...Literature Paper Phaedra Rosengarth ENG302 December 13, 2010 Judith Glass Ethnic Literature The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. A major factor leading to the rise of the Harlem Renaissance was the migration of African-Americans to the northern cities. Between 1919 and 1926, large numbers of black Americans left their rural southern states homes to move to urban centers such as New York City, Chicago, and Washington, DC. This black urban migration combined with the experimental trends occurring throughout 1920s American society and the rise of a group of radical black intellectuals all contributed to the particular styles and unprecedented success of black artists. What began as a series of literary discussions in lower Manhattan (Greenwich Village) and upper Manhattan (Harlem) was first known as the 'New Negro Movement.' Later termed the Harlem Renaissance, this movement brought unprecedented creative activity in writing, art, and music and redefined expressions of African-Americans and their heritage. Historians disagree as to when the Harlem Renaissance began and ended. The Harlem Renaissance is unofficially recognized to have spanned from about 1919 until the early or mid-1930s. Many of its ideas lived on much longer. The zenith of this "flowering of Negro literature", as James Weldon Johnson preferred to call the Harlem Renaissance, was placed between 1924 (the year that Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life hosted a party for black...
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...Harlem Renaissance At the turn of the twentieth century, not all Americans held equal chance at making a name for themselves. Unequally is the only term that appropriately describes the way African Americans were treated during this time. Although their ancestors had endured suppression and struggle for years, those African American men and women associated with the Harlem Renaissance era would come to find new hope for their race. These artists such as Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen, although having differentiating views, both played major roles in uplifting the black culture. I was responsible for researching these two writers, and I will show how they made giants steps for African Americans while establishing a place in American Literature forever. After consulting my the textbook, I was able to find an article in which the story of an African American soldier from World War I was told. A Blakely, GA relative, Wilbur Little was lynched by a group of white men after returning from the war. He was slain simply because he wore his uniform in public after being threatened not to previously. Instances like this one involving Wilbur Little are what inspired the writers of the Harlem Renaissance era (Davis 477). Years of racism pushed the black culture into a corner that must have seemed dooming for many, but as the Great Migration ensued hope was restored in the hearts African Americans. Blacks during the early 1900’s caught trains northbound in hope of freedom and equality...
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...IWT Task 1 (0813) This paper will analyze, critique, and help us to understand the music of the Harlem Renaissance and the Pop Art periods. The social conditions that influenced the art and the characteristics of the artists’ style were in many ways similar; however, with advancing technology, they had differing struggles to overcome. The Harlem Renaissance was sparked by the Great Migration from 1919 – 1926 in which African Americans began moving to northern cities to find employment and a better way of life. The musicians of this era were very influential in renewing the culture and history of the United States. Jazz, race, and class divided Harlem and New York cities. Some historians have said the best way to understand the Harlem Renaissance is by understanding the music (http://historyoftheharlemrenaissance.weebly.com/index.html; www.1920s-fashion-and-music.com/Harlem-Renaissance-1920s.html). With the roots of jazz coming from slave songs, it is truly an African-American invention. This newly formed music utilized the dissonant “blue” note. This modification to the to the standard major scale allowed the musician to play the note flat; usually the third, fifth, or seventh note of the scale. Music critic Sidney Finkelstein stated, “It expresses the hope and struggle for freedom, the vitality which enables a people to wrest joy out of misery and to assert the triumph of human beings over the obstacles that would grind them down.” ("MindEdge," 2014) Jazz was the sound...
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...Harlem Renaissance Strayer University Humanities 112 Professor Renee Pistone November 30, 2014 Harlem renaissance poetry comprises of poems composed in the 1920s by poets such as Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Sterling Brown. All these poets had different items illustrated in their poems, though they all pointed the oppression of the minority race in America, and their fight to achieve freedom. The focus of this essay is to analyze poems by two different poets during the Harlem Renaissance period, describing the role played by each author in this period. The poems to be analyzed are If We Must Die by Claude McKay and Let America be America Again by Langston Hughes. These two poems pass different messages and show the different wishes of the two poets. McKay and Hughes each contributed to the Harlem Renaissance poetry in varying ways. Hughes was a well-known artist who wrote essays, short stories, poems, and children’s books. He used his poetry to celebrate the African American community and tried to capture the life of the African Americans in his work. His major focus is on dreams, and he gives suggestions of what happens when dreams are ignored and postponed. He, therefore, played a role in airing the dreams of the black Americans who lived in Harlem, and how these dreams were shattered (Bloom, 2004). His poetry is a way of showing that the black Americans had dreams, which if they did not come true would lead...
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...The Harlem Renaissance's Impact on American Literature The Harlem Renaissance also known as the "New Negro Movement," was a cultural movement that spanned in the 1920's to the mid 1930's. It was a time in history that displayed the unique culture of African American expression, through literature, art, music, and dance. This African American culture grew out of Harlem, New York and symbolized freedom from the oppression of slavery. It was described as the spiritual coming of age in which African Americans had a chance to express their creativity. The Harlem Renaissance is noted as being a literary movement were African Americans could celebrate their heritage and reveal the truth about their life and the first time their literature was taken seriously by critics and publishers. The birth of the Harlem Renaissance came out of Harlem, New York in the early 1920's, "it was a time for a cultural celebration. African Americans had endured centuries of slavery and the struggle for abolition." (U.S History, 2008) It is described as racial pride and an intense desire for equality. It represented a time by the end of the war in 1919 where African Americans was going to be much more aggressive than their prewar brothers. Harlem was considered the capital of the black world, because it attracted thousands of blacks from the South and the West indies. It provided economic and education for African American artist. In Harlem, people demanded respect from those who continued to keep racist...
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...Analyzing the Harlem Renaissance Spahne J. Jenkins Prof. Bryant August 3, 2010 Comp 1302 The Harlem Renaissance, (1920’s – mid 1930’s) was a movement that created black cultural acknowledgement for artist. In Harlem, a neighborhood in the city of New York, Alain Locke became the center of this movement for black artist. Locke transformed the way of thinking for black artists during The Harlem Renaissance, not only opened the doors for other black writers, it made away for blacks in the now generation, in comparison with the civil rights movement. The Harlem Renaissance started the beginning of the post World War II part of the Civil Rights movement. These transitions created forward movement for black artist literature. In studying the African American culture, the 1920’s was a time when blacks and white Americans discovered the uniqueness of black art, music and literature. Many people that spoke French were black writers from African and Caribbean colonies. Also they lived in Paris and were influenced by the Renaissance, so they built they’re confidence and continued working harder on their gift. Contributing factors before the Harlem Renaissance was The Great Migration of African Americans to the northern parts of the U. S. These cities included: Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and Philadelphia, which this movement forced employers to create jobs for lots of people. The breakthrough of the Harlem Renaissance actually began in the late 1917. Plays written by white...
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...The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Movement started at the end of World War I, but only began to get recognized around 1924. The Harlem Renaissance was made up of chiefly writers and was considered a phenomenon. This movement started at a time when racism was still at large. African Americans had to deal with the KKK and other racial prejudices in society. The Harlem Renaissance was significant because it was the first time African Americans expressed their views on racism and their self-love for one another, using lyrical styles that was never seen before in African American writing. Two of the most prominent poets of the time were Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes. The Harlem Renaissance happened fifty seven years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Previously, African Americans didn’t have much education or a chance to make their mark in the literary world. They didn’t have much of a chance because they were still looked upon as inferior. They were also thought not to have a distinct cultural heritage. The United States got involved in World War I in the year 1917. At that time, race riots were happening and lynchings were frequent. After World War I ended in 1918, African Americans started coming to the North hoping to escape the racist treatment in the South. Unfortunately, life in the North wasn’t that much greater. In the South, more and more race riots occurred and many black people were beaten and killed-- this was known as “Red Summer” (Anderson...
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...| Poetry & The Harlem Renaissance | Hum 112: Professor Jocelyn Thornton | | Tara Umstead | 8/24/2014 | | The dictionary defines Renaissance as A rebirth or revival. The Harlem Renaissance was started in the mid 1920’s. It was a time of renewal and revival for African Americans. The Harlem Renaissance ushered slavery from the minds of African Americans alike. Their spirit was renewed culturally through art, music, and poetry. Hundreds of thousands of African Americans migrated North during World War I, because of the shortage of laborers. This migration brought a very diverse mix of cultures from all around. Harlem was full of life 24hrs a day. Jazz clubs and dancing even alcohol was secretly being served. The city was filled with African Americans looking to release all the troubles from the many years of slavery. The nightlife was also enjoyed immensely by upper class white people. New forms of music were born during the Harlem Renaissance. Blues was introduced and the love of Jazz was heightened. Life and living greatly inspired the literature works of this time. As Black Americans, started rebuilding their lives, they still portrayed a sense of self consciousness, self-doubt and didn’t value themselves as true Americans. Before the Harlem Renaissance W. E. B. Du Bois, wrote The Souls of Black Folk. This literary work of art explained the double-consciousness of African Americans. Double-consciousness is the sense of always looking at one’s...
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...Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance period was when the world found out that there was indeed a distinctive and varied "negro/black American" culture and it was centered here in Harlem of New York City. It was a culture movement that began around 1920s. Before it was called the Harlem renaissance it was known as the "New Negro Movement", that was named after the anthology edited by Alain Locke in 1925. The Harlem Renaissance grew out of the changes that had taken place in the black community since the abolition of slavery, and which had been accelerated as a consequence of the First World War. It can also be seen as specifically African-American response to an expression of the great social and cultural change taking place in America in the early 20th century under the influence of industrialization and the emergence of a new mass culture. This movement impacted urban centers throughout the United States. Across the cultural spectrum (literature, drama, music, art, dance) and also in social thought (sociology, philosophy), artists and intellectuals found new ways to explore the historical experiences of black America and the contemporary experiences of black life in the urban North. Challenging white superiority and racism, African-American artists and intellectuals rejected merely imitating the styles of Europeans and white Americans and instead celebrated black dignity and creativity. Asserting their freedom to express themselves on their own terms as artists, they explored...
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...The Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement that began in the 1920s, brought an excitement and a new found freedom and voice to African-Americans who had been silent and oppressed for a long time. In Harlem between the 1920s to 1930s the African American culture flourished especially in arts and music. The Harlem Renaissance helped lay the foundation for the post-World War II protest movement of the Civil Rights Movement. During this period, Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Bessie Smith were a few of the new, up and coming, artists during the Renaissance period. Louis Armstrong, nicknamed "Pops" emerged in the 1920s and became an...
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...Alleeyah Casper Amanda Deaton American Literature 28 February 2014 What It Really Means To Be Free The word Freedom holds different meanings for different people. Some think freedom is allowing people to live their lives, but they have many guidelines and restrictions on them. For others it’s allowing people to do, say, and live the way they want too with the minimum amount of guidance. Is that really freedom or are ideas of freedom really just what others say they are? The Harlem Renaissance and The chrysanthemums are two different examples from The American Short Stories of what being free could mean to people. In The Chrysanthemums, Elisa was a strong woman who wanted to do more with her life instead of being caged in like an animal. She strived to be a strong woman, but during her day she was only seen as an innocent woman that couldn’t do what men did. It’s fine for Elisa to work in a garden planting and maintaining her Chrysanthemums. But when she jumps at the chance to maintain the apple trees it’s only seen as a joke by her husband Henry. Later on a guy offering to fix any broken pans or sharpen scissors arrives and talks with Elisa while try to get her to let him fix something for her. At first she says no because she knows she can do it herself, but ends up giving in and letting him fix some old pans for her. Later on after he fixed her pans the guy ends up telling her that his line of work is no place for a woman. After the man leaves she goes inside to get...
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...were treated as if they were nothing, force to work over their own free will, they were force to work without getting paid. African Americans were not just slaves in the south there were many northern states that had slaves as well. Most African Americans were slaves to White families, but there were many who slaves to other work forces. Slavery continued until the reconstruction era, the period of change. But as a period of change came white still were not acceptance of African Americans. So they made the Black Codes, so they can still have control over African Americans. To get full freedom African Americans started the Black Civil Right Movement, and the New Nergo Movement, which led to the Harlem Renaissance. While reading this paper you will find why the Black Codes, African American Civil War soldiers, the Reconstruction era, the Civil Right Movement, New Nergo Movement and Harlem Renaissance are all important parts of African American history. African American Civil War Soldiers were believed to be unintelligence and didn’t have the courage to be a soldier, they were also treated unfairly. Like years and wars before many African Americans your volunteer or forced to protect their country. Which they used to try and gain equal rights and stand up for discrimination. In April 1945, the United States took a little over a hundred African Americans Officers into custody they didn’t listen to the order, ordered by a superior officer. More than a million African Americans fought...
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...During the 1920’s there was a great rise in popularity of African American Culture. As African Americans participated in the Great Migration, they set goals for themselves as they entered a new country and culture. Harlem was the town that the African Americans all migrated to, there they felt safe because it was the world's largest black urban community. Soon Harlem became overcrowded and began suffering from poverty. This was the cause of the Harlem Renaissance, which was a literary and artistic movement celebrating African-American Culture. There were multiple associations such as the NAACP and the UNIA created during the Harlem Renaissance to help protect and prevent violence from breaking out. The NAACP or the National Association...
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...Harlem Renaissance Poets Hossein Ghazvini Strayer University HUM 112 Dr. Anthony McCormack November 27, 2011 Harlem Renaissance Poets The first poem I choose from the Harlem Renaissance time belongs to Claude Mckay, “If We Must Die” (1919). If we must die—let it not be like hogs Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dongs, Making their mock at our accursed lot. If we must dir—oh, let us nobly die, So that our precious blood may not be shed In vain; then even the monsters we defy Shall be constrained to honor us though dead Oh, kinsman! We must meet the common foe; Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave, And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow! What though before us lies the open grave? Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!(Mckay, 1919). To describe Clause Mckay’s role and importance within the Harlem Renaissance we shall look at his poems. Overall the author is expressing anger over the whites being racist and killing the slaves who fought back, also is unhappy about the war that is taking place and is trying to express his feelings trough his poems. Poems such as If we must die gave a sense of moving forward and pursuing the dream of freedom to the slaves who had started fighting back the whites. The evidence of “double-consciousness” in the poem If we must die, is apparent throughout the poem for example where the author says...
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...The Harlem Renaissance Poets XXX XXXX Strayer University HUM 112 August 17, 2014 XXX XXXX The Harlem Renaissance Poets The Harlem Renaissance, notably deemed as the “New Negro Movement” by Alain Locke, aggrandized the creativity in literature and music from the African American culture. Much of the art from this era mostly portrayed their experiences of inequality and their search for better quality of life in the North and Midwest, henceforth the Great Migration. Some of the most prominent names during this time was African American poets Langston Hughes and Claude McKay, both playing an essential role to the literary movement. As stated by McKay, “their poems are full of hushes, whispers, sighs, songs, tongues, throats, wails, moans, voices, speech, music, hymns, blues, sobs, cries, lashes, yowls, jazz, scatting, drums, thunder, drones, shouts, trumpets, trains, whistles, choirs, horns, and all sorts of other raucous sound” (1926). Langston Hughes was notably known as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance and also deemed as the “Father of Harlem Renaissance poetry”. Hughes solidified his legacy in the Harlem Renaissance subsequently after the publishing of his first poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, which is one of his most notable poems. The Negro Speaks of Rivers, which was influenced from his time passing the Mississippi River to visit his family, was later published in 1926 in his first book of poetry, The Weary Blues. In regards to the poem, Phillipson...
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