Harlem: The birth of the blues and the New Negro Movement

A renaissance is a "revival period of intellectual or artistic achievement" (Hall 1). And that is just what the Harlem Renaissance was, a period of cultural rebirth. African Americans first migrated to the north in order to work in factories that opened up during World War I (Hall 1). Unfortunately, racism forced them to settle into segregated urban housing away from whites (Hall 1). Although these African Americans were faced with hardships and discrimination, they decided to turn hard times into a period of remarkable “artistic and intellectual activity” in New York City’s Harlem, leading to the Harlem Renaissance (Hall 1).

The Harlem Renaissance era occurred during the Roaring 20s, also referred to as the Jazz Age. The real inspiration for jazz came primarily from the music, the feelings, and the history of blacks in America, and later gained national and worldwide recognition (Lowney 4). Black musical styles were becoming more and more attractive to whites, as whites would incorporate their styles into their own works and compositions (Hall 3). Artists used art to translate what Harlem jazz sounded like into a more visual form (Lowney 5). Visual artists played a key role in creating bold portraits of African Americans during this period, as well as distinct shapes and vivid color in scenes of African life (Lowney 5). From the 1920s to the beginning of the Great Depression, black writers and artists from Harlem generated an extraordinary amount and diversity of culture.

Harlem is called the Negro Capital of music and art. But it is more—“it is the nerve center of advancing Black America. It is the fountainhead of mass movements” (Lowney 8). Many visionaries in the Harlem Renaissance believe that “New Negro Movement” is a more accurate term for the development of black life in the 1920’s than “Harlem Renaissance” because it depicts the African American belief that it was time for the emergence of a “new Negro,” one who was no longer willing to accept the racial status quo (Hall 4). An example of this is the poet Langston Hughes as he states, "we younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame" (Hall 6). The Harlem Renaissance was a period of change and a new beginning to show African American’s full potential.

Works Cited

Butler, Jerry. Harlem Renaissance. Photograph. Harlem Renaissance: Literature, Music, and Art. Webquest, 2001. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

Hall, Jane. "The Harlem Renaissance a Cultural Rebirth." Cobblestone 27.4 (2006): 3. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

Lowney, John. "Langston Hughes and the `Nonsense' of Bebop." American Literature 72.2 (2000): 357. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.

Ringgold, Faith. The Flag Is Bleeding #2. 1997. Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City. Utah Museum of Fine Arts. Traditional Fine Art Online, Inc., 1996. Web. 5 Dec. 2010.