History Of The Harlem Renaissance

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. This blossoming of African-American culture in European-American society, particularly in the worlds of art and music, became known as The Harlem Renaissance.
After the American Civil War ended in 1865 more jobs and education became available for black. The blacks had finally created a middle class in America. Those blacks were expecting to be treated and have the same life as white Americans. In 1896 equal rights for all races came to a halt when the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court ruled racial segregations acceptable. Separate, but ‘equal’ was their motto. African-Americans in the south were met with harsh conditions for whites as labor needed was reduced. Because of this, more blacks started moving to the north because it was considered less vicious. The north allowed all adult men voting rights and provided better education for African-Americans. More jobs became available thanks to World War 1 and the industrial revolution. This became known as the Great Migration and brought more than seven million African-Americans to the North. What was housing like in Harlem? Housing in Harlem was originally intended for white workers to commute to the city, but developers built houses faster than enough transportation causing middle-class white people to leave. White landlords sold their properties to black estate agents like Philip A Payton and Henry C Parker. Development of midtown cause many blacks to move to Harlem; by 1920 the amount of blacks had doubled. When subways and roadways came to Harlem, most of the country’s best black artist, ...

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...ng power of the arts. The Harlem Renaissance gave a voice that was so powerful that it echoed down many avenues, making changes in American culture that continue to speak loudly, today. Jazz, still echoes in clubs, of course with nuances; even rap music has echoes of that great art form as you listen to the voices doing some interesting things. The Harlem Renaissance has left behind writings that many, white and black, still refer to when speaking of civil rights. One such famous speaker was Martin Luther King. The Harlem Renaissance has given America the power to understand why the caged bird sings, and now, she flies free. America will never go back to where it was. Those who were a part of the Harlem Renaissance were the breath, life, and energy that unashamedly drove American culture to change simply by being, creating and fully living who they were.