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The Harlem Renaissance
Harlem, a New York City neighborhood, was the center for the African American political, cultural, and artistic movement in the 1920’s and
early 1930’s.
WARM-UP: Complete number one on your anticipatory guide. It reads, what do you know about the Harlem Renaissance? Harlem? The word
‘renaissance’?
WARM-UP
• What do you know about the Harlem Renaissance? Harlem? The word ‘renaissance’?
Geography
Where is New York?
When we think of New York, we think of Manhattan…
New York City is made up of 5 boroughs (think like Denver, Englewood, Aurora, etc.)
•Manhattan is made up of many different neighborhoods. On the far upper north side of Manhattan, Harlem exists.
• Harlem is the birthplace of the Harlem Renaissance
Brooklyn
Queens
The Bronx
Staten Island
Manhattan
Harlem
Historical Background
• The Harlem Renaissance took place between 1920 and the early 1930’s.• Leading up to this:• 1865- The 13th Amendment was
added. Slavery is abolished!• 1876- Jim Crow Laws are
established to legalize and encourage segregation
• 1890-1920: The Great Migration• During this time, over 2 million
African Americans migrated from the rural South to the industrial North in hopes of a better life without discrimination.
• Though there was still racism, there were also organizations available for support (NAACP, National Urban League, etc.)
The Great Migration
Impact?
• Before 1910, only 20 percent of Harlem’s population was made up of African Americans.• By 1930, less than 20 percent of Harlem’s population was NOT made
up of African Americans.• A growing African American middle class developed as a result of
improved educational and employment opportunities for African Americans.
During this time, African Americans were dedicated to two main philosophies:
Fighting racial prejudice and stereotyping
• The Harlem community helped gain the African American community a voice. This voice helped aid them in the fight against racial prejudice and segregation.
True personal expression• The Harlem community made it
easier for African American’s to express themselves musically, artistically, professionally, and in writing.• Music of the Harlem Renaissanc
e - YouTube
Art of the time
Art continued…
Life in New York in the 1920’s
• Very Rare Footage of New York City in 1920s - YouTube
Literature of the time
Langston Hughes-1st African American author to support himself through his writing.-Produced more than 60 books-Used his characters to make statements about injustices.-”I swear to the Lord, I still can’t see, why Democracy means, everybody but me.”
Zora Neale Hurston
Hurston is considered one of the pre-eminent writers of twentieth-century African-American literature.
She was closely associated with and influenced by the Harlem Renaissance.
In 1975, interests in her works was revived through a feminist movement.
She wrote four novels and two folklore books that were the result of her extensive anthropological research.
Through her writings, Robert Hemenway wrote in The Harlem Renaissance Remembered, that “Hurston helped to remind the renaissance– especially its more bourgeois members– of the richness in the racial heritage”
Zora Neale Hurston
• “Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.”
Their Eyes Were Watching God
• “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.
• Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly."
