Harlem Renaissance Essay

Keanna LeePickett

English 6

3/21/2014

Harlem Renaissance

Harlem Renaissance was a period where the black intellectuals comprised of the poets, writers, and musicians explored their cultural identity. This paper will explain what the Harlem Renaissance period was really about , as well as the artists that were associated with this practice including Marian Anderson, James Weldon Johnson, and Romare Bearden.

“The end of the First World War in 1930 was followed by the inception of the cultural movement that ended in the middle of the Great Depression. It has been argued that the war formed an expansion of the economic opportunities in the Northern cities that had been characterized by industrialization, as well as a decrease of European immigration into the U.S.” (Harlem Renaissance, 2010). The Great Migration that was realized in the beginning of the 19th century played a major role in the creation of the cultural movement. The blacks in the Southern region saw this as an opportunity to escape from the Jim Crow laws, which were laws to constrict the behavior of blacks. “The lack of expression of their issues, and the lack of political voice prevalent with the hatred of the blacks made the blacks express themselves through artistic ways” (Wall, 1995).

Harlem Renaissance was not only about politics but was also a way through which the artists expressed their views. These artists included: Marian Anderson, James Welden Johnson, Romare Bearden, jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong and writers such as Nora Zeale Hurston. On the other hand, it offered an opportunity where the black actors performed among the white audience. Harlem Renaissance came to an end at a time when the Great Depression had started. This was because the Afric...

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..., where his paintings grew even more popular due to their religious themes. His study in drawing and painting became beneficial to becoming friends with a renowned mentor, Stuart Davis. “In the early 1930’s, he joined the Harlem Artists Guild and was responsible for the drawing of cartoons that were to be published in Baltimore Afro-American. He formed the spiral group that dealt with the promotion of the black artists’ works, as well as, exploring ways for contributing to the civil rights movements at that time” (edu, 2014). His lifelong commitment to African Art, helped shape the way that African American art was viewed.

The African arts formed an essential platform for the promotion of the African American culture today. This culture could not have been created and maintained without the aspiring poets, artists, writers, and musicians that all played a role.