The Harlem Renaissance

1. End of WWI – 1930s The Harlem Renaissance

2. Origins 1920-1936

3. African-American cultural movement that originated in Harlem (in New York’s Manhattan area). • Great Migration (1910-1930) almost 750,000 African Americans migrated to Northern cities. • Nearly 175,000 moved to Harlem (largest black community in the country). • Brought the music of the South and their ambitions along with them to Harlem.

4. Slavery, the Civil War, and WWI paved the way. With the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, Blacks were given opportunities to succeed. Striving for political equality, self-expression, and economical self-determination. HR artists impact the American society through their intellectual and artistic talents.

5. Characteristics

6. Time frame: end of WWI – 1930s A group of gifted African-American writers produced a sizable body of literature. More than just a literary movement: it included racial consciousness, the “back to Africa” movement led by Marcus Garvey, racial integration, the explosion of music (especially jazz and blues), and visual and dramatic arts.

7. Genres

8. Common themes: • African American experience • Cultural identity/heritage • Equality and exclusion • Authors: • Langston Hughes • Claude McKay • James Weldon Johnson • Countee Cullen • Zora Neale Hurston • Richard Wright Literature/Poetry HARLEM What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? --Langston Hughes

9. Jazz • Innovative & vibrant • Uplifting • Integrates spirituals, blues • Brass instruments & piano • Artists • Duke Ellington • Louis Armstrong • Billie Holliday • Dizzy Gillespie • Billie Holiday Music

10. Visual Arts • Reinterprets everyday life • Captures emotions and struggles • Embraces heritage • Performing Arts • Tap Dancing • Acting • Artists • Palmer Hayden • James Van Der Zee • Paul Robeson • Bill “Bojangles” Robinson Art/Performing Arts

11. IMPACT

12. opened up a new doorway to African American writers allowed for African Americans to become a force in America -- in many northern cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago and New York, African Americans gained power. allowed for blacks to express their ideas and concerns in ways they have never done so before -- this would lead to the civil rights movement. changed the African American image from rural to urban, from peasant to sophisticate. cultivated the “black culture” THE Harlem Renaissance…

13. The End