The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance

In the 1920s and early 1930s, there was an African American cultural movement that took place in the neighborhood of Harlem, New York. It is variously known as the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Literary Renaissance, or the New Negro Movement.

This movement developed at the end of World War I in 1918, blossomed in the mid- to late 1920s, and faded in the mid 1930s. This movement developed amid social and intellectual disturbance in the African American community in the early 20th century and impacted cultures in various ways.

The Harlem Renaissance affected urban centers throughout the United States and across the cultural field through literature, drama, music, visual art, and dance. It also made strides in the realm of social thought of sociology, historiography, and philosophy; artists and intellectuals found new ways to explore the historical experiences of black America and the contemporary experiences of black life in the urban North. The Harlem Renaissance grew out of the changes that had taken place in the black community since the cancellation of slavery and which had been the cause and effect of the First World War. It can also be seen as the retaliation and expression of the great social and cultural change that took place in America in the early 20th century under the influence of industrialization and the beginning of a new mass culture. It included the Great Migration, during which time, hundreds and thousands of educated and intellectual black African Americans moved from an economically depressed, low budget rural south to industrial cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and New York City, to take advantage of the job opportunities created by World War I. As more and more blacks settled in the neighborhood of Harlem, New York, it became a political and cultural mecca for black America.

The Harlem Renaissance reflected a social and intellectual change in the African American community that took place in the 19th century. In the 1910s, a new political issue was brought up in the African American community concerning racial equality, especially in its growing middle class. At the frontiers of this political movement were W.E.B. Du Bois and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, (formerly known as the NAACP), which was founded in 1909 to advance the rights of blacks.

During the Harlem Renaissance, blacks made history with many accomplished writers, singers, dancers, and composers that made a difference in America as well as other countries. They often played uptown where they might be accepted, but could not go downtown where majority of whites lived. Because of the different style of things that blacks had, it was sometimes hard to be accepted into the white community concerning black musical talents; this limited where they could play. However, what made the Harlem Renaissance so special was the diversity of its expressions. It came with a unique sound which the country hadn’t seen before which is why African American musicians and performers later began to attract mixed audiences, including the whites.

Clubs like The Cotton Club, The Savory, and many others gave the artist of Harlem a place to meet and gather. Thus it provided a great way for the many movements and ideas of the time to grow and spread. For the clubs this meant Jazz. Jazz which began as ragtime and blues was a very popular style in the clubs. “Dance wars” and “Jazz-a-thons” were the big thing for the Harlem nightlife at the time (Haskins, 1984). Another famous club in which many blacks made appearances was the Apollo Theatre. The club is famous for popular music in America, and many African American performers who found a way to showcase their talents and careers; artists such as Nora Douglas Holt Ray, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Eubie