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Harlem Renaissance

An incredible aura of confidence and creativity occurred in the northern cities as African Americans journeyed to the urban areas in the 1920s. In New York city, the black population produced artists, writers, musicians, orators, dramatists, and entertainers of such great talents and with so much authenticity that the period was called, the Harlem Renaissance. In fact, this period in American history was no only significant for the African American community but for the regeneration and rejuvenation of the entire scope of American Art and entertainment. Lasting in the 1940s, the Harlem Renaissance was localized in New York but its impact was far-ranging. Displaying the cultural and creative abilities of the African American community, writers and artists from various parts of the nation descended upon Harlem. Indeed, the name of the community was synonymous with all that was best in the African American population. Small communities in many cities identified themselves as Harlem. There were Harlem cookies, Harlem books, Harlem behaviors, and Harlem attitudes. Harlem was in vogue. Around the world, people heard the name of Harlem and it was no longer the Dutch city that people thought of but the American community made famous from the richness of its culture.

The best of the poets , the jazz and blues classicists, the choreographers and dancers with something new t o demonstrate, and the plastic artists and dramatists who wanted to show the world what the African American had achieved in the art world since the Emancipation, came to this community by the droves. This was an upbeat time, the people were optimistic, the rhetoric was visionary, and the streets were lively. The literature of the period was varied and diverse. Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston would be the king and queen of the parade of excellence and their dynamic voices would inspire numerous other poets and writers.

from: Historical and Cultural Atlas of African Americans

by Molefi K. Asante and Mark T. Mattson