Transcript The Harlem Renaissance

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Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City, was
the center of the African American political,
cultural, and artistic movement in the 1920s
Can you see any evidence from this map that
and early 1930s.
this is an African American community?
1920
1911
1930
Who made up the Harlem Renaissance?
• In the early 1920s, African American artists, writers,
musicians, and performers were part of a great
cultural movement known as the Harlem
Renaissance.
• Doctors, singers, students, musicians, shopkeepers,
painters, and writers, congregated, forming a vibrant
mecca of cultural affirmation and inspiration.
Why Harlem?
• The huge migration to the North after World War I,
known as “The Great Migration” brought African
Americans of all ages and walks of life to the thriving
New York City neighborhood called Harlem.
• Common themes:
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alienation,
marginality,
the use of folk material,
the use of the blues tradition,
the problems of writing for an elite audience.
• The Harlem Renaissance was more
than just a literary movement: it
included racial consciousness, "the
back to Africa" movement led by
Marcus Garvey, racial integration, the
explosion of music particularly jazz,
spirituals and blues, painting,
dramatic revues, and others.
1.
Harlem Renaissance brought the Black
experience clearly within the general
American cultural history.
a. The Black migration, from south to north,
changed their cultural image from rural to urban,
from peasant to sophisticate.
c. Harlem became a crossroads where Blacks
interacted with and expanded their contacts
internationally.
d. The Harlem Renaissance profited from a spirit of
self-determination which was widespread after
W.W.I.
2. The Harlem Renaissance had a huge significance in
American culture at the time.
a. It became a symbol and a point of reference for everyone to
recall.
b. The name, more than the place, became synonymous with
new vitality and Black urbanity.
c. It became a racial focal point for Blacks the world over; it
remained for a time, a race capital.
d. It stood for unity; Alain Locke wrote: "The peasant, the
student, the businessman, the professional man, artist, poet,
musician, adventurer and worker, preacher and criminal,
exploiter and social outcast, each group has come with its
own special motives ... but their greatest experience has been
the finding of one another."
Some Important Historical Figures of
The Harlem Renaissance
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Langston Hughes – Poet
Zora Neale Hurston – Writer
Marcus Garvey - Activist
Duke Ellington – Composer/Musician
Langston Hughes wrote,
“Harlem was in vogue.”
Black painters and sculptors
joined their fellow poets,
novelists, actors, and
musicians in a creative
outpouring that established
Harlem as the
international capital of
Black culture.
Langston Hughes
1902-1967
Langston Hughes
• Hughes was an American poet,
playwright, and writer. He was one of
the earliest innovators of “Jazz
Poetry”. Jazz Poetry set his poetry
apart from that of other writers, and it
allowed him to experiment with a very
rhythmic free verse.
Zora Neale Hurston was
remarkable in that she was
the most widely published
black woman of her day. She
authored more than fifty
articles and short stories as
well as four novels, two books
on folklore, an autobiography,
and a number of plays. At the
height of her success she was
known as the “Queen of the
Harlem Renaissance.”
Zora Neale Hurston
1891-1960
American writer
A Jamican born immigrant
and social activist, Marcus
Garvey is credited with
spearheading the “Back to
Africa” movement. Garvey
created the UNIA (Universal
Negro Improvement
Association) and advocated
that African Americans should
move back to Africa to
“redeem” it, and that the
European colonial powers
should leave it. He advocated
a worldwide African culture
and is credited with inspiring
the Rastafari Movement and
the Nation of Islam.
Duke Ellington
1899-1974
Duke Ellington
brought a level
of style and
sophistication
to Jazz that it
hadn't seen
before. By the
time of his
passing, he was
(and still is)
considered
amongst the
world’s
greatest
composers and
musicians.
Art of the Harlem Renaissance
Jeunesse by Palmer Hayden
Street Life, Harlem, by
William H. Johnson
The visual art of the Harlem Renaissance was
an attempt at developing a new AfricanAmerican aesthetic in the fine arts.
Believing that their life experiences were valuable
sources of material for their art, these artists
created an iconography of the
Harlem Renaissance era.
Thematic content included
Africa as a source of inspiration,
African-American history,
folk idioms, and social injustice.
Henry Ossawa Tanner
The Banjo Lesson, 1893
Painter Henry Tanner wanted
to show
a positive image of the
African-American by
highlighting the sense
of dignity which is shown here
in the
touching moment of the
elder teaching the boy how to
play the banjo. Tanner also
chose the banjo because of its
African origin and its being the
most popular musical
instrument used by the slaves in
early America
Aaron Douglas
1898-1979
“I refuse to
compromise
and see blacks as
anything less than a
proud and majestic
people.”
Window Cleaning, 1935
William H. Johnson
1901-1970
Chain Gang. 1939
Johnson arrived in
Harlem when the
Renaissance was in
the making. While
there he created
several paintings
that dealt with
political and social
Harlem. Chain
Gang is one
example.
“Street-life Harlem” is another example
Palmer Hayden,
The Janitor Who Paints, 1937
In this symbolic selfportrait artist Palmer
Hayden is at work in his
basement studio,
surrounded by the tools of
his dual professions, a
palette, brushes and easel,
and a garbage can, broom,
and feather duster. The
painter’s studio is also his
bedroom, and his bed,
night table, alarm clock,
and a framed picture of a
cat are seen in the
background.
Palmer Hayden, The Blue Nile, 1964
Robert Gwathmey
1903-1988
Custodian, 1963
Gwathmey was raised in
Virginia, but it was not
until his return to the
South after years of art
schooling in New York that
he began to empathize with
the African-American
experience.
He commented, “If I had
never gone back home,
perhaps I would never have
painted the Negro.”
Harlem: Dream Deferred
Harlem: Dream Deferred
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore –
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over –
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
- Langston Hughes