The 1920's: The Harlem Renaissance

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Recommended: Overview of the roaring 20s

The 1920’s is the decade succeeding world War I and preceding the Great depression, the era is often called the roaring ‘20’s due to the roar of Henry T Ford newly accessible automobiles and general perceived growing prosperity. Despite the growing class of millionaires and rising standard of living, the 1920’s was also called the Age of Anxiety because many different groups of people eschewed these changes.The 1920’s cultural identities and social norms were revolutionized greatly by opposition to traditional gender ideals, Racial conflict, literary and artistic excellence, economical changes and urbanization. Despite a booming market, many people did not embrace the change, many groups struggled silently whiles others reacted violently and …show more content…

As the former title implies, the Harlem Renaissance was an artistic movement that emphasized pride and beauty in the African American culture because prior to the movement African Americans were only seen as gags for repugnant jokes and black face.The Harlem Renaissance, while an African American movement, solidified its place in America’s cultural history and opened doors that made publishers and the public more receptive to African culture (Also it is important to note that the Harlem Renissance emcompasses art, music and literature).In the same way, Black Musicians such as Joseph King Oliver, W.C. Handy and Jelly Roll Morton helped make jazz popular, Jazz would later become symbolic of the newer generation trying to break traditional …show more content…

For instance, new jobs became available to women between 1920 and 1930 and many immigrant women began to enjoy independence that was not available to them in the mother country. Flappers opposed traditional femininity in almost every sense, they wore their hair short, wore short dresses, downplayed their breasts, wore red lipstick (prior the 1920’s, red lipstick signaled prostitution) and smoked. Lastly, feminists were also promoting birth control and the idea was radical during this era, other social changes were as one can imagine, not very accepted by

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    ... 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.

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