THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

BACKGROUND  1920s were a decade of extraordinary creativity in the arts for African Americans. Much of this creativity was focused in the Harlem district in New York City  The second half of the decade was when many African American publications were created, which called for the naming of renaissance.  The harlem renaissance was so important to African Americans because it gave black artists a purpose.

BACKGROUND CONTINUED  Black artists creativeness had a common source, most of which was to create boldly expressive art that reflected their social conditions.  This brought praise to their dignity and humanity, by succeeding in poverty and racism.

TRENDS ABROAD (WW1)  350,000 A.A. served in armed forces during the war  WW1 Black population gained the sense of worldliness due to seeing and being around the globe.  New experiences, new technology helped expand their knowledge  When Pres. Woodrow Wilson justified the war as an effort to “make the world safe for democracy” African Americans living under segregation, rampant discrimination, and the terror of lynching wondered what the Negro needed to do to “make America safe for himself.”

TRENDS ABROAD (OTHER)  Russian Revolution of 1917 gave African Americans the belief that major change was possible, even in the face of a powerful autocracy and entrenched injustice  International concerns caused Philosopher Alain Locke in the anthology The New Negro to compare what African Americans were going through to what the Jews were going through abroad

MIGRATION NORTH  New York City was the most popular destination for fleeing blacks from the south  Blacks were fleeing the south because of legal segregation, horrible living conditions, and a widespread of lynchings  The north provided the perfect solution with its industrial expansion creating a heightened demand for labor. This demand increased during WW1 when many of the white males were in the armed forces.

HARLEM  Predominately a place for middle to upper middle class white families  Became available to blacks when it was clear the Harlem had been overbuilt, causing economic hardship  Harlem became available to all classes of blacks, including the most famous writers and artists

HARLEM

HARLEM CONTINUED  Popularity of Jazz and the Blues caused interest in African American culture to grow  Harlem headquartered many of the important African American cultural and political organizations (NAACP, National Urban League, and Marcus Garvey’s UNIA)

ROLE OF NEWSPAPERS  Newspapers set the renaissance in motion  Many companies started publishing in the south trying to convince African Americans to migrate north  Some of the most popular were the Chicago Defender, the Pittsburgh Courier, the New York Amsterdam News, and the Norfolk Journal and Guide

ROLE OF NEWSPAPERS CONTINUED  Each newspaper was different, but all were dedicated to political progress and social uplift for black Americans and to the development of literary and artistic traditions of which the typical readers might be proud.  W.E.B. Du Bois was also one of the leaders for the cultural renaissance in order to prove the genius and humanity of Blacks to the rest of the world as well as white Americans

AMSTERDAM NEWS

WRITING AND THE ARTS  The first in modern literature in the Renaissance came by Three Plays For A Negro Theatre, by Ridgely Torrence (white)  He changed the stereotypic black role into one of emotion and yearnings  At the same time the recording industry exploded with black artists, first of which Mamie Smith’s "Crazy Blues”, expanding to other artists including Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, and Duke Ellington

WRITING AND THE ARTS CONTINUED  These artists were not only popular by African Americans but also white Americans  Many of the famous artists of this time credited their fame to the movement

OPTIONAL LINKS  Louis Armstrong  Bessie Smith  Duke Ellington

BLACK AND WHITE RELATIONS  African American and white American relations grew stronger during the Harlem Renaissance  Many believe that without the African American literature and arts growing popular with whites many of the books and other releases would have received only little merit  The growing relations were key to blacks success and Charles S. Johnson (Opportunity, and the National Urban League) saw nothing but benefits from the association between the two and worked to establish and stimulate contacts between them.

DECLINE OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE  Because the Harlem Renaissance depended on the success of the publishing industry, the theater, and the art world, the crash of wall street in 1929 marked the end of the movement  Harlem’s image was damaged during the great depression. This was due to High unemployment rates and an increase in crime.  African American talent wasn’t gone, there just wasn’t a market for the business anymore due to the crash

SOME KEY CONTRIBUTIONS  It laid the foundation for the representation of blacks in the modern world  gave African Americans new confidence and purpose  Increased relations between white and black peoples  Provided a place for African Americans to escape the south and flourish within their culture, as well as represent their culture to the entire world  Brought forth a new era of Jazz and the Blues, as well as changed the Literature and Play industries

SOURCES  "Duke Ellington - It Don't Mean a Thing (1943)." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 6 Jan  Gates, Henry Louis. "Harlem Renaissance." The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, Print.  Web. 6 Jan  "What a Wonderful World - LOUIS ARMSTRONG." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 6 Jan  YouTube. YouTube. Web. 6 Jan