The Role Of Music In The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was affected by slavery. “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday was published to explain how African American slaves were being hung. Holiday commented, “Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees” (Holiday). The strange fruit illustrated in the lyrics is known as the African American slaves. Many blacks were punished for their freedom of speech, and actions.

African Americans face a struggle with racism which has been present in our country before the Civil War began in 1861. America still faces racism today however, around the 1920’s the daily life of an African American slowly began to improve. Thus, this time period was known by many, as the “Negro Fad” (O’Neill). The quality of life and freedom of African Americans that lived in the United States was constantly evolving and never completely considered ‘equal’. From being enslaved, to fighting for their freedom, African Americans were greatly changing the status quo and beginning to make their mark in the United States.

New arrivals found jobs in slaughterhouses, factories and foundries, but working conditions were strenuous to their bodies and sometimes dangerous. Many didn 't consider the amounts of people that would be migrating to New York and that made competition for living space harder. As more people began to realize the opportunities of work and the places to live were getting smaller by the day, many began to migrate towards the West of the United States in hopes opportunities would be the same out there. By the end of 1970, it was estimated that almost six million

Within all major societies of the world exists a power struggle between the majority and the minority, the disenfranchised and the coddled. But no power struggle has achieved the same notoriety as the black slave’s plight in the Western world. From England to the West Indies and the Americas, black slaves suffered insurmountable trauma and subjugation. One of these slaves, Olaudah Equiano, recounts his experiences, both triumphant and pitiful, within the Americas and England to affect change in his audience and in the world. In his The Life of Olaudah Equiano, he utilizes specific rhetorical strategies to affect this change and to accomplish his goal.

Triangular Trade was a route between America to European Countries. America sent sugar, tobacco, and cotton to Europe. Europe sent clothes and manufactured goods between west africa, as it goes America takes The Africans and make them slaves in their country. Slavery made a huge thing back then it was humiliated and scary. For Africans who were forced to leave their countries and be used in all different ways it was horrifying for them.

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.

This idea is shown through laws against African Americans and the unfair way they were treated. Although the war gave many slaves their freedom, still many slaves faced many obstacles and injustices. For instance white southerners established their own authority and created black codes. These codes restricted black men from finding jobs which made it nearly impossible to provide for themselves or their family. Many states also required

The value of enslaved people increased because of their key role in producing cotton and sugar. Tubman met many abolitionists who shared her desire to bring Southern slaves to the North. Enslaved people, for the most part, resisted slavery by working slowly or by pretending to be ill. They also just had few legal rights. The laws in the Southern states became more and more severe each day for the enslaved people.

But not just women had a struggle economically, even men did too. The painting called I am not a Man I am a Brother, emphasizes a forlorn mood of leaving the people who have been struggling in the slave industry and flee to the north are forsaking the other slaves that they were with. Presently, art does make themes and deeper meanings into a visual and solid form of art but music portrays a feeling that is not generated by the other types of art and can change the mood and reflect the mood of a

After slavery, African Americans in the south were in a time of change. Though they were free from slavery, whippings, and auctions, I believe life became difficult for them even after slavery ended. Racism began to grow increasingly, as many could not accept the fact that there was no more slavery. It became stricter when the government in the South enforced laws called Black Codes. Those laws were set to grant only certain rights to people of color.

More than 200,000 African Americans were deployed to France during WW1. Their service stirred black pride and raised the African American community 's political and social expectations, even though it did little to improve race relations in the U.S. More of the country 's racial demographics changed considerably as a result of the war. New jobs in manufacturing and other industries, combined with a shortage of cheap European labor, translated into opportunities for African Americans in New York, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago and other northern side cities. Drawn by the potential for better pay and living conditions, approximately half a million southern black agricultures moved north from 1914 to 1920 in what is known as the Great Migration.

The Lasting Effects of the March That Changed Many From the establishment of the country to today’s times, African Americans have experienced a considerable amount of discrimination. From slavery to discriminatory Voting Laws to the current events between blacks and others, African Americans have put together efforts to relieve their situations. These efforts include the Underground Railroad, the Civil Rights Movement, and the current Black Lives Matter movement. It is unknown what specific event started the Civil Rights Movement, but it is most often referred to between the 1950s and 1960s. The Civil Rights movement led to many improvements, including the passing of the Voting Acts Law.