Your back out onto the dance floor, and dancing the night away spending your time doing something perfectly illegal. That is what a normal weekend night consisted of for most adults during the era called The Jazz Age, more commonly referred to as the Roaring Twenties.

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural awakening, the reborn and rise of the intellectuals and great artists that were people of color. Such artists includes Langston Hughes, Claude McKay and Zora Neale Hurston. These young writers were able to express their feelings that they have felt while living in America at the time. The most popular writer of the movement was Langston Hughes. He wrote with the rhythmic meter of blues and jazz. He was able to show his honesty through his work on how life as a black man was a hard journey but yet, was able to convey it in such a way to result in art through words. One work that he had created that expressed his feeling was titled, Theme for English B. He was to write

The decade of the 1920’s is best described as “Boom to Bust.” In the beginning people were having a very good time, not just at parties but economically and culturally. Even though the 18th amendment was passed in 1919, making the sale of alcohol illegal, people still drank, mostly in secret. There were tons of inventions that really got people moving and spending such as electricity/lights, the automobile, credit, and the modern radio. Everyone in the 1920’s was feeling good, making a lot of money, and buying whatever they wanted, but all of the ended with the crash of the stock market.

The Harlem Renaissance was a movement that reflected the culture of African Americans in an artistic way during the 1920’s and the 30’s. Many African Americans who participated in this movement showed a different side of the “Negro Life,” and rejected the stereotypes that were forced on themselves. The Harlem Renaissance was full of artists, musicians, and writers who wrote about their thoughts, especially on discrimination towards blacks, such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Langston Hughes. The Harlem Renaissance was an influential and exciting movement, and influenced others to fight for what they want and believed in. The Harlem Renaissance was the start of the Civil Rights Movement. The Harlem Renaissance started the Civil Rights

The Harlem Renaissance is a movement that began in the 1920’s. It was a product of centuries of African American oppression. Therefore, during the Great migration occurred where thousands of African Americans migrated from the southern states to the north and created a culture of their own, which included but not limited to poetry, music, and art.

The Harlem Renaissance was a period of great cultural growth in the black community. It is accepted that it started in 1918 and lasted throughout the 1930s. Though named the ‘Harlem’ Renaissance, it was a country-wide phenomenon of pride and development among black Americans, the likes of which had never existed in such grand scale. Among the varying political actions and movements for equality, a surge of new art appeared: musical, visual, and even theatre. With said surge, many of the most well-known black authors, poets, musicians and actors rose to prevalence including Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Louis Armstrong, and Eulalie Spence. The development of many unique styles of such art was also started due to the Harlem Renaissance, much

The 20th century can be fairly considered as the most important period in the history of African American people because it is just the time when racism discrimination was overcome. For many years before the beginning of the struggle for rights of African-American people, there was a legal system based on white supremacy. African Americans didn't have a real opportunity to vote. Segregation was spread everywhere: black people were not allowed to take seats in public transport which belonged to whites, they could not attend universities and schools for white people, it was even forbidden to drink from the same drinking fountains. Many shops and stores, cafes and restaurants refused service African Americans and treated them as inferior people.

This quote brings about an interesting topic, American Literature and the significant changes throughout history encouraged many people to create change in literature. The literary arts became a powerful tool in communicating different worldviews and the integrating of historical moments in time. This movement created a unique blending of different races to integrate through literary arts causing many cultures to unite internationally. Literature encouraged intellectual American’s to be a part of the change in their communities. For many people, this movement triggered an internal need for social and cultural change. America became a force in historical literature and a superior artistic form that was produced in books and other writings.