The Harlem Renaissance 1919-1929

1. The Harlem Renaissance 1919-1929 How does the artist use symbolism to describe the Renaissance?

2. Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City, was the center of the African American political, cultural, and artistic movement in the 1920s and early 1930s. Mets Lose Here!! Yankees Buy Pennant Here!! Giants Stink Here! Can you see any evidence from this map that this is an African American community?

3. 1920 1911 1930

4. Harlem in the early 1930s Based on these pictures, describe what life was like in Harlem in the early 1930s.

5. Four major causes of the Harlem Renaissance

6. Causes Every family has that one member that they don’t want to admit to! What events and movements do you think may have helped lead to the Renaissance? Great Migration: the movement of hundreds of thousands of African Americans from rural areas in the South to urban areas in both he North and South. Don’t let it be you!!! What push factors led to the migration? What pull factors led to the migration?

7. Causes Growing African American Middle Class: developed as a result of improved educational and employment opportunities for African Americans. The Harlem section of New York became the center of this new African American class.

8. Causes Political Agenda For Civil Rights by African Americans: leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey and the NAACP helped to inspire racial pride in the middle and working class. Du Bois, author of The Souls of Black Folks, was instrumental in the foundation of the NAACP. Marcus Garvey pushed for the Back to Africa movement

9. The NAACP published The Crisis, a journal used to share the literary works of African Americans. Du Bois believed that artistic and literary work could be used as a form of propaganda to help combat racial stereotypes and gain new respect for the race. What message does this song, written by an African American, send to the general public? How do images like this hinder the efforts of African Americans like Du Bois?

10. Du Bois also believed in the “talented tenth.” This was the idea that a small percentage of the African American population who were exceptionally skilled should be designated and educated as artistic and cultural leaders. He proposed absolute equality for the "talented tenth" and technical training for the black masses. In what ways does Du Bois’ “talented tenth” idea bring about a self-fulfilling prophecy?

11. Dubois’ Influence on Literature The Negro Speaks of Rivers Langston Hughes I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset. I've known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. Incident Countee Cullen Once riding in old Baltimore,Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,I saw a BaltimoreanKeep looking straight at me. Now I was eight and very small,And he was no whit bigger,And so I smiled, but he poked outHis tongue, and called me, "Nigger." I saw the whole of BaltimoreFrom May until December;Of all the things that happened thereThat's all that I remember. How can these poems (and others we will examine) be seen as propaganda?

12. The 369th “Hell Fighters” were rewarded the Croix de Guerre for gallantry in battle and returned to the U.S. as heroes to African Americans. Although the French recognized the courage and skill of the regiment, the U.S. government downplayed their role and even tried to convince the French to do the same. “…We must not eat with them…shake hands or seek to talk or meet with them outside of the requirements of military duty…We must not commend too highly the [black] troops…” excerpts from a memorandum entitled “Secret Information Concerning the Black American Troops.” How do you think the American public will treat African American soldiers upon their return?

13. Causes Red Summer of 1919 There were 25 major race riots and at least 83 African Americans were lynched. The Ku Klux Klan held over 200 meetings to increase enrollment. In response to the gains by African Americans, many whites fought back during the summer of 1919. What are the psychological effects of lynching and cross burning on aspiring African Americans?

14. African American Poet, Claude McKay memorialized the bloody summer of 1919 with the poem, “If We Must Die,” which was published in the magazine Liberator. If We Must Die If we must die--let it not be like hogsHunted and penned in an inglorious spot,While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,Making their mock at our accursed lot.If we must die--oh, let us nobly die,So that our precious blood may not be shedIn vain; then even the monsters we defyShall be constrained to honor us though dead!Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe;Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave,And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!What though before us lies the open grave?Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! What is the imagery used in the poem? What message is the author sending to African Americans? Do you agree or disagree with the author? Why?

15. Impact Before After The Harlem section of New York City was transformed from a deteriorating area into a thriving middle class community.

16. Modernism & the Harlem Renaissance • Blacks view surge in art, music and literature as the creation of a new cultural identity. • Whites see it as another new, exotic, and trendy form of entertainment.

17. As Modern Artists look to “make it new” they turn to the “New Negro” arts movement. What do you think about this artwork? Explain.

18. Jazz Shapes American Culture How did the following artists impact American popular music? Can you identify their music and differentiate it from Early Jazz?

19. Differences in Artistic Vision • Dubois & Locke • “Thus all art is propaganda and ever must be despite the wailing of the purists.” • “The great social gain in this is the releasing of our talented group from the arid fields of controversy and debate to the productive fields of creative expression.” • Hughes & Hurston • “We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too.” What do you believe was more important: fighting racial prejudice and stereotyping, or true personal expression? (Read: “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” by Langston Hughes for HW)

20. Zora Neale Hurston “Sweat” Their Eyes Were Watching God