The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was an artistic and cultural explosion among African Americans living in Harlem in the 1920s. It produced some of the greatest artists, musicians, and writers in American history, and expanded the shared cultural identity of people who have been marginalized for hundreds of years.

Why Harlem? 

After the Civil War ended and slavery was abolished in 1865, many African Americans remained in Southern states, where plantations on which their families had once been enslaved still stood. Many people found jobs as farm laborers, doing essentially the same work as before the abolishment of slavery but now for a meager wage. Over the next few decades, the federal government made some attempts to secure the rights and better the welfare of African Americans but to little impact. Particularly in the South, segregation, racist attitudes, and violence prevented African Americans from improving their circumstances. The governing bodies of Southern states often worsened the hardships that African Americans faced by passing racially discriminatory laws. 

In the early 1900s, African Americans began moving to the North in the hopes of finding better paying jobs in city factories instead of on farms. This movement was known as The Great Migration. Black neighborhoods formed in cities all over the North, including New York City. Harlem, a neighborhood originally built for a white, upper-middle class population, was one of these. In 1910, a group of African American realtors purchased several blocks in the area and opened the neighborhood to Black migrants from the South. Not only did African Americans settle there but Caribbean immigrants seeking a better life did, as well. These immigrants, some of whom were former slaves, also faced discrimination and oppression in their home countries. 

Art Confronting Racism 

African Americans still faced hostility and institutionalized racism after migrating to the North. Labor and housing discrimination made it difficult for African Americans to settle in Northern cities. Violence from white people who resented the presence of Black migrants new to the cities occurred frequently. 

African Americans encountered many harmful stereotypes throughout American society. An early major cultural event of the Harlem Renaissance was a 1917 theater production called Three Plays for a Negro Theater that rejected many of these stereotypes. It was one of the first mainstream productions about African Americans to actually cast Black actors portraying complex emotions. Two years later, poet Claude McKay published the sonnet “If We Must Die.” Although the poem never addressed race directly, African American readers found its message of defiance inspiring as violence toward Black people continued throughout the country. Literature created during the Harlem Renaissance provided insight into the everyday life of African Americans and emphasized their humanity and brilliance. This went against the stereotypical depictions of African Americans in popular culture. 

The Harlem Renaissance did not promote a specific political viewpoint or artistic style. Rather, it was a chance for African American artists to use their art to express pride in their identities and share their experiences. Artists held the belief that through intellect, literature, art, and music, their work could challenge racism and shift American society to embrace, protect, and celebrate Black people and their contributions. 

Literature and Music 

Literature was one of the most powerful tools African American artists used during the Harlem Renaissance. Writers at the time popularized the idea of the “New Negro.” This was an identity they hoped all African Americans would embrace, one of assertiveness and a refusal to submit to the racial prejudice and segregation that had plagued them for so long. 

The most famous writer to emerge from this period was Langston Hughes. He was a poet who decided to ignore many of the conventional rules for poetry in favor of a more rhythmic approach, drawn from African American music like traditional spirituals and the blues. He wrote about the many struggles African Americans faced, but a theme of hope and overcoming hardship ran through much of his work. 

Music was another central component of the Harlem Renaissance. As jazz continued to grow in popularity during the 1920s, musicians in Harlem put their own spin on the music; one such style was known as the Harlem Stride. Musicians added piano to the brass instruments of jazz. Many famous jazz musicians rose to stardom during this period, including Duke Ellington. Like poetry, music in Harlem also included elements from Black spiritual songs and the blues. 

A Deep and Lasting Impact 

Not only did the Harlem Renaissance produce new and exciting art, literature, and music, it also helped to shape and express what it meant to be Black in America. For hundreds of years, Black people had been enslaved and oppressed in the Americas, denied their history and identity. Thus, it was important to foster a collective cultural heritage in which to take pride. It also made larger American society more aware of the gifts, perspectives, and struggles of African Americans. Finally, it laid important groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement several decades later.