Transcript Unit 12 - PowerPoints

The Black (Harlem) Renaissance
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Background
• The Harlem or Black Renaissance
was an African-American political
and cultural movement that
emerged after the close of World
War I and continued for nearly
two decades.
• Although often identified with the
New York City neighborhood of
Harlem, it was a national
movement that showcased
African-American achievement in
literature, music, politics, dance,
and the performing arts.
Palmer Hayden’s We Four in Paris
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Factors That Contributed to the
Spread of the Harlem Renaissance
• Historians generally highlight
four factors that contributed to the
growth of the movement. They
include:
– the large-scale migration of blacks
out of the South that was known as
the Great Migration
– the rise of a new African- American
educated elite
– the New Negro Movement
– an increase in white intellectual
interest in African-American life and
culture.
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The Great Migration
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An important precursor to the explosion of
African-American culture known as the Black
Renaissance was the Great Migration. In the
period before and during the movement,
hundreds of thousands of African Americans
traveled to northern cities such as Harlem in the
hope of establishing a better life.
As a result, demographics in northern cities
underwent significant changes. In 1910, for
example, three out of every four African
Americans resided on farms, and nine out of ten
made their homes in the South. World War I
dramatically altered these demographics. During
the 1910s and 1920s, motivated by a desire to
escape the economic and political inequities in
the South, an estimated 1.5 million AfricanAmericans migrated to northern cities.
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The Rise of a New African-American
Educated Elite
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W.E.B DuBois
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Another factor contributing to the
Black Renaissance was the
appearance of a new AfricanAmerican educated elite. Especially
in the North, new educational and
employment opportunities spurred the
appearance of an African-American
middle class.
Massachusetts-born scholar W.E.B.
DuBois and Washington, D.C., native
Mary Church Terrell are two
examples of this new black
intellectual elite.
The New Negro Movement
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•
Another contributing factor to the Black
Renaissance was the New Negro Movement.
African Americans evidenced a new racial
consciousness through the New Negro
Movement, and this new consciousness
influenced the Black Renaissance.
Howard University Professor Alain Locke
described this transformation in a 1925 essay
entitled “The New Negro.” This essay
highlighted the new sense of assertiveness and
independence among African Americans. Locke
further charged that the “New Negro” needed to
“smash” all of the racial, social, and
psychological barriers that had hampered black
achievement.
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Luminaries of the
Harlem (Black) Renaissance
Alain Leroy Locke
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Zora Neale Hurston
Legacy of the
Harlem Renaissance
Langston Hughes
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The Harlem Renaissance changed the
way people perceived AfricanAmerican culture. Its reverberations
can still be felt. The literary works of
the period continue to inspire writers
and poets. The influence of the
Harlem Renaissance was not limited
to the United States. Famed musician
and actor Paul Robeson and dancer
Josephine Baker traveled to Europe
where the influence of the Harlem
Renaissance was strong. The Harlem
Renaissance inspired many African
Americans to believe they had a
voice that could not be suppressed.