Harlem Renaissance

Harlem Renaissance, pg. 29 Harlem Renaissance African-American Writers “Jazz Age” African-American Goals

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an artistic era of African American art, literature, music and culture with a concentration in Harlem, New York City, after World War I. It was originally called the “The New Negro Movement” and it opened the world’s view of African Americans due to the strong display of their talents and influence on the society. Some key contributors to the Harlem Renaissance areThe Harlem Renaissance Literature - Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, William Johnson, Paul Laurence Dunbar Visual Arts - William Johnson, Loïs Mailou Jones, Jacob Lawrence Performing Arts - Paul Robenson, Chick Webb Music – Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker

African-American Writers Literary movement led by the well- educated, middle-class African-Americans. These new writers expressed pride in the African American experience. Themes explored and celebrated African heritage and folklore. And, they wrote about their hardships of being black in a white world. African-American writers included, W.E.B. DuBois, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston.

Langston Hughes

“Jazz Age” Jazz was born in the early 20 th Century in New Orleans. Musicians blended instrumental ragtime, and vocal blues. Louis Armstrong, was famous for his astounding sense of rhythm and ability to improvise. Harlem lured throngs of whites to the showy, exotic nightclubs, including the famed Cotton Club. Along with Cab Calloway, Armstrong popularized “scat,” or jazz singing using sounds instead of words.

Louis Armstrong Cab Calloway

African-American Goals Marcus Garvey Despite the NAACP, African- Americans still faced threats and discrimination. In response, Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican immigrant, he believed that African- Americans should build a separate society. He founded the Universal Negro Improvement Assoc. (UNIA), with the same goals. By the mid 1920s, Garvey had over 500,000 members. He started the “Back to Africa Movement,” calling for a home for African-Americans in Africa. W.E.B. DuBois National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is created in response to race riots. NAACP calls African-Americans to protest racial violence. W.E.B. DuBois is a founding member of the NAACP. DuBois led a 10,000 man march to protest violence against African-Americans. DuBois also edited the magazine, The Crisis, where he called for leading struggle for Civil Rights.

Marcus Garvey W.E.B. DuBois