Download Harlem Renaissance 1900-1940

The Harlem Renaissance
1900-1940
20th Century American Literature
Unit Target: I will define American historical
periods and literary movements and their impact on
20th century American literature.
Location
New York State with
New York City highlighted in red.
The five boroughs of New York City.
Location
Neighborhoods of
Manhattan.
What is it?
The Harlem Renaissance was an AfricanAmerican movement to promote political and
social equality.
Although the
The Harlem
Emancipation
Renaissance
Proclamation had
was originally
granted slaves
called “The
freedom, AfricanNew Negro
Americans were
Movement”
not given equal
rights or treated and was led by
W.E.B. DuBois.
fairly.
W.E.B. DuBois
The Harlem Renaissance was originally called “The New
Negro Movement” and was led by W.E.B. DuBois.
•He believed that people of African descent
should work together to battle prejudice and
inequality.
•W.E.B DuBois (1868-1963) was the most
important intellectual leader and political activist
of the African-American community in the early
1900’s.
•DuBois helped to found the NAACP (National
Association for the Advancement of Colored
People) in 1909 to promote racial equality.
•Through his involvement in the NAACP, DuBois
was able to promote his beliefs and support the
movement of artists, writers, actors, and musicians
that became the Harlem Renaissance.
Why Harlem?
After fighting in World War I, African-American soldiers
returned with a new sense of pride.
The Harlem neighborhood
became populated by many
African-Americans and became
the center of culture.
It was in this neighborhood that
many artists, musicians, writers,
and actors lived. Their art,
music, and writing was not only
entertaining, but expressed
what it was like to be an
African-American in America.
Themes during the
Harlem Renaissance
Common themes presented in the Harlem Renaissance are
Alienation: Emotional
isolation or being separated
from others.
Making blacks feel like less
by unfair laws and the
attempt to make them like
white culture.
The use of African folk
material
2 philosophies/perspectives
There were two different philosophies or perspectives on the writing and
art created during the Harlem Renaissance.
Assimilation
Celebration
This perspective believed that to be
accepted by the white culture, you had
to be like the white culture.
This perspective believed that the white
culture needs to respect the black culture
for what it truly is, so you celebrated
black culture.
•Used language and style like the
white culture to be recognized by
white writers and published
•Were usually educated in Ivy
League schools (white education)
•Were removed from their heritage
•Message was there, but the
common black could not relate to
it—they were distanced from it
•Sounds like the rhythms of speech
and music
•Has a pride that writing and
characters can never pass for white
•Easily understood and appreciated
by the black culture
Philosophies/Perspective Examples
Assimilation
Example: Countee Cullen
“Yet Do I Marvel”
I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind
And did He stoop to quibble could tell why
The little buried mole continues blind,
Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die,
Make plain the reason tortured Tantalus
Is baited by the fickle fruit, declare
If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus
To struggle up a never-ending stair.
Inscrutable His ways are, and immune
To catechism by a mind too strewn
With petty cares to slightly understand
What awful brain compels His awful hand.
Yet do I marvel at this curious thing:
To make a poet black, and bid him sing!
Celebration
Example: Langston Hughes
“Dream
Boogie”
Good morning, daddy!
Ain't you heard
The boogie-woogie rumble
Of a dream deferred?
Listen closely:
You'll hear their feet
Beating out and beating out aYou think
It's a happy beat?
Listen to it closely:
Ain't you heard
something underneath
like aWhat did I say?
Sure,
I'm happy!
Take it away!
Hey, pop!
Re-bop!
Mop!
Y-e-a-h!
Renaissance Man!
Marcus Garvey,
Writer and political activist
Marcus Garvey moved to America from
Jamaica in 1916. He admired W.E.B. DuBois
and had read all of his works. For Garvey,
Africa was the ancestral home and spiritual
base for all people of African descent. His
political goal was to take Africa back from
European control and build a free and
United Back Africa. He advocated the
Back-to-Africa Movement. He launched
the Universal Negro Improvement
Association (UNIA) which still exists today.
Artists of the Harlem
Renaissance
William H. Johnson,
Painter
Artists of the Harlem
Renaissance
Lois Mailou Jones,
Painter
Artists of the Harlem
Renaissance
Sargent Claude Johnson,
Sculptor and drawer
Musicians of the Harlem
Renaissance
Saint Louis Blues
Skokiaan (South African Song)
What a Wonderful World
Louis Armstrong,
Trumpeter, vocalist, band leader
Musicians of the Harlem
Renaissance
Chocolate Shake
The Flaming Sword
Mood Indigo
Duke Ellington,
Song writer, pianist, band leader
Hot Spots of the Harlem
Renaissance
The Cotton Club was originally owned
by gangster Owney Madden. He and his
gangster cohorts named it the Cotton
Club to conjure up thoughts of a stylish
plantation environment. All performers
at the club were black; all of the patrons
were white. This “white-only” policy
made it a hot spot for New Yorkers and
people around the world. Many
celebrities graced the club and many
black performers got their start
performing for the white audiences.
Hot Spots of the Harlem
Renaissance
The Apollo Theater is one of the most
famous clubs for popular music in the
U.S. Many famous figures from the
Harlem Renaissance found a place to
perform and start their road to fame.
The Apollo still exists today and draws
about 1.3 million visitors each year. It is
also home to the variety show
“Showtime at the Apollo.”
Writers of the Harlem
Renaissance
Langston Hughes,
Poet, novelist, playwright, short story
writer, newspaper columnist
Langston Hughes was the poster
child of the Harlem Renaissance.
He wrote many pieces of literature
and is probably the best-known
Harlem Renaissance writer today.
Writers of the Harlem
Renaissance
Zora Neale Hurston,
Folklorist and novelist
Zora Neale Hurston is bestknown for her novel Their Eyes
Were Watching God, recently
made into a movie starring
Halle Berry.
Writers of the Harlem
Renaissance
Claude McKay,
Novelist, short story writer,
autobiographical writer, poet
Claude McKay was born in
Jamaica and moved to the
U.S. to go to college. He was
highly involved in politics and
was a humanist and
communist.
Writers of the Harlem
Renaissance
Countee Cullen,
Poet
Countee Cullen differed from other
Harlem Renaissance authors
because he was educated primarily
in a white community, so his
perspective differed from other
authors.
Writers of the Harlem
Renaissance
Gwendolyn Brooks,
Poet
Although Gwendolyn
Brooks was born right at
the beginning of the
Harlem Renaissance, she
was highly influenced by it
and her works reflect
many of the same ideas
and themes.
Writers of the Harlem
Renaissance
Arna Bontemps,
Poet, novelist, and playwright
Arna Bontemps was educated in
Harlem for college and it was then that
he began writing pieces of literature
that contributed to the movement. His
most famous piece is title The Story of
the Negro.
Writers of the Harlem
Renaissance
James Weldon Johnson,
Poet, novelist, folklore writer, and civil rights
activist
James Weldon Johnson was not only
a writer, but was also highly
involved in the NAACP. He
composed the lyrics for “Lift Ev’ry
Voice and Sing,” commonly known
as the “Negro National Anthem.”
Writers of the Harlem
Renaissance
Jesse Fauset,
Novelist, critic, poet, and editor
Jesse Fauset served as the literary editor
of The Crisis, the official publication of
the NAACP. It was she who published
works by Langston Hughes, Claude
McKay, and Countee Cullen in the
journal. Jesse is credited with discovering
and encouraging many Harlem
Renaissance writers.