Harlem is vicious Modernism. BangClash. Vicious the way it's made, Can you stand such beauty. So violent and transforming. - Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones)

The Harlem Renaissance Harlem Renaissance (HR) is the name given to the period from the end of World War I and through the middle of the 1930s Depression, during which a group of talented African-American writers, thinkers and artists produced a sizable contribution to American culture.

SOUTHERN BLACKS AND THE LURE OF THE NORTH BEFORE AND AFTER 1914 Most African Americans remained in the South nearly fifty years after the Civil War. With outbreak of World War I came many dynamic changes- because: 1) war generates new opportunities for industry 2) much of existing labor supply leaves work force 3) immigrant labor pool evaporates. End result: The Great Migration which congregated black populations in northern cities like Chicago and New York in unprecedented numbers. The concentration, in New York city, occurred on the upper west side, in Harlem.

Harlem, New York

Important Features of the HR Migrants from the south brought with them new ideas and a new form of music called jazz. Soon Harlem produced a burst of African-American cultural activity known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Important Features It was called a renaissance because it symbolized a rebirth of hope for African Americans. Harlem became home to writers, musicians, singers, painters, sculptors, and scholars. There they were able to exchange ideas and develop their creativity.

Features It became a symbol and a point of reference for everyone to recall. The name, more than the place, became synonymous with new vitality, Black urbanity, and Black militancy. It became a racial focal point for Blacks the world over; it remained for a time a race capital. The complexity of the urban setting was important for Blacks to truly appreciate the variety of Black life. Race consciousness required a shared experience.

It encouraged a new appreciation of folk roots and culture. Peasant folk materials and spirituals provided a rich source for racial imagination. It continued a celebration of primitivism and the mythology of an exotic Africa that had begun in the 19 th century. Important Features

Common themes begin to emerge: alienation, marginality, the use of folk material, the use of the blues tradition, the problems of writing for an elite audience. The HR was more than just a literary movement: it included racial consciousness, "the back to Africa" movement led by Marcus Garvey, racial integration, the explosion of music particularly jazz, spirituals and blues, painting, dramatic revues, and others.

The HR. gave birth the many important publications, such as Crisis magazine, edited by W. E. B. DuBois, giving black writers a forum where their voices could be heard.

The visual art of the Harlem Renaissance was an attempt at developing a new African-American aesthetic in the fine arts. Believing that their life experiences were valuable sources of material for their art, these artists created an iconography of the Harlem Renaissance era. Thematic content included - Africa as a source of inspiration, - African-American history, - folk idioms, (music and religion of the South), and social injustice.

Writers of the HR Sterling Brown Claude McKay Langston Hughes Zora Neal Hurston James Weldon Johnson Countee Cullen Nella Larson Richard Wright

Impact of the Harlem Renaissance “Sometimes I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can anyone deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me." - Zora Neale Hurston. Zora Neale Hurston

Impact of the Harlem Renaissance The legacy of the Harlem Renaissance is that it redefined how America, and the world, viewed the African-American population. The migration of southern Blacks to the north changed the image of the African- American from rural, undereducated peasants to one of urban, cosmopolitan sophistication.

Impact of the Harlem Renaissance This new identity led to a greater social consciousness, and African-Americans became players on the world stage, expanding intellectual and social contacts internationally.

Langston Hughes “Dean of African American Poets” Born: 1902, Joplin Mississippi\ Died: Began writing in 8 th grade and was voted “class poet” -Born to mixed- race parents who divorced. He was raised back and forth between grandmother and both parents

-Attended Columbia University for engineering but dropped out with a B average to focus on writing -Later graduated from Lincoln University -Moved to Harlem where he was first published in “Crisis” -Wrote 16 books of poetry, 2 novels, 3 collections of short stories, 4 volumes of editorial fiction, 20 plays, kid’s poetry, musicals, operas, radio and TV scripts, and many magazine articles.