Harlem Renaissance

Definition• African American Art Movement• Stimulated artistic development,

racial pride, a sense of community and promoted political organizations• Heart of movement was Harlem, NY

Writers• Proclaimed that African Americans would

no longer accept 2nd class citizenship• Wrote of racial pride• Wrote about racism and the effects of it• Continue to influence white and black

writers today

Claude McKay• Poet who wrote of

American racism and expressed a proud defiance and hatred of racism

Langston Hughes• Poet who became

leading voice of the African American experience

• Wrote of black defiance and of hope

• Dealt with issues of cultural heritage

Hughes’s Work

Jazz, Blues, and Theater• First time African Americans were given

serious roles on the American stage• Blues – soulful style of music that

evolved from African America spirituals• Jazz – New form of music that was

improvised–Influenced by Dixieland and ragtime

music

Louis Armstrong• Introduced an

early form of jazz to Chicago

• First great cornet and trumpet soloist

Duke Ellington• Composer, pianist,

and bandleader• Got start along

with many other musicians and famous Harlem nightspot, The Cotton Club

Famous Women• Bessie Smith –

Empress of the Blues

• Josephine Baker – First African American Female to star in motion pictures

• Worked on Broadway then moved to Paris

W.E.B. DuBois• Leading voice in

African American community

• Help start the NAACP–Worked to end

discrimination and mistreatment of African Americans in the US

W.E.B DuBois• Editor of The Crisis – a

magazine that promoted African American arts movement

• The Crisis today - discusses critical issues confronting people of color, American society and the world – Brings attention to the

historical and cultural achievements of these diverse peoples.

Marcus Garvey• Founded the Universal

Negro Improvement Association, which promoted black pride and unity

• Advocated self-reliance and independence/ separation from whites

• Wanted blacks to return to Africa to create new empire

What led to the Harlem Renaissance?

– African Americans moving from rural South to urban North• Why?

– Had economic and domestic impact

Great Migration