In the early 1920s and up until the middle of the Depression, a cultural explosion of literature, music and art was most welcome in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the “New Negro Movement,” embodied a common belief in black pride and inspired many African Americans to celebrate their heritage through literature and art (Wintz 36). Not only did the Harlem Renaissance influence racial ideologies, but literature flourished most strongly during this period. The Negro Renaissance allowed African American literary works to be presented on a mainstream level, which attracted considerable attention from censors and patrons ( Wintz 67). Literary progress during the Harlem Renaissance ignited a new awareness of African writers that are still rivaled by modern African American writers. in his works. A significant change in African American mindsets lasted for the better part of twenty years and continues to this day.
“If you believe that the Negro has a soul, if you believe that man is a Negro, if you believe that the Negro was endowed by the Creator with other senses, then you must confess what others have done. We can make Negroes. We want to make cities, nations, governments, industries in our Africa, so that from the lowest to the highest we will be able to rise to the occasion of the African state” (Garvey 1 ).
In a captivating speech: “If the Negro has a soul, you believe” Marcus Garvey highlighted a new philosophy for the African. The Americans were known to be moving “into Africa”. The ideas surrounding the “Back to Africa” movement established a new sense of pride and laid the foundation for the advancements in the Harlem Renaissance. The New Negro Movement originated in Harlem because of the immense opportunities in business and education that were widespread in the South (Reuben 9). The failure of Reconstruction left freed slaves ruled by cruel white laws and terror. In the heart of Manhattan, the land was randomly allotted for African Americans who had passed through Mason Dixon to escape the lynchings and black Americans were employed and developed into a political and cultural center. .(Wintz 55). Such political activists who moved the northerners were Marcus Garvey and W. E. B. Du Bois who advocated African black rights< /a> The pride of culture and growth in education provided the courage and talent to express literaturewith a new ambition, which reached national recognition.
In the 1920s and the early Depression, many literary works emerged from African-American authors and poets. The primary literary novel that began the mainstream publication of African American works was The Dog by Jean Toomer (Wintz 182). Another work of poetry was a book by Langston Hughes called The Weary Blues and Color by Countee Cullen which had a great influence on others the writers of the “New Negro Movement.” Claude McKay wrote Home to Harlem which was one of the most popular African American novels of the late 1920s and focuses on Harlem night life and the perspective of black people’s lives. Mark Garvey, who started the “Back to Africa” movement, probably had the extreme view of the Harlem Renaissance when he wrote that he used the language of flying to arouse the crowds and even named himself the Provisional President of Africa. Alain Locke, after writing “The New Negro” in 1925, coined a term that epitomized the “new age” of African Americans in Harlem (Carbado 13).
Jean Toomer’s Cane started the literary movement in the Harlem Renaissance and received great reviews from white critics, which allowed other African Americans to write as well. Cane was considered a masterpiece when it was first published in 1923 and Toomer saw the young star as the mainstay of Harlem’s population. However, after Cane, Toomer refused to write beyond the feasts of the nation, and a religious journey led him to a religious Society. Familiars (Hulett II). Because of his family’s genealogy, he hated the fact that he was a black writer writing about black issues and cut off all ties. among Harlem writers (Wintz 110). This mistake ruined his reputation and he perished in obscurity until his works were published and published in 1969. With the Dog has become a classic textbook of African American studies in college and is a prime example of authority among more recent authors. Such modern authors who were inspired by the new things were Alice Walker who wrote The Color Purple (Hulett 2). “I remember reading Cane for the first time with a passionate acknowledgment of kinder love and crying over the song about always being there in need, and always being there, someone who becomes the seed that sings to us again, the shining tree.” (White 212). In her biography, Alice Walker: The Life of C. White by Evelyn, she explained that Cane is an example of each of her short stories and the force of impulse which helped in writing.
The most famous poet of the Harlem Renaissance was Langston Hughes, whose poems are still recited and influence many writers today. Hughes’ first song was The Weary Blues, which seemed to represent a new genre of music in the 1920s. His poems use antiphons and rhythms to evoke the reader’s sense of time and sad sounds, just as Venetian musicians used to sing them (Rueben 9). Langston Hughes influenced many musical lovers with his poetry, but his poetry also influenced one of the most popular figures in black America, Martin Luther. King Jr. Although Hughes was non-religious, and some of his songs were considered blasphemous, the song I, Too, American Dream, inspired King’s “I Have a Dream” speech (Allen 3). Langston Hughes’ poems based on realism, symbolism, and typical African-American life in his literary works, established a huge popularity (Rueben 9). Hughes’ popularity and favor with modern writers continues to this day.
Claude McKay wrote one of the most popular African writings during the Harlem Renaissance. Home to Harlem embodies the feelings and emotions of many African Americans who either fought in World War I. he enjoyed a Harlem night (Rueben 9). The novel based its plot around a lovable character named Jake who had served in the army during World War I; and he returns home to Baltimore, but is forced to move to Harlem because they are scarce. The character of Jake represents the large number of war veterans who returned home only to find that there were no job opportunities available. The story revolves around the love stories of Jake’s “lost brownie”, and as he travels through Harlem’s friendships, loves, jobs and nightlife, they are brought to life through the novel. Although McKay would butt heads with Alan Locke about what the “New Negro” would represent, he forced many 20th century writers to begin and wrote off many of his Americans experience a sense of pride. Writers of the Harlem Renaissance found new courage to write words of hope to other African Americans (Rueben 9). Garvey’s “If You Believe the Negro Has a Soul,” published in 1921, influenced every African American writer in the Harlem Renaissance and can therefore be traced back to influencing authors and poets. Garvey exclaimed:
We want to unite the Negro nation in this country. We want each Negro to work for a common cause, to build his nation on the great continent of Africa. All the Negroes all over the world are working to establish a government in Africa, which means that it will happen in a few more years. We want to make this dream possible with the moral and financial support of every Negro. Our race, this institution, has established itself in Nigeria, West Africa, and seeks to work to make the Negro land a great industrial and commercial nation. The bandits were sent by this organization into Nigeria and are now laying the foundations upon which the four thousand Negroes of the world will build (Garvey 1).
Despite the start of the “Movement,” Garvey never changed his plan to transport millions of African Americans back to Africa (Wintz 110). His plan came after he started referring to himself as the interim president of Africa. The government in the United has arrested him for seditious activities and mail fraud. While in the Atlanta Penitentiary, Garvey wrote: “Know that I have well planted a seed of Negro or Black nationalism that cannot be destroyed even by the base a story that has been drawn up for me, including essays by authors and poets and all the works of African art.
The New Negro, written and edited by Alain Locke, set a new term for African Americans in Harlem, and created another term for the Harlem Renaissance, “The New Negro Movement.” Alain Locke’s “New Negro” became the standard for all African Americans and started a new wave of literature in the mid-1920s. Locke constructed a collection of essays, plays, and poems and developed the concept of the “New Negro” (Carbado 15). When the New Negro was published, Locke became the leading theorist and strategist of the “New Negro Movement” (Rueben 9). Locke had been a philosopher at Howard University before writing The New Negro and viewed the Harlem Renaissance as a cultural. His philosophies of the “New Negro Movement” led to new discoveries of cultural pluralism, value relativism, and critical relativism (Hemenway 10). Opinions about the Harlem Renaissance differed greatly from W.E.B. Du Bois, who thought of the works in the “New Movement” as a means of propaganda, while Locke thought of it as his own expression and spiritual growth (Rueben 9). He moved Zora Neale Hurston with the New Negro and Toni Morrison, whom he had met while teaching at Howard University. . Although Zora Neale Hurston wrote during the Harlem Renaissance, her works were greatly influenced by Locke. He introduced this writing and eventually provided her with the money to write it. Zora Neale Hurston’s latest famous writer, Their The Eyes of God was inspired by Locke’s philosophies. (Reuben 9). Toni Morrison was another author inspired by Locke. He is a Nobel Prize winner for literature and a Pulitzer Prize winner for Fiction for the Novel Beloved (Wintz 56). During his time teaching at Howard University, Locke and Morrison became part of an informal group of poets and authors, and Morrison developed into a literary grammarian through Locke’s influence. After winning the Nobel Prize in literature, Locke believed that his only power was to become a writer.
The decline of the Harlem Renaissance is attributed to many reasons. The Stock Crash of 1929 marked the beginning of the end of the Great Depression. The depression caused many white patrons and aid organizations to cease. Many black writers and poets, including Hughes, Claudius McKay, Marcus Garvey, and Du Bois, left New York City. . /a> in the early 1930s to spread their works throughout Europe (Wintz 187). The rise of the KKK boosted racial tensions and scared many young people into writing (Mullen 5). Finally, the swelling, due to the growing economic burden of the Depression, in 1935 in Harlem raised tensions between the black and white communities, which debated the idea of a Harlem renaissance area (Wintz 190). However, the “New Negro Movement” did not disappear immediately. The Harlem Renaissance ended when prominent authors and poets left Harlem or stopped writing altogether, while writers never started talking about the movement of the late 1930s and 1940s.
. Harlem Renaissance African American literature in United in United established and introduced many authors throughout the 20th century. African American writers received less criticism after the “Movement” and it was easier to publish literature than at the beginning of the century. Letters from the Harlem Renaissance have inspired many contemporary writers, such as Alice Walker, Amiri Baraka, and Toni Morrison, as well as Martin Luther King’s The Dream Sermon. The period of the Harlem Renaissance provided development in African-american-art”>African-americana and Literature. Inspiration from Langston Hughes and Alain Locke bear witness to today’s culture and society.Although the “New Negro Movement” is long gone, the effects of their authors and writers are still alive today.
Works Cited
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