In the 1920s, the great migration of blacks from the rural South to the urban North sparked an African–American cultural renaissance that took its name from the New York City neighborhood of Harlem but became a widespread movement in cities throughout the North and West. Also known as the Black Renaissance or the New Negro Movement, the Harlem Renaissance marked the first time that mainstream publishers and critics turned their attention seriously to African–American literature, music, art and politics(Hornsby, 1993; Hazen, 2004). Event2:1877 to 1945 Event: East Saint Louis Race Riots, 1917. The East St. Louis riots, of May and July 1917 were an outbreak of labor- and race-related violence that caused the death of at least 40 African Americans and approximately $400,000 in property damage(Hornsby, 2011; Hazen, 2004). the riots were stirred up by white resentment of African Americans working in wartime industry.the Great Migration of African Americans out of the South toward industrial centers across the northern and Midwestern United States was well underway. For example, blacks were arriving in St. Louis during Spring 1917 at the rate of 2,000 per week(Hornsby, 1993). When …show more content…
industries became embroiled in labor strikes, traditionally white unions sought to strengthen their bargaining position by hindering or excluding black workers, while industry owners utilized blacks as replacements or strikebreakers adding to the deep existing societal divisions.Following the May 28 meeting, some 3,000 white men marched into downtown East St. Louis and began attacking African Americans, with mobs destroying buildings and beating people (Hazen, 2004).These are the worst case of labor-related violence in 20th-century American history and among the worst race riots in U.S. history. Event 3:1945 to the present Event: Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4 1968. Martin Luther King was fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TennesseeHazen, 2004).The civil rights activist had gone to support a sanitation workers’ strike(Hornsby, 1993; Hornsby, 2011). King’s death opened a huge rift between white and black Americans, as many blacks saw the killing as a rejection of their vigorous pursuit of equality through the nonviolent resistance he had championed. In more than 100 cities, several days of riots, burning and looting followed his death(Hornsby, 1993). Martin Luther led a series of non-violent civil right protests and civil disobedience. Event 4:1945 to the present Event: First African American (Obama) becomes President of the United States of America in 2008. On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States; he is the first African American to hold that office (Hornsby, 2011; Hine &Harrold, 2013).After studying at Harvard Law School and practicing constitutional law in Chicago, he began his political career in 1996 in the Illinois State Senate and in 2004 announced his candidacy for a newly vacant seat in the U.S. Senate (Hornsby, 2011; Hine &Harrold, 2013). He delivered a rousing keynote speech at that year’s Democratic National Convention, attracting national attention with his eloquent call for national unity and cooperation across party lines. In February 2007, just months after he became only the third African American elected to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction, Obama announced his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination(Hornsby, 2011). After withstanding a tight Democratic primary battle with Hillary Clinton, the New York senator and former first lady, Obama defeated Senator John McCain of Arizona in the general election that November(Hine &Harrold, 2013). Obama’s appearances in both the primaries and the general election drew impressive crowds, and his message of hope and change; embodied by the slogan “Yes We Can,” inspired thousands of new voters, many young and black, to cast their vote for the first time in the historic election. 3. Sources APA Citation for Primary Source 1: Hornsby Jr, A. (Ed.). (2011). Black America: A state-by-state historical encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. Annotation for Primary Source 1: Hornsby (2011) provides an account of the myriad ways that Black Americans have playedinvaluable role in creating American the great nation it is today. The author includes their physical contributions and labor during the slavery era; intellectually, spiritually, and politically; in service to our country in military duty; and in areas of popular culture such as music, art, sports, and entertainment.The chapters extend chronologically from the colonial period to the present. Hornsby’schapters present a timeline of African American history in the state, a historical overview, notable African Americans and their pioneering accomplishments, and state-specific traditions or activities. APA Citation for Primary Source 2: Hornsby, A. (1993). Milestones in 20th-century African-American History.Visible Ink Press. Annotation for Primary Source 2: Hornsby, (1993) provides day-to-day and year-by-year accounts of black America's political and cultural development commemorates significant achievements and noteworthy individuals. Photos and excerpts from speeches, Laws as well as other important texts augment Hornsby’s informative and substantial overview of black America throughout the century. APA Citation for Secondary Source 1: Hazen, W. (2004). American Black History.Lorenz Educational Press. Annotation for Secondary Source 1: Hazen, (2004) provides a concise yet thorough treatment of 500 years of African American history from its origins in the civilizations of Africa through the grim early years in America and the quest for freedom and civil rights.
The Author has richly illustrated and vividly detailed the rise of slavery, the abolitionist movement, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the role of blacks in the nation's wars, the Harlem Renaissance, the emergence of the civil rights era, and the arduous struggle for the full claims of citizenship. Hazen (2004) offers lively portraits of key cultural and political figures such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and countless others who make clear the enormous contributions of blacks in
America. APA Citation for Secondary Source 2: Hine, D. C., Hine, W. C., &Harrold, S. C. (2013). The African-American Odyssey (Vol. 2).Pearson Higher Ed. Annotation for Secondary Source 2: Hine &Harrold (2013) illuminate the central place that African-Americans have played in U.S. history by telling the story of what it has meant to be black in America and how African-American history is inseparably woven into the greater context of American history. From Africa to the 21st century, this authors follow the long and turbulent journey of African-Americans, the rich culture they have nurtured throughout their history and the quest for freedom through which African-Americans have sought to counter oppression and racism. Hine &Harrold (2013) also recognize the diversity within the African-American sphere, providing coverage of class and gender and balancing the lives of ordinary men and women with accounts of black leaders and the impact each has had on the struggle for freedom. 4. Thesis Statement Thesis:Since arriving in America in 1619 as slaves, African Americans have fought for survival, independence and to be seen as equals, struggles that have produced many historical figures and events thatshaped their triumph over adversity.
In his work “Escape and Revolt in Black and White,” James M. McPherson discusses the lives of now famous black and white defenders of the black population and how society’s views of these individuals changed over time. The majority of his essay focused on the stories of Harriet Tubman, Harriet Jacobs, and John Brown, each of whom impacted their own immediate surroundings, even if only on a small scale, in an attempt to improve the condition of blacks. He investigates whether these now famous individuals became famous due to their own merits or as another piece of propaganda to support either side of the fight over civil rights. However, this overall point was very unclear and jumbled as he focused too heavily on just his narrative of these
The Harlem Renaissance is a term used to describe the expansion and development of African American culture and history, particularly in Harlem. It is believed to have started around 1919, after World War I, and ended around the time of the great depression. During this time period African Americans writers, artists, musicians, and poets all gathered in Harlem and created a center for African American culture.
The first part of this book looks into African American political activity during the pre-Civil War and Civil War periods. He uses this part of the book to show that blacks, even while in slavery, used their position to gain rights from their slaveholders. These rights included the right to farm their own plots, sale of their produce, and to visit neighboring plantations. This was also the period
In this paper, I will detail how the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 was not only a civil rights movement on the part of the black people in Tulsa, but also a detailed look into the way that civil rights was handled in a deeply racially divided city as Tulsa, Oklahoma. My research will feature many of the different survivors who were able to speak out about the injustice of the Tulsa Race Riot before they died; many of these people were children at the time. I also have a series of secondary sources from books from the library and some online sources. The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 begins before many of the major civil rights movements happen in the United States, but I believe that understanding the steps that black people had to take in order to declare their rights and how riots were used to stop black empowerment are essential to American history.
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement of blacks that helped changed their identity. Creative expression flourished because it was the only chance blacks had to express themselves in any way and be taken seriously. World War I and the need for workers up North were a few pull factors for the migration and eventually the Renaissance. A push was the growing discrimination and danger blacks were being faced with in the southern cities. When blacks migrated they saw the opportunity to express themselves in ways they hadn’t been able to do down south. While the Harlem Renaissance taught blacks about their heritage and whites the heritage of others, there were also negative effects. The blacks up North were having the time of their lives, being mostly free from discrimination and racism but down South the KKK was at its peak and blacks that didn’t have the opportunities to migrate experienced fatal hatred and discrimination.
During and after World War One , the Great Migration caused many African Americans to move from rural areas of the country to the northern states. Many people flocked to Harlem, New York in hopes that they too would become a part of the culture phenomenon taking place. This culture boom became known as The Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was an influential movement that “kindled a new black culture identity “(History.com). With the turning of the age it seemed the perfect opportunity for Afro- Americans to create a new identity.
The Harlem Renaissance is the name given to a period at the end of World War I through the mid-30s, in which a group of talented African-Americans managed to produce outstanding work through a cultural, social, and artistic explosion. Also known as the New Negro Movement. It is one of the greatest periods of cultural and intellectual development of a population historically repressed. The Harlem Renaissance was the rebirth of art in the African-American community mostly centering in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s. Jazz, literature, and painting emphasized significantly between the artistic creations of the main components of this impressive movement. It was in this time of great
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and literary period of growth promoting a new African American cultural identity in the United States. The decade between 1920 and 1930 was an extremely influential span of time for the Black culture. During these years Blacks were able to come together and form a united group that expressed a desire for enlightenment. This renaissance allowed Blacks to have a uniform voice in a society based upon intellectual growth. The front-runners of this revival were extremely focused on cultural growth through means of intellect, literature, art and music. By using these means of growth, they hoped to destroy the pervading racism and stereotypes suffocating the African American society and yearned for racial and social integration. Many Black writers spoke out during this span of time with books proving their natural humanity and desire for equality.
“Poetry, like jazz, is one of those dazzling diamonds of creative industry that help human beings make sense out of the comedies and tragedies that contextualize our lives” This was said by Aberjhani in the book Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotation from a Life Made Out of Poetry. Poetry during the Harlem Renaissance was the way that African Americans made sense out of everything, good or bad, that “contextualized” their lives. The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the Black Renaissance or New Negro Movement, was a cultural movement among African Americans. It began roughly after the end of World War 1 in 1918. Blacks were considered second class citizens and were treated as such. Frustrated, African Americans moved North to escape Jim Crow laws and for more opportunities. This was known as the Great Migration. They migrated to East St. Louis, Illinois, Chicago 's south side, and Washington, D.C., but another place they migrated to and the main place they focused on in the renaissance is Harlem. The Harlem Renaissance created two goals. “The first was that black authors tried to point out the injustices of racism in American life. The second was to promote a more unified and positive culture among African Americans"(Charles Scribner 's Sons). The Harlem Renaissance is a period
The Tulsa race riot changed the course of American history by actively expressing African American views on white supremacy. Certainly I feel with the available facts in this research paper, that the whites were the aggressors for the events leading up to the Tulsa race riot and the start of the Tulsa race riot. African Americans were simply there to stand up against the white supremacy and to provide the African Americans Tulsa their freedom and equal justice.
2. The African American culture blossomed during the Harlem Renaissance, particularly in creative arts, and the most influential movement in African American literary history. Embracing literary, musical, theatrical, and visual arts, participants sought to reconceptualize “the Negro” apart from the white stereotypes that had influenced black peoples’ relationship to their heritage and to each other. They also sought to break free of Victorian moral values and bourgeois shame about aspects of their lives that might, as seen by whites, reinforce racist beliefs. Never dominated by a particular school of thought but rather characterized by intense debate, the movement laid the groundwork for all later African American literature and had an enormous
The Harlem Renaissance was a time of racism, injustice, and importance. Somewhere in between the 1920s and 1930s an African American movement occurred in Harlem, New York City. The Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. It was the result of Blacks migrating in the North, mostly Chicago and New York. There were many significant figures, both male and female, that had taken part in the Harlem Renaissance. Ida B. Wells and Langston Hughes exemplify the like and work of this movement.
During the 1920's, many African Americans migrated to Harlem, New York City in search of a better life a life which would later be better than what they had in the South. This movement became known as the Harlem Renaissance. It was originally called the New Negro Movement. Black literature during this era began to prosper in Harlem. The major writers of the Harlem Renaissance were many, such as, Sterling A. Brown, James Weldon Johnson, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston and others. The main person, however, was a scholar named Alain Locke. Locke would later be known by many authors and artists as the “father of the Harlem renaissance.”
The time has come again to celebrate the achievements of all black men and women who have chipped in to form the Black society. There are television programs about the African Queens and Kings who never set sail for America, but are acknowledged as the pillars of our identity. In addition, our black school children finally get to hear about the history of their ancestors instead of hearing about Columbus and the founding of America. The great founding of America briefly includes the slavery period and the Antebellum south, but readily excludes both black men and women, such as George Washington Carver, Langston Hughes, and Mary Bethune. These men and women have contributed greatly to American society. However, many of us only know brief histories regarding these excellent black men and women, because many of our teachers have posters with brief synopses describing the achievements of such men and women. The Black students at this University need to realize that the accomplishments of African Americans cannot be limited to one month per year, but should be recognized everyday of every year both in our schools and in our homes.
Nabrit, James M. Jr. “The Relative Progress and the Negro in the United States: Critical Summary and Evaluation.” Journal of Negro History 32.4 (1963): 507-516. JSTOR. U of Illinois Lib., Urbana. 11 Apr. 2004