NAME: PRERANA SARKAR

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ENGLISH HONOURS

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ARTISTS OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE- A BRIEF SURVEY

In the consideration of the adage which dictates that History (worldwide) is always written by

the victor, it is agreeable resort to the precondition that the black African American, Native

Americans and the Latino Americans have “historically” been handed carefully engineered

and state endorsed short sticks of the bargain of representation. That is not to say however

that these sections of people have always been discriminated or stereotyped against; however,

the “glass half full” worldview does not really work when your entire history is riddled with

instances of rampant systemic exploitation, stereotypes, (mostly) non-wilful criminalization

and next to none socio political impetus.

The era of our consideration happened to be a particularly troublesome, crisis prone and

problematic temporally and historically; with “Nazi” hidden in the subtext somewhere.

Spanning the office terms of two Presidents (Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt),

with the economic background of a failed series of state-wise and subsequently national

Security Acts, and a rather convenient Wall Street strike thrown into the mix, the period of

the 1920s -1930s saw a largescale rejuvenation, empowerment and radical upheaval in the

distinct form of the famous Harlem Renaissance. Known initially as the New Negro

Movement after Alain Locke’s anthology “The New Negro”. Along with a never seen before

socio cultural militancy aimed at the forceful, coercive and absolute revival of a definitive

“brand” of African American cultural expression, the Renaissance was a veritable push aimed

at placing the then socially disadvantaged African-American (along with other marginalised

groups in America) at an effective avenue of socio political influence and recognition, fuelled

redoubly by the Great Migration, the large scale fleeing of African American workers from

the tyrannical regime of Jim Crow’s Deep South. The movement was predominantly centred

around the Harlem neighbourhood but, along with the untimely interference of the onset

years of the Great Depression post 1929, brought widespread attention from many

francophone writers, artists and creatives of color from across the Caribbean, Paris and rest of

the world.

In retrospect renaissance can be divided into four distinct periods, each with its different set

of challenges and different distinguishing features, these are 1914-1919 (period coinciding

with the Great Migration), 1920-1924 (period following the Civic club dinner), 1925-1929

(literary achievements and onset of Great Depression) and 1930-1940(disintegration and the

Harlem Riots). Each of these periods were influenced by the plea for unity, equitable

representation and the plea for the departure from materialism that, according to the
intellectual figures of the movement had plagued their white counterparts throughout their

history.

Mentioned below are some notable creatives of this movement:

Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880-1966)

Although never a resident of the actual Harlem neighbourhood in New York, Georgia D.

Johnson was arguably one of the foremost female poets of the Harlem Renaissance. Born in

Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Rome , Georgia, Johnson is remembered primarily for her

poetic contributions to the movement authoring anthologies such as Share my World ( Half-

way House, 1962) , The Heart of a Woman and Other Poems ( The Cornhill Company 1918);

along with poems like Escape (1925), Brotherhood(1922). She is also remembered for her

mentorship of young upcoming artists and authors in what became the “S Street Salon” or

fondly the “ Half-Way House”.

Walter White (1893- 1955)

Born in the racially segregated Atlanta at the height of the Jim Crow legislations, Walter

Francis White witnessed first hand the indignities and discrimination meted out to people of

colour. White witnessed the horrifying Atlanta Race Riots while only 13. Post 1916 White

became secretary to the National Association for the Advancement of coloured people, he

dedicated his life to investigate lynchings and hate crimes, using his light skin to infiltrate

racist groups such as the Ku Klux Clan. His works were published in his book Rope and

Faggot (1929). Other works include The Fire and The Flint (1924) and A Rising Wind

(1945).

Aaron Douglas (1899- 1979)

Regarded as one of the most accomplished visual artists of the Harlem Renaissance, Kansas

born Aaron Douglas was introduced to the Renaissance by the periodicals The Crisis

(NAACP) and Opportunity (National Urban League). Under the tutelage of E.P Dubois,

Charles S. Johnson and the German artist Fritz Winold Reis, Douglas’s illustrations began to

appear in The Crisis post 1925. Douglas’s art style drew from his knowledge of African Art

along with an intersection of both cubism and art décor. His notable works also includes the

critically acclaimed ‘God’s Trombones’ (1927). Douglas also painted a mural for the 135th

Street branch of the New York Public Library in Harlem. The four-panel series showcases the

African American story, from Africa to enslavement in the United States to liberation after

the Civil War and the creation of a new life in New York City.

Billie Holiday (Lady Day, 1915-1929)

Accredited with hits like Miss Brown to You and What a Little Moonlight can Do, Billie

Holiday was a predominantly Jazz singer with several bifurcations into Blues. Holiday rose to

fame as a social phenomenon after her skill at pioneering phrasing and tempo for Jazz songs,

many to which became synonymous with the Renaissance.

Langston Hughes (1901-1967)

Missouri born James Mercer Langston Hughes became synonymous with the literary facet of

the Harlem Renaissance; pioneering the form of “Jazz Poetry”. His poems depicted the

upheaval of The Negro along with an on-ground portrayal of working-class black lives in

America. His notable works include Harlem (1951), I Too (1926) and The Negro Speaks of

River (1926).
The Harlem renaissance movement laid the groundwork for African American Literature and

had a huge impact on subsequent Black literature and consciousness worldwide and increased

involvement of Black actors and playwrights in American theatre occurred.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 1 Harlem Renaissance Multimedia resources: http://www.jcu.edu/harlem/index.htm

 Burner, J. A. (2006). Stomping Grounds, 52(11), 49-50.

 Burner, J. (2006). Focus On - Stomping Grounds - The Harlem Renaissance. School

library journal : SLJ., 52(11), 49.

 DRAKE, M. (2010). Beyond the Harlem Renaissance. New York Times, 29.

 Drowne, K. M., & Huber, P. (2004). The 1920's. Greenwood Publishing Group.

Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. (2004). . New York: Routledge.

 Harlem Renaissance. (2010). Vogue, 200(9), 574.

 Hillstrom, K. (2008). The Harlem Renaissance. Defining moments. Detroit, MI:

Omnigraphics.

 Lewis, D. L. (1997). When Harlem was in vogue. Penguin Books.