Day 1

The Harlem Renaissance

1) By the 20th century, everyone understood that “Jim Crow” meant laws that separated the races. 4) Minstrel shows included white performers wearing black painted faces to imitate African Americans and falsely claimed to represent “authentic “ blackness. 3) To survive in a Jim Crow world, African Americans had to obey the written and unwritten ones—they had to appear ignorant, poor, and servile. 2) Jim Crow was a minstrel show character—a bumbling fool played by a white performer in “blackface” makeup. 5) What message does this send to the general public regard African American identity?

6) What change in attitude regarding identity is reflected in these lines? I am the Smoke King I am black! I will be black as blackness can— The blacker the mantle, the mightier the man! My purpl’ing midnights no day dawn may ban. W.E.B. DuBois, from “The Song of Smoke”

Definition 7) The Harlem Renaissance was a literary, artistic, cultural, and intellectual movement that began in Harlem, New York after World War I and ended during the Great Depression. (1918-1935). 8) Renaissance: A rebirth or revival

Today’s Essential Question 9) What factors led to the emergence of the Harlem Renaissance?

The Rise of Radical African-American Intellectuals 10) 1st Cause The Rise of Radical African-American Intellectuals 11) The Talented Tenth 12) The Niagara Movement Ten percent of the African American population were educated and affluent. W.E.B. DuBois wrote a letter to many of these individuals asking to implement a plan of action. The Talented Tenth, as they were called, developed a political agenda to demand equal rights and came together in court to fight Jim Crow Laws and for African American rights. From 1905-1909, the group rallied for school integration, voting rights, and election of black officers to office. The Niagara Movement, as the endeavors of the Talented Tenth was called, won the support of African Americans all over the country.

13)2nd Cause Literary Recognition The Crisis Literary Recognition The NAACP published The Crisis, a journal used to share the literary works of African Americans. Charles Johnson, a sociologist, invited influential editors, publishers, and writers to what he thought would be a literary “party” where black writers could gain recognition. The Civic Club dinner, as it came to be called was successful and led to support for black writers and new publications celebrating black literature.

14)3rd Cause The Great Migration The South was a place of racial tension and unequal rights for African Africans. The promise of a better life led thousands to migrate from the rural South to suburban areas in the North.

15)Why was Harlem the center of the African American Literary Movement and increasing population?

Answer! 16) With the promise of a new subway, developers built a beautiful urban area in Harlem for white, upper class tenants. 17) Overbuilt before the subway was finished, Harlem buildings were empty and developers were facing financial ruin. 18) Middle class African Americas soon occupied the Harlem area. 19) Many literary pioneers migrated there including W.E.B. DuBois. 20) Harlem became the center of middle class attraction with musical & theatrical performances and literary gatherings.

1930 1920 1911

21) Some Harlem Renaissance Authors Countee Cullen Richard Wright Zora Hurston Langston Hughes W.E.B. Dubois

Lynching took place most frequently in the South from 1890 to the 1920s 22) In 1937 Abe Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from New York, saw a photograph of the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith. He later recalled how the photograph "haunted me for days" and inspired the writing of the poem, Strange Fruit.

“Strange Fruit” 23) What is the tone of the last four lines? "Southern trees bear a strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black body swinging in the Southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. Pastoral scene of the gallant South, The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh, And the sudden smell of burning flesh! Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck, For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop, Here is a strange and bitter crop. 23) What is the tone of the last four lines? 24) For what purpose was this song written?

Harlem Renaissance Writer T: “Yet Do I Marvel” A: Countee Cullen N: American G: Sonnet LET’S READ SOME POETRY!