Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance New York Citythe

Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance

New York City-the five burroughs.

Harlem alone is significantly larger and more populated than Salt Lake City-Draper. MANHATTAN ISLAND

New Harlem Interestingly, Harlem originally had been farmland for Dutch immigrants. As more people moved to Manhattan Island, more land was sold to be used for homes and businesses.

The Harlem Renaissance is an amazing period in American history that was full of innovation, creativity, empowerment, and change for many African-Americans.

After the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, many African Americans realized that the South still maintained too many racial barriers, so they migrated to the North in hope of finding a better future.

Harlem was 'segregated' right up to about the early 1920 s. Yes. It was an all-white, predominantly Irish neighborhood. Later on, the Irish migrated to the upper tip of Manhattan, -the Inwood Section. Clustered between 125 th Street and 135 th Street, and between Lenox and Seventh avenues in Harlem, over 125 entertainment places were active during the 1920 s and '30 s. There were speakeasies, cellars, lounges, cafes (20+), taverns, supper clubs, rib joints, theaters, dance halls, and an uncounted number of bars and grills.

Harlem quickly became the Mecca for African American artists, writers, musicians, intellectuals, and the noveau riche.

First, write the “facts. ” What do you see? Then, explain what each image means. What are the colors? What is the tone? HDYK?

Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Jacob Lawrence became known for his narrative series of tempera paintings expressive of his own life and that of his black peers who migrated from the South to the North. His vivid collage-appearing canvases typically had bold planes of color and symbolic elements of African-American heritage of struggles, aspirations, and accomplishments

Look at image in the painting; what does each image mean? Show? HDYK? Put in the painting in the context of the Harlem Renaissance. Now, think of a modern day connection?

Quick write: What are the juxtaposing themes here?

Known for distinctive modernist images of African American life, William Johnson died destitute and deranged. He stopped painting in 1956.

Working in a modernist style, Romare Bearden, as a Black American, tried to express on canvas and collage the complexities and uniqueness of being a minority in American society. Many of his themes dealt with music. Another strong presence in many of Bearden's works is trains. Bearden felt that there was a commonality, or link between trains and their symbolic tie to life; he saw trains as communicating life's fluctuations and constant change

Harlem represented an escape and refuge for many African Americans who wanted to celebrate their culture and creativity with other intellectuals. They considered this gathering an opportunity to create a “New Negro” where they could gain respect and influence in the US as artists, intellectuals, writers, musicians, and politicians.

Claude Mc. Kay

America Claude Mc. Kay Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth, Stealing my breath of life, I will confess I love this cultured hell that tests my youth. Her vigor flows like tides into my blood, Giving me strength erect against her hate, Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood. Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state, I stand within her walls with not a shred Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer. Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, And see her might and granite wonders there, Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand, Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.

Langston Hughes Born in Joplin, Missouri, James Langston Hughes was a member of an abolitionist family. He was the great-grandson of Charles Henry Langston, brother of John Mercer Langston, who was the first Black American to be elected to public

Hughes argued, "no great poet has ever been afraid of being himself. "

Countee Cullen He was born 30 March 1903, but it has been difficult for scholars to place exactly where he was born, with whom he spent the very earliest years of his childhood, and where he spent them.

What is Africa to me: Copper sun or scarlet sea, Jungle star or jungle track, Strong bronzed men, or regal black Women from whose loins I sprang When the birds of Eden sang? One three centuries removed From the scenes his fathers loved, Spicy grove, cinnamon tree, What is Africa to me?

The most noticeable addition to music during this era stemmed from the Negro spirituals that were sung in previous centuries. These spirituals which were a racial characteristic would begin to evolve into a more formalized type of music, Jazz. This form of music showed deceptive simplicity and would continue to remain a large part of American culture into the present era.

Jazz bands usually consist of brass and woodwind instruments, with trumpets, trombones, and saxophones playing lead parts. The rhythm section of the band is composed of one drum set and one bass. It also usually has a guitar and/or piano. Jazz music is particularly characterized by intricate leads and accidentals, which are notes outside of a given key. It also consists of complex chords, involved and highly syncopated rhythms, and 12 or 32 -bar phrases. Throughout the music there are many solos, which are completely improvised. Because of this, jazz was considered to be “music for experts. ”

Dizzie Gillespie, Charlie Parker

Billie Holiday"Singing songs like the 'The Man I Love' or 'Porgy' is no more work than sitting down and eating Chinese roast duck, and I love roast duck, " she wrote in her autobiography. "I've lived songs like that. " Louis Armstrong

Josephine Baker and Duke Ellington

The African American culture developed rapidly during the 1920 s under the title of the "Harlem Renaissance". In 1921, the Black Swan Corporation opened. At its height, it issued ten recordings a month. All-African-American musicals also started up in 1921. In 1923, the Harlem Renaissance Basketball Club was founded by Robert Douglas. During the later 1920 s, and especially in the 1930 s, the basketball team became known as the best in the world.

African Americans had established a sense of normalcy and freedom that was not allowed in the South because of laws and anti-Black sentiments. In the North, they created a culture, which unfortunately disintegrated with time.

Many people associate the end of the Harlem Renaissance with the Depression of the 1930 s. “As the 1920 s came to a close, so did White. America’s infatuation with Harlem. ”(www. biography. com/blackhistory). However, many artists, writers, and musicians continued to create amazing work up until the 1940 s. Socio-economic factors also contributed to the end of the Harlem Renaissance.

Harlem, which had earlier been the cultural hub of the 1920 s and 1930 s, became poverty-stricken and depressed.

Work was hard to find in the Depression, especially for minorities.

Additionally, many of the intellectuals of the time moved toward a more universal need of equality for all people worldwide.