Transcript The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem
Renaissance
Uplifting of the
Black Community
Why do I care?
The Harlem Renaissance is one of the most
important expressions of art and intellect
in the history of the United States. These
authors, poets, artists, and countrymen
did more to uplift the black community at
the time than society would allow.
What was the Harlem Renaissance?
 a distinctive African American cultural
movement that displayed the arts - music,
painting, dance, literature - in a unique way that
drew on the legacy of the experience of the race
as a whole
 took place in the Harlem section of New York
City
 coined the phrase “Black is Beautiful”
 opened entertainment venues
 Apollo Theatre
 Cotton Club
Background Information (1)
 between 1910 and 1920 in a movement
known as the “Great Migration” hundreds
of thousands of African Americans moved
North to big cities in search of jobs
 by the end of 1920 5.2 million of the
nation’s 12 million African Americans lived
in cities
Background Information (2)
 Why Harlem?
 this neighborhood was overbuilt with new
apartment homes
 African American realtors bought many of
these apartments and then leased the property
to other African Americans
whites moved out
 however
overcrowded
high unemployment rates
widespread poverty
Background Information (3)
 National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP)
 founded 1909
 W.E.B. Du Bois was a founding member
 urged African Americans to protest racial
violence
 published a magazine called The Crisis
 spoke out against lynching
made anti-lynching legislation a priority
Background Information (4)
 Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro
Improvement Agency
 Jamaican immigrant
 believed that African Americans should build a
separate society
 founded the UNIA 1914
 appealed to African Americans because of his
spellbinding oratory, mass meetings, parades,
and message of pride
 promoted African American ownership of
businesses
Who are the important people?
 music
 Louis Armstrong; trumpet
 Duke Ellington; pianist and composer
 Billie Holiday; singer
 Bessie Smith; blues singer
 painting
 Jacob Lawrence
 literature
 Langston Hughes; poet, novelist, playwright, and short
story author
 Zora Neale Hurston; novelist
Louis Armstrong
 What a Wonderful
World
 trumpet player
 known for his
astounding sense of
rhythm and ability to
improvise
 played jazz music
 a blend of ragtime
and vocal blues
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington
 C Jam Blues
 jazz pianist and
composer
 performed at the
Cotton Club
 segregated whites
and blacks
Billie Holiday
 Summertime
 known for her soulful
and often harsh voice
Bessie Smith
 Nobody Knows You
When You're Down
and Out
 blues singer
 highest paid black
artist in the world
during the 1920s
Jacob Lawrence
 “dynamic cubism”
influenced by the
shapes and colors of
Harlem
Langston Hughes
 best known poet
 poems describe the
difficult lives of
working-class
Americans
I, Too, Sing America
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed-I, too, am America.
Nora Neale Hurston
 portrayed the lives of
poor, unschooled
Southern blacks
 celebrated those who
survived slavery
through their
ingenuity and
strength
Make it Stick
 What was the legacy of the Harlem
Renaissance?