2. The Great Migration 1910 – 1970 – The period of the Great Migration
Movement of over 6 million African-Americans from the South to the North
Movement increased with the need for unskilled workers in the North during World War I
African-Americans moved into cities like New York City, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia

3. Harlem Attracts Artists
Middle class African-Americans moved into New York City
1920s, Harlem became an African-American neighborhood
World’s largest black urban community
Described as the capital of “black America”

4. “Black is Beautiful”
Harlem Renaissance represents black pride and culture
Explosion of the African-American experience through art, music, writing, and dance from the 1910s – 1930s

5. Alain Locke
First African-American to win a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship (Full ride to Oxford)
Completed a doctorate of philosophy and taught at Howard University
Named the “Father of the Harlem Renaissance”

6. Voices for Black America
W.E.B Dubois – founder of the NAACP in 1909
Published magazine – The Crisis
Wanted Harlem Renaissance to promote racial equality and African-American intellect
NAACP sponsored/promoted Harlem artists

7. Marcus Garvey
Founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) located in Harlem in 1916
Wanted African Americans to leave America and return to Africa
Believed in racial pride and black autonomy
Movement declined in mid-1920s

8. Harlem Hellfighters
The 369th Regiment (Hellfighters) served longer than any other regiment in WWI (191 days)
Marched through the streets of Harlem, 1919
Great pride of the African-American community

9. Claude McKay Born in Jamaica Moved to the United States in 1912
1934 moved to Harlem after traveling to Russia and France
Died in 1948
More radical writer of the Harlem Renaissance
IF WE MUST DIE

11. Claude McKay – novelist, poet
America
Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth, Stealing my breath of life, I will confess I love this cultured hell that tests my youth! Her vigor flows like tides into my blood, Giving me strength erect against her hate. Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood. Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state, I stand within her walls with not a shred Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer. Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, And see her might and granite wonders there, Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand, Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.

12. Langston Hughes Wrote poetry, novels, short stories, plays
Another radical writer of the Renaissance

13. Langston Hughes – poet
I, Too, Sing America   I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen.
When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.
Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then.
Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed-- I, too, am America.
Poem read by Denzel Washington

14. Zora Neale Hurston Famous work was, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Female writer of novels, short stories, essays, magazine articles
Died in 1959 from a stroke and was buried in a segregated, unmarked grave in Florida

15. “How it Feels to be Colored Me”
Published in 1928, this essay written by Zora is considered to be one of the most introspective pieces of writing to come out of the Harlem renaissance period.
It examines Zora’s pride as a woman, African-American, and highlights her bewilderment over the concept of racism.
It further distinguished Zora from her Harlem Renaissance artist contemporaries by displaying a non- militant almost flippant attitude towards the racism of the day.

16. Music of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance

17. Cotton Club

18. Apollo Theater

19. Jazz and blues

20. Louis Armstrong – “Satchmo”
Famous trumpet player and singer
Born in New Orleans and travel to Chicago to New York
Popularized jazz music for both black and white audiences
Jazz became the most popular dance music of the 1920s
Louis Armstrong - Hello Dolly

21. Duke Ellington – jazz pianist and composer
10-piece orchestra band
Played at the famous Cotton Club
The Duke
Became one of the most influential composers of the 1920s and 1930s

22. Bessie Smith Female blues singer from St. Louis
1927 highest paid black singer in the world - $2,000 a week
“Empress of Blues”
Died from a car accident in 1937 after being refused medical treatment at a white hospital
Bessie sings the blues

25. Artwork of the Harlem Renaissance

27. Jacob Lawerance: Art work focused on life in Harlem

29. Jacob Lawrence's : Great Migration Series

30. William Johnson

31. “the number of black prisoners increased from 9 percent to 57 percent of the total prison population, while the number of white prisoners declined by 50 percent during that time”
Source: The Great Migration: African Americans Searching for the Promised Land, Carole Marks, University of Delaware