Harlem became home to black people, many of whom had dreams and aspirations of expressing their individual artistic talents. This was the gateway through which artist like impressive novelist Zora Neale Hurston impacted society with her courageous literary writing. Similarly, the exploding soulful voice of Bessie Smith popularized the blues genre for radio music. As well as Augusta Savages’ creative sculptures dispelling the common stereotypes. Their portrayals of poverty and the black experience through art were beautiful creations birthed from something once viewed as ugly.
The Harlem Renaissance and Pop Art: Is it Possible That They Are Related? The Harlem Renaissance refers to the period in the early 1900s when African American art, writing and drama began to take hold in the cultural hotbed that was Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City. Due to the anti-black legislation that was being passed in the South and the general culture of hatred and fear in the former slave states, African Americans flocked north and west in the Great Migration; they hoped to find a place where there was more social and economic freedom for African Americans. This grouping of black people from all walks of life, from poor former sharecroppers, to the black middle class, to recent immigrants from the Caribbean and other areas, lead to a blossoming of ideas and artistic styles that created a new black culture. This Harlem Renaissance period began when a white playwright put complex and thoroughly human African-American characters into his plays.
Assignment 2: Project Paper World Cultures II – HUM 112 The Harlem Renaissance was a renewal and flourishing of black literary and musical culture during the years after World War I which started approximately around 1914 and ended around 1919, in the Harlem section of New York City. This topic is also very historical, and creative, literally and figuratively. But, overall it is something different instead of writing about World Wars and the Civil Rights Movement; it is imperative to know the history of where “black arts” comes from. The Harlem Renaissance was the most influential times of cultural black history, in so many different aspects. (Bontemps, 1972) The Harlem Renaissance helped “black folk” in ways that catapulted them to a higher level in the arts, music, and literature.
The New Negro term included “violent resistance to oppression and the conservative anti-protest orientation of Booker T. Washington.” (Ferguson, 3) Writers had a big influence on the community throughout newspapers, magazines, etc; and most writers believe d that the New Negro should exemplify creativity, independence, strength, power, equality, and improvement. Creativity was more so a huge part of the Harlem Renaissance all together but the New Negro was all a part of that. Being creative and artistic became more common in the African American community, and was more widely accepted. Black people were not as “shy” or “scared” to show their talent and artistic self expression. Alain Locke said in his foreword to the New Negro (1925) America seeking a new spiritual expansion and artistic maturity, trying to find an American literature, a natural art, and natural music implies a Negro-American culture seeking the same satisfactions and objectives.
For lots of people, it’s the lyrics of a song that make it important to them. The best lyrics are the ones where the writer is speaking from their heart. Writing can put a spark in our minds; it can expand our knowledge and bring people upon new imaginative realities that had been previously unimaginable until put on paper. There are lots of songs that do this. Some of those songs have been made very popular.
The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Movement, was direct product of the Great Migration through location, racial pride, and social construction. The Great Migration created some of the first urban black communities in the North. The city most concentrated with blacks was Harlem, a small neighborhood in Manhattan. New York during the Great Migration was a popular port Black migrants and Harlem was the cultural heart of African-Americans. Many talented and educated blacks couldn’t excel in the South it denied them the right to display their skills and talent.
The Lawless Decade The Roaring Twenties, the Era of Wonderful Nonsense, the Era of Aspiration, the Jazz Age, the Boom, The Decade of the Dollar, the Dry Decade; These are just a few nicknames that describe the exciting era of Harlem Renaissance. This idea of this time period originated from a small city in New York called Harlem that was booming with African American culture and heritage. This time period played a big part on the social equality movement of the Negro Society. Many distinguished authors were born out of this time period, such as Langston Hughes and W.E.B Dubois. Although the talent of many brilliant African Americans were suffocated through the efforts the American society during this time, published works such as “Democracy”
Even thought there was not much more opportunity in the North, at least there was racial tolerance, something the African Americans of the South were craving. When the Harlem Renaissance started, many prominent figures emerged from the myriad of writers, thinkers, artists, and musicians of the time. W.E.B Du Bois was an African American thinker and sociologist, who was very prominent in the Harlem Renaissance. He was at the forefront of the civil rights movement during this time and helped create the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (“W.E.B Du Bois”). Another famous figure of the Harlem Renaissance was Langston Hughes.
African American poets made a great impact on the literature world. Two poets who made a great mark in literature are Paul Laurence Dunbar and Langston Hughes. Dunbar began his writing career before Hughes was born and was also one of Hughes’s influences. While Dunbar broke barriers during his time and influenced future writers Hughes, following in his footsteps, broke a few of his own. Both poets set the bar higher and opened more closed doors for African American writers to come.
His whole goal of writing the poem was to destroy race prejudice. The Harlem Renaissance was an African American art and social movement that began after World War I in Harlem, in New York City. The Harlem Renaissance may be best known for its African American writers that wrote about racism, oppression and black culture. The Harlem Renaissance was lead by many black activists such as Book T. Washington which help to lay the foundation of the renaissance and speak up against racism and many of the hardships that African Americans faced. Claude first writes “Although she feed me bread of bitterness, and sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth, stealing my breath of life, I will confess I love this cultured hell that test my youth!” This means even though he is mistreated and considered a second class citizen because of his race, he can still love the place he was born, that he calls home.