Victoria Gonzalez
Mrs. Smith
English 6
26 June 2015
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a huge transition for people of African American descent. It started in the early 1920’s and ended during the late 1920’s as well. People had moved from the southern states where Jim Crow laws were enforced, where discrimination was at its highest. Many people who were writers, entertainers and actors took this as an opportunity to grow as artists. During this time, culture was one of the only things they had left. Those who lived within Harlem needed the positivity to look up to during these hard times.
Hughes was a famous writer who had a deeper meaning to his work, which some people have lived by. James Mercer Langston Hughes had an enormous
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impact on the African American Culture. He was an aspiring author to give Harlem hope.
He was born on February 01, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. It was in Lincoln when Hughes began writing poetry(James 7). After graduation from high school, he spent a year in Mexico, followed by a year at Columbia University in New York city. By the time he started attending this school, he had already released his first poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”(Langston 2). After attending this school for a couple of years, he was traveling on the other side of the world doing several different types of jobs. He traveled to Africa and Europe working as a seaman for quite some time. He returned to the United States in 1924, where he had already made a name for himself (Biography 2). Langston Hughes addressed his poetry specifically to African Americans, speaking about their real life situations and feelings towards everything. “Hughes refused to differentiate between his personal experience and the …show more content…
common experience of black America. He wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including both their suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language itself,”(Rowen 2). Hughes was known for colorful portrayals in all of his writings. He wrote novels that were fused with both jazz and blues which portrayed in one of his most popular poems, “The Weary Blues”. Langston Hughes was a writer in Harlem who gave his people hope and encouragement. He adored his culture and continued to want better for African Americans, which was clearly shown throughout his writings. Zora Neale Hurston was a civil rights activist and famous writer during the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Alabama on January 7, 1891, Zora Neale Hurston spent her early adulthood studying at various universities and collecting folklore from the South, the Caribbean and Latin America (Hurston 1). She was a writer whose career started once she started submitting her work to journals. A few years passed, when she decided to write another short story, “Drenched in Light”, to the editor of the Opportunity. They accepted her story and published it. She had also won second place in the annual Opportunity literary contest. After winning the award, she moved to Harlem a couple years later. Continuing to win awards for the literary contest, she was given the opportunity to meet other great writer such as Hughes, Cullen and Meyer. Meyer who was the founder of Bernard College had taken a liking towards Zora and her work. He later helped her get into Bernard College and receive a scholarship to continue her studies. Hurston began to study Anthropology under Franz Boaz, by receiving a six month grant through African American Folklore. She was the first black scholar to study folklore in depth as much as she did. Hurston used her knowledge in anthropology and enforced them in her literary skills which gave her stories depth in both fiction and science. She based her books off of culture and heritage. Arna Bontemps was a successful poet, novelist and editor during the 1920’s when his career flourished. Arnaud “Arna” Wendell Bontemps was born on October 13, 1902, in Alexandria, Louisiana, a child of middle class parents of mixed racial heritage--what is sometimes called Creole (Johnson 1). In 1920, he enrolled at Pacific Union College, which later was changed to University of California at Los Angeles. There he studied English and graduated after attending for three years. After graduation, he was offered a job as a teacher at Harlem Academy in 1924. He wrote short stories, poems, and children's’ books which were published by both Opportunity and NAACP monthly. (A&E Bio) His father told him when he set off for school that he was “not to act colored.” (“colored” being an older term for people of African-American descent). In a later essay, Arna Bontemps recorded his heated reaction: “How dare anyone, parent, schoolteacher, or merely literary critic, tell me not to act colored… Why should I be ashamed of such influence, (Staff 6). Arna Bontemps struggled with being racially profiled by his own father which only made him strive to become an even better writer and teacher. He influenced many people to overcome different obstacles in life including racism to some extent. All three of these people had a huge impact on society during the Harlem Renaissance.
All having different backgrounds, they all came together to uplift Harlem, New York during this time. The Harlem Renaissance has affected not only African Americans, but all of America. Although there were many downfalls for African Americans, this was the time in age when their culture was all that they had. Art, music, poetry and acting were what they took pride in. Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and Arna Bontemps all contributed during the Harlem Renaissance. By writing poems, children's’ books, and short stories, people had gained hope with what these artists have created. During the Harlem Renaissance, culture was one of the very last things that could have been
forgotten.
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 Harlem Renaissance was a movement in the 1920s in which African American writers, painters and musicians flourished, changing American culture. It was a time of cultural celebration because African Americans had gone through centuries of slavery and other social problems. The Harlem Renaissance helped
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.
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.
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and artistic movement inspired by African American artists, writers and musicians. The movement demanded recognition of overwhelming talents in the arts, literature, and music. For the first time in history, African Americans earned status, respect, and credibility in a world powered by white. Black musicians brought the stylings of Jazz and blues, while writers and artists took to depicting “black problems” and ways of life. The practice, previously unknown to traditional Anglo literature, quickly became highly regarded in worlds that transcended skin color. It was both a means to reach out and connect as a color-coded brotherhood, and provided insight into the life of black
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.
The Harlem Renaissance was a period of revitalizing African-American culture and art that lasted throughout the Roaring 20’s. During this time period, African-American culture was portrayed through a variety of unique perspectives which attempted to shatter the derogatory racial stereotypes brought upon by the white majority and reform the image of what defines an African-American. Most importantly, this era catalyzed the women's equality movement, granting women rights that were previously denied to them but accessible to their male counterparts.
The Harlem renaissance was a renewal, flourishing literary, and music culture. The birth of the Harlem renaissance was in New York. It was the new Negro movement; The Harlem Renaissance was a literary and intellectual blossoming new black culture identity in the 1920s and 30s. It also described as a spiritual coming of age.
Occurring in the 1920’s and into the 1930’s, the Harlem Renaissance was an important movement for African-Americans all across America. This movement allowed the black culture to be heard and accepted by white citizens. The movement was expressed through art, music, and literature. These things were also the most known, and remembered things of the renaissance. Also this movement, because of some very strong, moving and inspiring people changed political views for African-Americans. Compared to before, The Harlem Renaissance had major effects on America during and after its time.
The Harlem Renaissance was a period of great rebirth for African American people and according to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, the “Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s.” Wikipedia also indicates that it was also known as the “Negro Movement, named after the 1925 Anthology by Alan Locke.” Blacks from all over America and the Caribbean and flocked to Harlem, New York. Harlem became a sort of “melting pot” for Black America. Writers, artists, poets, musicians and dancers converged there spanning a renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was also one of the most important chapters in the era of African American literature. This literary period gave way to a new type of writing style. This style is known as “creative literature.” Creative literature enabled writers to express their thoughts and feelings about various issues that were of importance to African Americans. These issues include racism, gender and identity, and others that we...
... The Harlem Renaissance was a time of growth and development for African-Americans. They wrote novels, performed in clubs, and created the genre of Jazz. However, the Renaissance was imprisoned by its flaws. Rather than celebrating the unique culture of African-American’s, it oftentimes caters to what the White Americans would want to see and hear.
The Harlem Renaissance was the most famous black people artistic movement in the Modern U.S history. The Renaissance actually is a really useful way to create the importance identity for African Americans. Also it pushed white Americans to reconsider the importance of a ethic group too long for being inferior. The Renaissance also best remembered as the explosion of creativity from African Americans in the 1920s. Although it considered as an African American literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance is way beyond the fine arts music, books, dance and poetry. Those arts are representations of creative minds to influence the every corner of the current society, also for those people who are black they could abolished the title “ Slaves” .
The Harlem Renaissance established culture for African Americans for the first time in history. The Harlem Renaissance took place in America during the 1920s & 1930s. Not to be confused with the Renaissance period during the 14th & 17th century in Europe. The Harlem Renaissance setting was Harlem, New York. It was a time for African Americans voices to be heard. African Americans migrated from the South, which had terrible living conditions, to the North. It did not matter how poor you were, your art could still be heard. Aaron Douglas and Jacob Lawrence were the most famous artists of this time. The art made during this era represents personal struggles of this age and shows their place in society. Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, and art itself made a huge impact on African American culture then and now.
The Harlem Renaissance was a major change for black people in the 1920’s. It helped the black people express their art. It was the big step for black people. It made poets, artist, actors, and musicians famous. After the former slaves, they gather up all the money they earned and moved up to New York and created the Harlem Renaissance.These men and women came from plantations and suburbs, they migrated from the south to the north. The black people was inspired by music, poetry, and acting, and this was the only way to express their talents. The poets is what made the Harlem Renaissance. They were the first ones to become famous. The black people showed white people that they can be just as good as them. Jazz was created during that time, and