The Harlem Renaissance Movement

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The Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance also known as the Black Literary Renaissance and the “New Negro” Movement, was a movement that took place in New York between the years of 1917 to 1935. This movement was marked by the “Great Migration”, where blacks that were settled in the South migrated to the North in search for bigger opportunities and civil rights. During these years Jim Crow laws and slavery were being practiced in the south, which were some of the main factors that caused the shift of blacks from the rural South to urban North. The Harlem Renaissance was characterized by its great explosion of “African American art, music, dance, poetry, literature, intellectualism and activism” (Graham) It was an era that inspired …show more content…
It opened a new road that lead to a fight for equal rights and the acceptance of blacks in America. This road lead to the civil rights movement and the spread of the African American culture through all of America. Blacks eventually got their civil rights as a result of the Harlem Renaissance giving black Americans the motivation they needed to be someone in America and fight for their rights. The movement till this day has an effect on America, like hip-hop. Hip-hop was greatly influenced by the great cultural expression of the Harlem Renaissance. Artist like Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong that revolutionized the music in America have had a great affect on our society …show more content…
It gave birth to great African American intellectualist an activist that created a path to equality in America. This movement gave life back to those blacks in America that felt like they were just slaves, it gave them hope for the future and a place in America. It was a new beginning for the “New Negro,” that could now express his culture and heritage and take pride in it. Through the Harlem Renaissance “black Americans rise up from a history of slavery and sorrow to a position of self-empowerment and triumph”(Oppenheim). Blacks could finally get out of their oppressed lives of slavery and have the motivation to express their talents into the world. Their music, literature, and art brought white America closer to black America. It didn’t only affect the way blacks saw themselves in America, but it created acceptance through the white

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