The Harlem

Renaissance












I chose to write my project about the Harlem Renaissance because I find it very interesting
and I figured it would be a great opportunity to get to learn more about it and the things
around it. In my opinion this subject is very important, it takes a big part in the history of the
United States and the Americans and African Americans in particular and it's affects on other
people whom are not from America as well.

.The Harlem Renaissance was the name given to the cultural, social, and artistic explosion
that took place in the neighborhood of Harlem in New York City between the end of World
War I and the middle of the 1930s. During this period Harlem was a cultural center, drawing
black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. Many had come from
the South, fleeing its oppressive caste system in order to find a place where they could freely
express their talents. The purpose of the movement was not only artistic expression, but to
'uplift' the black community nationwide
Among those artists whose works achieved recognition was Langston Hughes.
The Renaissance was more than a literary movement: It involved racial pride, fueled in part
by the militancy of the "New Negro" demanding civil and political rights. The Renaissance
incorporated jazz and the blues, attracting whites to Harlem speakeasies, where interracial
couples danced.
The renaissance had many sources in black culture, primarily of the United States and the
Caribbean, and manifested itself well beyond Harlem. As its symbolic capital, Harlem was a
catalyst for artistic experimentation and a highly popular nightlife destination. Its location in
the communications capital of North America helped give the New Negroes visibility and
opportunities for publication not evident elsewhere. Located just north of Central Park,
Harlem was a formerly white residential district that by the early 1920s was becoming
virtually a black city within the borough of Manhattan. Other boroughs of New York City
were also home to people now identified with the renaissance, but they often crossed paths
in Harlem or went to special events at the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public
Library. Black intellectuals from Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and other
cities (where they had their own intellectual circles, theatres, and reading groups) also met
in Harlem or settled there. New York City had an extraordinarily diverse and decentred black
social world in which no one group could monopolize cultural authority. As a result, it was a
particularly fertile place for cultural experimentation.
The community contributed to the four important genres of poetry, drama, fiction and essay
writing. It was quite similar to the European renaissance, with music, films, theater, dance
and drama becoming a regular activity for Harlem residents. It was not exactly a revolt, or a
way to repel the racism against African-Americans, but a movement to glorify and show the
world, the intellectual capabilities of blacks. Alain Locke, who was a professor at Harvard
University and the first African-American Rhodes scholar, described this awakening as a
'spiritual emancipation' of the black community. It began as a series of literary discussions in
the New York suburbs of Greenwich Village and Harlem, gradually assuming an
unprecedented character and reshaping African-American heritage.
The Harlem Renaissance was successful in establishing black identity as an integral part of
American history. The symbolism and actual effects of the event served as a big inspiration
for blacks in future struggles for their rights, like the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and
1960s. It reinforced the stand of the black community and demonstrated to the world and
the black community itself, what capabilities they had in store, waiting to be unleashed. This
led to a united cultural identity which served as a conscious awakening for a united race
among the black community.
The Harlem Renaissance was actually the first time that music, art and literature of African
Americans was widely noticed and adopted by non-Black America. The work of the talented
writers, artists and other intellectuals of this era lives on as the foundation for present day
African American culture and institutions, and has made an indelible imprint on the culture
of all America.

The Harlem renaissance was a time when the African Americans wanted a change in the way
white people perceived them. They hoped that this cultural creativity would help them in
this. This is expressed in Langston Hughes's song- 'As I Grew Older'.
In his song we can read about his dream, and how it didn't came true, at least not at the
time it was written. He tries to show to white people his thought and feelings trough his
songs, and his songs has also connected his community around their culture and they have
expressed their feelings with other people by their own culture.
this poem is about dreaming the possibility in a world of impossibility. He believed that the
only thing that standing in the way of his dream is his color of his skin, nothing else - others
in his time would not allow him to live his dream because of his appearance. And that
something that's people at the time of the Harlem renaissance tried to change and some
people are even trying to change today.

Bibliography:

PBS (public broadcasting service) site-
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_harlem.html
Encyclopedia Britannica site:
Renaissance#toc272824 - http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/255397/Harlem
Buzzle site:
renaissance.html - harlem - the - of - http://www.buzzle.com/articles/history