Introduction

The New Negro Movement, better known as the Harlem Renaissance was an august movement for African-Americans. The Harlem Renaissance began in Harlem, New York succeeding World War I and ceased about 1935, when the Great Depression started. During this time period, the African-American culture experienced a revolution in literature, arts, music, education and entertainment. The Harlem Renaissance was a time period that invigorated black aplomb and was a cultural revival of the entire African-American race.

"New Negro" movement

During the 1920's, the spiritual, social, and literary eagerness that raced through Harlem could be called the most important period of self-discovery in African-American history after the Civil War. Black literature went through a tremendous outbreak in Harlem, which is a district of New York City. In the middle of the changing atmosphere, a small group of black men and women began a public relations campaign to promote what they called the "New Negro" movement. While these men and women promoted art and literature, they were credited with starting much more than just and intellectual movement. This movement included poetry and writing, which forever changed the African-American lifestyle into a unique and more educated culture.

As the African American culture expanded their horizon, and viewed passed the obstacles and barriers that were set by other ethnic groups, many families migrated to the northern cities, including New York City. Harlem was a magical, transforming place then, and that was especially true for the forsaken civilians who went to New York in search of a greater opportunity. Many believe, the Harlem Renaissance truly began, when W.E.B. Dubois, editor of "The Crisis magazine" published "The Souls of Black Folks". He stated that "One ever feels two-ness-and American, a Negro, two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled stirrings: two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn as under". There was an immediate reaction, it was clear that literature was definitely one art form that could bring the black culture together.
Even though slavery had been abolished 75 years earlier, were still able to relate to racism. For the first time, African Americans felt open minded, and in which their creativity strongly impacted every field of art and entertainment. They viewed poetry and writing as a form of expression, as a form of freedom and escape during the troubled life that many lived. As more and more people moved into Harlem, the job opportunities became larger. People felt confident and took greater risks. They often wrote about alienation and their own life stories, which were directed mostly to African American people and the third world of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Very few became successful and flourish in every literary area. "The decade just past was the oleomargarine era of Negro writing," Hurston said (editor of "Opportunity" magazine). "Oleomargarine is the fictionalized form of butter. And so the writings that made out they were holding a looking-glass to the Negro had everything in them except Negroness." People looked passed the skin color and, honor them rightfully with awards, prizes and fellowships. This was a goal achieved by many, which only helped the NAACP "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People" movement and slowly built self-confidence.

The growing popularity in Harlem had been used as a unique opportunity to create a positive public image of blacks in the American society. In their popular essays, novels, plays, and newspaper articles, this well-known group set out to change stereotypes of the black culture. All in all the poetic movement became joy and hope to some, and perhaps to others it was an inspiration and a guide for the future generation to come. On the day of March 1924, the Harlem Renaissance was publicly recognized, where members of the NAACP such as Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Dubois, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen became the dominating voices in American Literature of this century. It is up to us to learn from our mistakes from the past and give the next generation a better future.

Visions and Voices

The biographical film of Langston Hughes is both informative and entertaining. It approaches Hughes’s life with insightful observations from the people that personally knew him. The film goes into detail on his family background and early life before his poetic success, and continues through his life in Harlem, his literary achievements, and legacy.The film has interesting facts that were unknown to me previous to my viewing. For example, the historical relatives described in the biography gave more insight on the motivation of Hughes to make an impact in the culture or history of African-Americans.Other than insight, the movie was entertaining because of the creative structure of the film’s format. The combination of jazz and blues music, actual pictures and film footage, recitations of Hughes poetry, and images of the Harlem Renaissance make a profound impact when attempting to understand the life Langston Hughes came from and lived, as well as feeling the emotion in his literary works.Hughes achievements are extraordinary and his life was remarkable. His ability to overcome obstacles such as the lack of family and financial support are admirable. He stands as a role model for a younger generation of writers.

Countee Cullen (Porter) was considered by many to be the most talented of the Harlem Renaissance poets. Cullen was a novelist and a playwright, but he was known by most as a poet. He was born on March 30, 1903 in New York.  Not much is known of the early years of his childhood up until 1918.Between the time of Cullen’s birth 1918 he was adopted by Rev. Frederick and Carolyn Bell (Mitchell) Cullen of the Salem Methodist Episcopal Church in Harlem. It is unknown how old Cullen was when he got adopted by 1921, he changed his last name to Cullen, from his adopted mothers last name.Rev. Cullen regained Countee Cullen’s faith back in himself by getting him to understand that any goal or dream that he had to fulfill it. He attended De Witt Clinton High School between (1918-1921).
During this time he was editor of his schools newspaper and of the magazine Magpie, and during High School he wrote his first poetry that received notice. He also attended New York University for four years.Countee received much help both mentally and physically from his adopted father, it is said that if Countee would not have been adopted by the Reverend he would not have gone as far as he eventually did.Countee Cullen was considered one of the most talented of the Harlem Renaissance poets. A lot of his poetry was written during his high school and college years. During high school Cullen won his first contest,a citywide competition, with the poem “I Have a Rendezvous with Life,”a non-racial poem. Cullen was also the editor of his high school paper and a literary magazine Magpie. He furthered his wisdom and education at New York university, where he joined an all white fraternity called Phi Beta Kappa Honors. Cullen was awarded the Wittier Bynner Poetry Prize for his expressive culture oriented poetry. During his college career he created the book Color for which he won the Harmon Foundations first gold medal for literature.His poems had a direct relationship to the Harlem Renaissance, his poems either included ideological aspects and culture aspects.

Politics

Soon after blacks began to move into Harlem, the community became known as "the spiritual home of the Negro protest movement." The NAACP became active in Harlem in 1910 and Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association in 1916.Activist A. Philip Randolph lived in Harlem and published the radical magazine The Messenger starting in 1917. It was from Harlem that he organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. W. E. B. Du Bois lived and published in Harlem in the 1920s, as did James Weldon Johnson and Marcus Garvey.The earliest activism by blacks to change the situation in Harlem itself grew out of the Great Depression, with the "Don't Buy Where You Can't Work" movement. This was the ultimately successful campaign to force retail shops on 125th Street to hire black employees. Boycotts were originally organized by the Citizens' League for Fair Play in June 1934 against Blumstein's Department Store on 125th Street. The store soon agreed to more fully integrate its staff.

http://www.jcu.edu/harlem/Religion/page_1.htm
http://citizendia.org/Harlem

Music

The Harlem Renaissance “marked the beginning of the American literature along with its music, theater, art and politics.”  The cultural movement represented a “new found freedom expressed through the form of music and jazz by the African Americans.”  During this music era in the 1920’s, black musicians and performers not only attracted black crowds, but began to attract more and more Whites.  Musicians such as Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974), Lil Hardin Armstrong (February 3, 1898 – August 27, 1971), William “Count” Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984), and James Price Johnson (February 1, 1894 – November 17, 1955), performed in The Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom, which were venues created by African Americans for musical entertainment and public dancing.  “Ellington was an African American music composer, pianist, a band leader and the 20^th century’s best-known artist…He brought many great artist[s] together…and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame awards for several performances...” Among his performances was It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing – 1932).  “Hardin was a jazz pianist, composer, singer, and even led a band for a while…In her career she performed in many concerts…Some of her works include, Struttin’ With Some Barbecue, Don’t Jive Me, Knee Drops, Just For a Thrill, etc.  She died while performing a live televised memorial concert for Louis Armstrong (her former husband).” “Basie was…an accomplished award winning jazz pianist and composer…” “James Johnson, also known as Jimmy, was…a composer at par, and is attributed for the creation of a keyboard-bending genre known as stride piano.” 

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/famous-musicians-of-the-harlem-renaissance.html

Religion

Though there were indeed these differing religious expressions, from Black Muslims and Black Hebrews to Father Divine and his Peace Mission, the religious landscape of Harlem during the 1920s was overwhelmingly Christian. As such, this portion of the collage focuses on two representative men who articulated interestingly different approaches to addressing the issues of urban black Americans during this period. These two men are Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. and Reverend Frederick Asbury Cullen, father of Countee Cullen. Their respective personalities and distinct approaches toward leadership in black Harlem helped to shape the nature of the Renaissance, socially and ethically.

In Harlem, service and leadership manifested themselves in wide-ranging ways and the church was no exception. Though the titles of these two men are the same, what they used this title to show and achieve fall along different lines. For Rev. Cullen, leadership in black America was about responsibility: living in such a manner that would address the issues of the Negro people while challenging up and coming black leaders to attain to his measure of success, which he believed was the product of his ability to perform a particular notion of black masculinity.





http://www.jstor.org/pss/3042536
http://www.jcu.edu/harlem/Religion/page_1.htm
http://www.bookrags.com/tandf/religion-4-tf/

Education

Education during the Harlem Renaissance era was revolutionary. The influx of black immigrants from the south and West Indies during the 1920's played a huge role. These immigrants viewed New York as a land of great economic opportunity. New York became extremely popular because the state prohibited separate schools for African Americans. Though schools in New York were non-segregated, there were many schools that were primarily black due to the increase of of blacks in Harlem. This increase of blacks going to school sparked discussions about the kind of education needed for African Americans. There were two men whom had opposing views on this education. Booker T. Washington wrote a doctrine of education for African Americans and W.E.B. DuBois' educational philosophy engaged controversy.

Booker T. Washington's had a philosophy about education for African Americans that primarily promoted industrial education. He was a firm believer that African Americans should be trained as farmers, mechanics or servants, who would provide essential services and produce for the white community. Washington also emphasized that African Americans would only succeed if they established an economic foundation through land ownership, industry and agriculture. He also advised African Americans to keep their homesteads in rural areas and not leave the south.

Many African Americans opposed Washington's philosophy and leadership of education.

W.E.B. DuBois was an African American teacher and scholar. He led the opposition to Washington's views. DuBois advocated the educational idea of African Americans, labeling it "The Talented Tenth." The Talented Tenth was a small number of well educated African American professionals committed to improving race relations. There were only about 10,000 members of The Talented Tenth, compared to the 10,000,000 population in the 1920's. These members included doctors, lawyers, dentists, ministers, educators and business men & women. The Talented Tenths efforts are what really jump started the New Negro Movement. They encouraged organizations such a the American Negro Academy and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). These organizations worked to reorganize the advancements of African Americans in science, literature and art.

There was also a black philosopher name Alaine Locke. He was often deemed the "father" of the Harlem Renaissance. The New Negro: An Interpretation was written by Alaine Locke in 1926. It was an anthology containing works by writers at the time. After reading this book, white critics started taking African American writing seriously and white publishers sought out black literature.

The Harlem Renaissance was an amzing period in history for the spark of education in the African American community. It encouraged educational growth and prosperity.



Works Cited:

"Harlem Renaissance." Vintage Periods. N.p. N.p. Web. 1 September 2010.

"Harlem Renaissance/The New Negro Movement and Education." John Carroll University. N.p. N.p. Web. 15 September 2010.

Influential women

The Harlem Renaissance is often thought of as a literary movement in Harlem, but it was much more. It was an uplifting period that gave Blacks a sense of pride, self-worth, and new found spirit of hope; through literature, music, and theatrical performances. There were several front-runners of the period some well-known and a few lesser known. People often think of Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey, and Duke Ellington, but the women of the movement are frequently forgotten. Women such as Zora Neal Hurston, Bessie Smith and Gwendolyn Bennett are a few notable women in this period.
Zora Neal Hurston, an anthropologist and folklorist during the Harlem Renaissance, was an influential figure of this era. She published novels, short stories, and plays during this period. One of her most popular works was the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” which is a part of many American high school curriculums to this day. Bessie Smith, dubbed the “queen of blues”, by Columbia records for her 160 recordings for Columbia. Many credit Bessie with being the best females blues singer of the 1920’s and 1930’s, often working with notable musicians of this era such as Louis Armstrong. Also among these influential women was author and poet, Gwendolyn Bennett. Bennett’s poetry often reflected those works of the Harlem Renaissance. She focused on issues such as African heritage, racial pride, and recognizing the roots of African song and dance. She also wrote a column in the popular paper “Opportunity”, which was used to spread the word of the Harlem Renaissance and network with other poets. Through her networking she established a support group for poets during this era, Langston Hughes, Rudolph Fisher, and earlier mentioned Zora Neal Hurston were some of literary figure in this support group