Expanding the Narrative: The New Negro Renaissance NCTE Annual Convention Presentation 2012
Expanding the Narrative: The New Negro Renaissance Aimee Hendrix Eastside Memorial High School, English III and IV Austin Community College, Comp 1301 &1302 Austin, TX Aimee.Hendrix@austinisd.org Aimee.Hendrix@austincc.edu
Overview Expanding the narrative from… Harlem Renaissance in isolation a flourishing limited in time and place oppression focused narratives …to include focus on nationwide uplift and organizing the long civil rights struggle the New Negro Renaissance the Chicago Renaissance
Rationale and Objectives History textbooks and literature anthologies often frame early 20th century African-American history as the Jim Crow era and celebrate the Harlem Renaissance as an isolated (in time and space) movement, when in fact, it was a part of a larger, multi-faceted, more national period of uplift. Analyzing text from this time period makes space for multiple narratives… Harlem arts and white patronage, but also the struggle to depart from that patronage Migration from the rural South to the urban North, including but not limited to Harlem The creation and expansion of African-American middle and elite classes The amassing of power that produced the changes of the Civil Rights Era
The New Negro Renaissance– A definition The New Negro Renaissance (movement…era…) defines the years between WWI and WWII, but also has ties that extend in either direction. Rather than being only a literary and artistic movement centered in Harlem, it was a nationwide movement for self-definition that manifested in: Writing and rhetoric Visual art Dance Theatre Sports Activism Legal action Politics Institutions Education Journalism Fashion
Samples from student version of Powerpoint
The New Negro Renaissance 1919-1936 (more or less) Nationwide uplift, but fueled by northern migration to urban centers like Chicago and New York. Expansion of institutions like African American churches, colleges and universities, and civil rights organizations Political organizing and activism Legal Action– such as supreme court test cases Rhetorical writing and speech making Planned effort to display the artistic and literary talents in African American communities
For Instance: Artistic Accomplishment and Prominence Music like this Or this Or this! Or the first rock song depending on who you ask! And artistry, like: Or Archibald Motley: Or literature like:
Harlem Renaissance– 1920s A flourishing of arts and literature centered in Harlem, an neighborhood in New York City. Fueled by urban migration to the north and the diverse culture in NYC. Famous (and sometimes criticized) for being supported by white patronage and somewhat elitist/exclusive. Thought to end with the Great Depression though many artists, writers, and musicians produced work after this. Musicians such as Duke Ellington, poets such as Langston Hughes, and artists such as Romare Bearden. Economic and political uplift was also happening.
Black Chicago Renaissance 1930-1950 A rich hotspot of literary, artistic, musical, political, journalistic, organizing, and economic activity Centered in Chicago’s Southside neighborhood, Bronzeville Like the New Negro Renaissance in general, Chicago’s Renaissance in fueled by northern migration, urban migration, and rising African-American socio-economic status. Considered distinct from Harlem in the egalitarian, community based nature of the renaissance.
Writers and the Chicago Renaissance Gwendolyn Brooks Arna Bontemps Richard Wright Margaret Walker Willard Motley Frank Marshall Davis Fenton Johnson Theodore Ward Lorraine Hansberry **Southside Chicago Writer’s Project **Hall Branch Library
Provided Lessons The Stroll– An introduction to the complex cultural landscape of Chicago’s Bronzeville, designed to complement A Raisin in the Sun. Renaissance PowerPoint – Designed to be a succinct and introductory presentation including timeline activity and discussion prompts. Written for Raisin, but could easily be tailored to other literature. Rhetoric of the New Negro Renaissance– Designed as a part of an American Rhetoric unit. Includes history links that are student friendly, as well as links to speeches, and analysis tasks.
NEH Workshops In case you don’t know, the NEH will pay you to learn, and it’s amazing. Past workshops: 2007 Teaching Jazz as American Culture, Washington University in St. Louis 2009 The Most Southern Place on Earth, Delta State– offered again for 2013! 2010– The New Negro Renaissance in America 1919- 1936, Washington University in St. Louis 2012– Renaissance in the Black Metropolis 1930-1950, Chicago Metro History Center & Roosevelt University– in the works for 2014!
Resources Bone, Robert, and Richard A. Courage. The Muse in Bronzeville: African American Creative Expression in Chicago, 1932-1950. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2011. Print. Hine, Darlene Clark. The Black Chicago Renaissance. Urbana [u.a.: Univ. of Illinois, 2012. Print. Early, Gerald. ""The New Negro Era and African American Transformation." American Studies 2nd ser. 49.1 (2008): 9-19. Web. <https://journals.ku.edu/index.php/amerstud/article/viewFile/3938/3753>. Goin to Chicago. Dir. George King. University of Mississippi, 1994. DVD. Lewis, David L. When Harlem Was in Vogue. New York: Knopf, 1981. Print. "The Black Chicago Renaissance: An Introduction." Black Chicago Renaissance. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.chicagohistoryfair.org/for- teachers/curriculum/black-chicago-renaissance.html>. "The Center for the Humanities." New Negro Renaissance Digital Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://cenhum.artsci.wustl.edu/programs/neh/nnr_digital_institute>.