Harlem Renaissance
circa. 1918 to circa. 1937 As the Harlem Renaissance is a movement, rather than a specific event or series of events, its exact chronology cannot be pinpointed.
Birthed from the unique Black culture growing in Harlem mixed with the unique creative and financial freedom flourishing in the 1920s, which, in turn, came from the Great Migration of African Americans northward, the Harlem Renaissance was the "social and artistic explosion" (History.com) that came about from the cultural growth present in the small, three square mile neighborhood.
Harlem thrived as a creative epicenter, to say the very least. The neighborhood "teemed with black artists, intellectuals, writers, and musicians. Black-owned businesses, from newspapers, publishing houses, and music companies to nightclubs, cabarets, and theaters, helped fuel the neighborhood’s thriving scene" (Poetry Foundation).
Critic Alan Locke described the period as "a spiritual coming of age" for the Black creatives in Harlem, noting the opportunities they had for "group expression and self-determination" (Poetry Foundation). The period saw the aesthetic separation of "the Negro" from their white counterparts, embracing the Black identity and exploring it through literature, music, and visual arts. Furthermore, "they also sought to break free of Victorian moral values and bourgeois shame about aspects of their lives that might, as seen by whites, reinforce racist beliefs" (Hutcheson). In other words, the Harlem Renaissance saw the unabashed embrace of being Black within the African American community.
Countless famed creatives across a variety of arts grew from the Harlem Renaissance scene, such as Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington for music, Archibald Motley for the visual arts, and within literary arts, poets such as Claude McKay and Langston Hughes. These artists - among countless others who could be named - "explored the beauty and pain of black life and sought to define themselves and their community outside of white stereotypes" (Poetry Foundation).
In summary, the financial boom of the Roaring Twenties gave way to the blossoming of Black culture within a neighborhood brimming with some of the most ambitious creatives within the African American community. The movement had profound repercussions on African American history, paving the way for Black literature and shifts in the cultural consciousness, both within the African American community and the outside perspective. In many ways, the Harlem Renaissance helped to prepare for the oncoming Civil Rights movement.
Works Cited:
Editors, History.com. "Harlem Renaissance." History, A&E Television Networks, LLC, 14 Feb. 2024, www.history.com/topics/roaring…. Accessed 10 Apr. 2024.
Hutchinson, George. "Harlem Renaissance". Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Mar. 2024, www.britannica.com/event/Harle….... Accessed 10 April 2024.
Poetry Foundation, Editors. "The Harlem Renaissance." Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/colle….... Accessed 10 Apr. 2024.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. "Lindy Hop showcase at the Renaissance Ballroom" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1959. digitalcollections.nypl.org/it…...