1. The Harlem Renaissance
Abel and Molly

2. Key Aspects of the Movement
Overt Racial Pride, idea of the “New Negro”
Variation: Modernism to jazz poetry, High- culture/low-culture
Common Themes:
Slavery and it’s influence on the black American experience
Effects of racism
How to portray black life to white American audiences

3. Claude McKay (1889-1948) Jamaican-born
Enrolled at Tuskegee, then Kansas State
Went to Harlem
Left-wing, influenced Richard Wright
Developed candid style that focused on depiction of authentic blackness

4. Gwendolyn Bennett ( )
Grew up on Native American Reservation in Nevada
Poet, Writer, graphic artist
Wrote for The Opportunity
Used column to spread news and highlight other writers
Contributed sense of racial pride

5. Countee Cullen ( )
Very little known about biographical information
Wrote in classical style
“If the aim of the Harlem Renaissance was in part the reinvention of the native born Negro as a being who can be assimilated while decidedly retaining something called a racial self consciousness, Cullen fit the bill”
Wrote predominately “Raceless poetry”