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The Harlem Renaissance

“Harlem was not so much a place as a state of mind, the cultural metaphor for black

America itself.”

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The Harlem Renaissance, a.k.a. the New Negro Movement and the Negro Renaissance~1919-the mid-1930sNew racial attitudes and ideals on the part of Afro-Americans and an artistic and political awakeningArtistic expression = an extension of the struggle against oppression

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How did it start?

Complex roots...• African American

migration to industrial (urban centers)

Changing economyWWI - jobs

• WWI offered African Americans the chance to serve in the military (though in segregated troops)

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More contact between blacks and whites in urban centers...more consciousness of disparitySoldiers found that Europe and America were quite differentThe “Red Summer” of 1919Marcus Garvey’s radical politics

But there was more to the story...

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There were 2 basic ideologies in terms of approaches to art in

Harlem...

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First school of thought: W.E.B. DuBois and James Weldon Johnson• Privileged African

Americans could lead their race’s fight for equality

• Art as propaganda: works of art inspired by racial heritage & experiences would prove the beauty and contributions of the race

• Achievements would foster pride in African Americans

• Black culture = white culture

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Second school of thought: Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Aaron Douglas. • African-American person

should be presented objectively as an individual simply living

• Argued against mirroring white society (black culture in itself was valuable)

• Art for art’s sake

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The Harlem Renaissance incorporated all aspects of African American culture in its literature and several themes emerged.

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Themes in Art, Music and Literature:

Effort to Recapture the African-American Past:– corresponded with rise of Pan-Africanism– Africanism in Afro-American politics– Marcus Garvey’s ideology– jazz introduced African-inspired rhythms and themes in

compositionsRural Southern Roots:– reflected in novels by Jean Toomer and Zora Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God- Jacob Lawrence’s art: Harriet Tubman series and black

migration

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Themes Continued…

African-American Urban Experience and Racism:• - represented by writers like Langston Hughes,

Claude McKay, and Countee Cullen

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“Incident” by Countee Cullen

Once riding in old Baltimore,     Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,   

I saw a Baltimorean   Keep looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very small,   And he was no whit bigger,

And so I smiled, but he poked out   His tongue, and called me, “Nigger.”

I saw the whole of Baltimore   From May until December;

Of all the things that happened there   That’s all that I remember. 15

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Themes continued...Use of Black Music & Folklore as an Inspiration for Poetry, Short Stories, and Novels: - Langston Hughes used rhythms and styles of jazz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpjFS3CQkKE - Black religion as a literary source: James Weldon

Johnson’s God’s Trombones - Sterling Brown used blues and southern work

songs in his book of poetry Southern Road

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Through all these themes Harlem Renaissance writers were determined to express the African-American experience in all its variety and complexity as realistically as possible.

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The White Influence on the Harlem Renaissance:

The Harlem Renaissance appealed to both a white and black audienceBut...• Urbane whites bestowed their

patronage on young artists, opening up publishing opportunities, and pumping cash into Harlem’s “exotic” nightlife...

• The relationship was complex and continues to be studied to this day

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The Cotton Club...• Jim Crow laws

enforcedMajor controversyWhat sense does this make?

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Other Important Places Within Harlem & Nightlife:

Lennox and 140th Street the Savoy Ballroom• Major social events

and parties• Blacks and whites

mingled on the dance floor

• Where the Lindy Hop was invented

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0BHxhUnokU

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Jungle Alley and 7th Avenue:Jungle Alley• Cluster of clubs and speakeasies along 133rd

Street between Lennox Ave. and Seventh Ave. • Variety of entertainment options and an

eclectic and risqué environment • Racially mixed and uninhibited crowd

Seventh Ave. • Where people went to see and be seen• Harlemites both rich and poor donned their

finest clothes and strolled down the avenue on a Sunday afternoon

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The Apollo Theater

Opened in the 1930s the on 125th Street Featured the finest acts and became the most prestigious African American performing stage in the country.The response of the Apollo’s knowledgeable audience could make or break a performer’s career

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Rent Parties:A way for cash-strapped Harlemites to raise money for their inflated rent paymentsThursday and Saturday nights...Thursday was the night off for sleep-in domestic workers and Saturday was usually pay-day for laborers who had Sunday offInvitations: “Parlor Social” or “Tea Cup Party”Music, entertainment...the furniture was cleared outBasic food and drink—bootleg whiskey or bathtub gin, with southern staples: fried chicken and fish, chitterlings, pig’s feet, greens, and cornbreadThe admission fee and the extra charges for food and drink paid for the entertainment, hopefully with enough left over for next month’s rent

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Patrons were usually Harlem’s working people—especially domestics and laborers—but all classes attendedDuBois and others from the middle and upper classes stayed away...Many of the artists, writers, and musicians used them as inspirationBessie Smith celebrated them in her song, “Give Me a Beer and Another Pigfoot,” while Langston Hughes described them in his autobiography as a place where working-class blacks could drink and dance without a white tourist looking over their shoulderWhites rarely gained admittance to these gatherings

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Decline of the Harlem Renaissance:

• The Harlem Renaissance declined in the mid 1930s. Factors that contributed to this decline were as follows:

1. Harlem’s emergence as a slum: - Within a single decade Harlem transformed from an ideal community to a neighborhood with manifold social and economic problems. - Housing was overpriced, congested, and dilapidated. - Jobs were hard to come by due to competition and discrimination.- As a result, most of Harlem’s residents lived in poverty, a situation that contributed to the growth of crime, vice, juvenile delinquency and drug addiction.

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• 2. The Great Depression

• 3. The Departure of Many Key Figures in the Movement

• 4. The Harlem Riot of 1935

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Influential Figures & Events in the Renaissance:

Writers & Poets:• - Countee Cullen• - Langston Hughes• - Jean Toomer• - James Weldon Johnson• - Zora Neale Hurston• - Arna Bontemps• - Wallace Thurman• - Nella Larsen• - Claude McKay• - Gwendolyn Brooks• - Jessie Redmon Fauset

Musicians, Singers, Entertainers:

- Louis Armstrong - Bessie Smith - Dizzie Gillespie - Josephine Baker - Eubie Blake - Duke Ellington - Ma Rainey - Ella Fitzgerald - Billie Holiday - Ethel Waters - Fats Waller

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Artists: - Aaron Douglass - Jacob Lawrence - William H.

Johnson - Archibald Motley,

Jr. - Ronald C. Moody - Palmer Hayden - Lois Mailou Jones

Political Activists: - W.E.B. DuBois - Marcus Garvey - Alain Leroy Locke - Charles R. Drew - Regina Anderson - Arturo Alfonso

Schomburg

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Athletes/Athletic Teams:

- Satchel Paige - The Harlem

Globetrotters - Negro National

League

Journals/Magazines:

- The Crisis - The Survey

Graphic - Opportunity: A

Journal of Negro Life - FIRE!!

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Final Thoughts:The Harlem Renaissance...• Certainly important in terms of American

history• Obviously crucial in terms of American

literature• What about its dependency on white money,

audiences and publishers?Some are critical of this...

WE will read some poetry, listen to some music, and view some pieces of art on Wednesday.

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Sources:The United States in Literature & The Harlem Renaissance: A Unit of Study for Grades 9-12 by Nina GiffordHarlem Speaks: A Living History of the Harlem Renaissance edited by Cary D. Wintz