Download African American Culture

THE JAZZ AGE!
African American Culture
LEARNING TARGETS:

At the end of this lesson you will be able to…
Identify Oscar DePriest, Claude McKay, Langston
Hughes, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, and Duke
Ellington.
 Describe the Harlem Renaissance and the Cotton
Club.
 Relate the activities of Marcus Garvey.
 Describe the Great Migration.

THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
The Great Migration of WWI was the beginning of
increased populations of African Americans in
Northern Cities
 The Writers

Claude McKay: wrote about racism in his poetry
 Langston Hughes: considered the most prolific,
original, and versatile writers of the HR

THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

Jazz, Blues, and the Theater
Louis Armstrong: introduced an improvisational,
early form of jazz
 Duke Ellington: composer, pianist, and bandleader
who played in “speakeasies” and clubs



The Cotton Club: a famous Harlem nightspot
Bessie Smith: “empress of the blues”

Blues: soulful style of music that evolved from African
American spirituals
Paul Robeson: singer and actor
 Josephine Baker: flamboyant singer and dancer

AFRICAN AMERICAN POLITICS

The Black Vote in the North
Most voted Republican
 Oscar DePriest: a group of African Americans agreed
with one another to vote him into congress


The NAACP Battles Lynching
Worked mostly through public officials and the legal
system
 Also prevented Judge John J. Parker’s nomination to the
supreme court by drawing the attention of congress to his
racism

AFRICAN AMERICAN POLITICS

Black Nationalism and Marcus Garvey

Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)

Rather than trying to end segregation, he worked to help
African Americans gain economic and political power
through education and become a separate-but-better than
white society
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
Who was Oscar DePriest?
 Who was Claude McKay?
 Who was Langston Hughes?
 Who was Louis Armstrong?
 Who was Bessie Smith?
 Who was Duke Ellington?
 What was the Harlem Renaissance?
 What was the Cotton Club?
 What did Marcus Garvey do?
 What was the Great Migration?
