The roaring twenties
It was time for a cultural celebration. African Americans had endured centuries of slavery and the struggle for abolition. The end of bondage had not brought the promised land many had envisioned. Instead, WHITE SUPREMACY was quickly, legally, and violently restored to the New South, where ninety percent of African Americans lived. Starting in about 1890, African Americans migrated to the North in great numbers. This GREAT MIGRATION eventually relocated hundreds of thousands of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North. Many discovered they had shared common experiences in their past histories and their uncertain present circumstances. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, the recently dispossessed ignited an explosion of cultural pride. Indeed, African American culture was reborn in the HARLEM RENAISSANCE.
The Great Migration
The Great Migration began because of a "push" and a "pull." Disenfranchisement and Jim Crow laws led many African Americans to hope for a new life up north. Hate groups and hate crimes cast alarm among African American families of the Deep South. The promise of owning land had not materialized. Most blacks toiled as sharecroppers trapped in an endless cycle of debt. In the 1890s, a boll weevil blight damaged the cotton crop throughout the region, increasing the despair. All these factors served to push African Americans to seek better lives. The booming northern economy forged the pull. Industrial jobs were numerous, and factory owners looked near and far for sources of cheap labor.
Unfortunately, northerners did not welcome African Americans with open arms. While the legal systems of the northern states were not as obstructionist toward African American rights, the prejudice among the populace was as acrimonious. White laborers complained that African Americans were flooding the employment market and lowering wages. Most new migrants found themselves segregated by practice in run down urban slums. The largest of these was Harlem. Writers, actors, artists, and musicians glorified African American traditions, and at the same time created new ones.
The Great Migration
The Great Migration began because of a "push" and a "pull." Disenfranchisement and Jim Crow laws led many African Americans to hope for a new life up north. Hate groups and hate crimes cast alarm among African American families of the Deep South. The promise of owning land had not materialized. Most blacks toiled as sharecroppers trapped in an endless cycle of debt. In the 1890s, a boll weevil blight damaged the cotton crop throughout the region, increasing the despair. All these factors served to push African Americans to seek better lives. The booming northern economy forged the pull. Industrial jobs were numerous, and factory owners looked near and far for sources of cheap labor.
Unfortunately, northerners did not welcome African Americans with open arms. While the legal systems of the northern states were not as obstructionist toward African American rights, the prejudice among the populace was as acrimonious. White laborers complained that African Americans were flooding the employment market and lowering wages. Most new migrants found themselves segregated by practice in run down urban slums. The largest of these was Harlem. Writers, actors, artists, and musicians glorified African American traditions, and at the same time created new ones.
Visual arts, music, and literature
Musicians
No aspect of the Harlem Renaissance shaped America and the entire world as much as jazz. JAZZ flouted many musical conventions with its syncopated rhythms and improvised instrumental solos. Thousands of city dwellers flocked night after night to see the same performers. IMPROVISATION meant that no two performances would ever be the same. Harlem's COTTON CLUB boasted the talents of DUKE ELLINGTON. Singers such as BESSIE SMITH and BILLIE HOLIDAY popularized blues and jazz vocals. JELLY ROLL MORTON and LOUIS ARMSTRONG drew huge audiences as white Americans as well as African Americans caught jazz fever.
Literature:
The Harlem Renaissance was a transformable period in time when poetry changed a nation of African-Americans to an incredible level. Langston Hughes was one of the leading black writers in that time period, and wrote many different types of literature. He wrote, and created a new literary art form called jazz poetry.
Langston Hughes:
-Born in Joplin, Missouri, the second child of school teacher Carrie (Caroline) Mercer Langston and James Nathaniel Hughes (1871–1934
-Raised by his grandmother. Through oral tradition she instilled racial pride
-Created Jazz Poetry
Jazz Poetry
Jazz poetry is a literary genre defined as poetry necessarily informed by jazz music—that is, poetry in which the poet writes about jazz. Jazz poetry, like the music itself, encompasses a variety of forms, rhythms, and sounds
Zora Neale Hurston
No aspect of the Harlem Renaissance shaped America and the entire world as much as jazz. JAZZ flouted many musical conventions with its syncopated rhythms and improvised instrumental solos. Thousands of city dwellers flocked night after night to see the same performers. IMPROVISATION meant that no two performances would ever be the same. Harlem's COTTON CLUB boasted the talents of DUKE ELLINGTON. Singers such as BESSIE SMITH and BILLIE HOLIDAY popularized blues and jazz vocals. JELLY ROLL MORTON and LOUIS ARMSTRONG drew huge audiences as white Americans as well as African Americans caught jazz fever.
Literature:
The Harlem Renaissance was a transformable period in time when poetry changed a nation of African-Americans to an incredible level. Langston Hughes was one of the leading black writers in that time period, and wrote many different types of literature. He wrote, and created a new literary art form called jazz poetry.
Langston Hughes:
-Born in Joplin, Missouri, the second child of school teacher Carrie (Caroline) Mercer Langston and James Nathaniel Hughes (1871–1934
-Raised by his grandmother. Through oral tradition she instilled racial pride
-Created Jazz Poetry
Jazz Poetry
Jazz poetry is a literary genre defined as poetry necessarily informed by jazz music—that is, poetry in which the poet writes about jazz. Jazz poetry, like the music itself, encompasses a variety of forms, rhythms, and sounds
Zora Neale Hurston
- "I have the nerve to walk my own way, however hard, in my search for reality, rather than climb upon the rattling wagon of wishful illusions."
Art:
Before World War l and the Harlem Renaissance, Black visual artists rarely concerned themselves with the African American culture. However, towards the end of the 1920’s, the same artists turned their focus more into creating traditional African or folk art. Artists such as Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, and Mailou Jones became inspired by the cultural movement going on around them.
Aaron Douglas:
Aaron Douglas, one of the leading artists in the Harlem Renaissance, graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1922 with a fine arts degree. He formed a new art style which features geometric shapes, sculpture-like figures, and aspects of egyptian wall paintings. His illustrations featured topics like oppression and the black urban scene. One of his most famous paintings, shown to the right, is named "Aspects of Negro Life".
Jacob Lawrence:
Jacob Lawrence was a painter and interpreter of the hardships of African Americans. he came to New York in 1930 at the young age of 13 and began learning expression through art. His striking contemporary art, protraying black urban life and historical scenes, gained a lot of popularity. At 21 years old, Lawrence had his first solo exhibition in the Harlem YMCA.
Before World War l and the Harlem Renaissance, Black visual artists rarely concerned themselves with the African American culture. However, towards the end of the 1920’s, the same artists turned their focus more into creating traditional African or folk art. Artists such as Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, and Mailou Jones became inspired by the cultural movement going on around them.
Aaron Douglas:
Aaron Douglas, one of the leading artists in the Harlem Renaissance, graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1922 with a fine arts degree. He formed a new art style which features geometric shapes, sculpture-like figures, and aspects of egyptian wall paintings. His illustrations featured topics like oppression and the black urban scene. One of his most famous paintings, shown to the right, is named "Aspects of Negro Life".
Jacob Lawrence:
Jacob Lawrence was a painter and interpreter of the hardships of African Americans. he came to New York in 1930 at the young age of 13 and began learning expression through art. His striking contemporary art, protraying black urban life and historical scenes, gained a lot of popularity. At 21 years old, Lawrence had his first solo exhibition in the Harlem YMCA.
sources
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-"Popular Dance Styles of 1930s." Our Everyday Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.
-"Harlem Renaissance - Visual Art." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.
-"Harlem Renaissance Dance." Related Keywords & Suggestions for Harlem Renaissance Dance. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.
-"Treasures of The New York Public Library." Treasures of The New York Public Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.
-Thefilmarchives. "Harlem Renaissance: Music, Poets, Entertainment, Politics, and Culture (2001)." YouTube. YouTube, 03 Aug. 2015. Web.05 Dec. 2016.
-"Jacob Lawrence - Bio." Phillips Collection - Bio. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.
-"Jacob Lawrence: Exploring Stories." Whitney. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.
-"Jim Crow Laws." Focus On. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.
-"Guided History." Blogs.bu. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.
Written by Benjamin C., Brendan R., and Sasha Bauk