1. The Harlem Renaissance
(The New Negro Movement)

2. Beginnings The Harlem Renaissance began in Harlem, New York after WWI
Created to raise significant issues affecting African Americans through:
Literature
Art
Music
Drama
Painting
Sculpture
Movies
Protests

3. Beginnings
Focused in Harlem; however, it spread throughout the nation and beyond
Many fled to Harlem for educations, because during this time New York passed a law prohibiting segregated schools
This migration helped to begin the Renaissance

4. Music Harlem was the center of a musical evolution
This created a unique sound that has yet to be duplicated
There was a musical progression that included:
Marches (1890)
Music Hall (1900)
Ragtime (1910)
Blues Gospel (1920)
Stride Piano (1925)
Hot Jazz (1930)
Pre-Swing (1940)
Swing (1950)

5. Literature A mass movement of aspiring writers into New York
This is what allowed the Harlem Renaissance to become a significant movement
Some of the writers included: W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston
The literature helped to transform African Americans from the psychology of the “Old Negro” (implied inferiority) to the “New Negro” (self-assertive, racially conscious, article, and in charge of their own publications)

6. Ideas and Attitudes Runs parallel to modernism
Like “two-ness” – a divided awareness of one’s identity as an American and Negro
Rise of a larger Black middle class
Campaign for Civil Rights
New styles, or methods, of expression
Like Jazz, or the development of distinct Black literature and journalistic outlets

7. Major Themes/Styles Alienation Marginality Pride Rage
Opposition to poverty, oppression, and fate
“Two-ness”
Superficial stereotypes revealed to be complex characters

8. Major Players Marcus Garvey Langston Hughes Ida B. Wells
Countee Cullen
Arna Bontemps
Jean Toomer