Essay on Harlem Renaissance: Social, Artistic & Intellectual Explosion of African American Culture

Introduction

Harlem renaissance is considered to be a social, artistic, and intellectual explosion that occurred in Harlem, New York City, in the 1920s (Lassiter, 2015). The renaissance was also referred to as the new Negro movement due to its link to the 1925 anthropology article referred to as the new Negro (Nash, 2017). Harlem renaissance involved the explosion of Africa American cultures in various urban centers that were affected by the great migration, such as the Midwest and northwest parts of the United States. The renaissance existed between the year 1918 up to the 1930s, but the movement's ideas and agenda continued to live on for a long time (Fearnley, 2014). Although the new Negro movement was mainly featured in the Harlem neighborhood, it also influenced other African American writers in other parts of the world, such as Paris (Phipps, 2018). The renaissance is perceived to have helped accomplish numerous African American's objectives, such as the African American arts. This study aims to discuss the rise and fall of the Harlem renaissance.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The Rise of the Harlem Renaissance

In the 19th century, most urban suburbs were set aside for the white upper and middle-class individuals working in various industries across the country (Nash, 2017). However, in the beginning of the 20th century, African Americans started to invade urban suburbs such as Harlem (Fearnley, 2014). Initially, the white residents living in the urban suburbs tried to restrict the African Americans from occupying their areas, but after failing to keep them off, most of the whites living in the urban areas had to flee. The formation of Harlem renaissance was mainly triggered by several factors that include, first, the great migration. This is the movement of the blacks living in the southern part of the country out of the deep southern regions. These movements were mainly motivated by various factors such as the pull and push forces that made people lack the freedom of movement and the freedom to own land, growth of the klu-Klux-klan community and increased risk factors of health and well-being.

Secondly, the end of world war I. after the war, people living in the southern part experienced a lot of pull forces that made people to relocate in search of a better life. Some of the pull forces include the economic boom in most northern urban centers. Numerous people relocated to these areas since the demand for labor was very high, particularly among the developing industries. The workers in this region we protected by different unions that fought for their rights and also made them get affordable housing. The huge migration in the urban centers led to the formation of the Harlem renaissance that helped to create a feedback loop that the African Americans used to move further to the northern part (Nash, 2017). Due to the significant achievements of the Harlem Renaissance movement and the establishment of the African American cultures in the urban centers, more people felt motivated to join the movement. The increased number of followers and also made the renaissance movement to become more vocal and vogue. Harlem renaissance was also able to attract numerous followers from other parts of the country and across the globe due to its huge influence. The increased popularity of the movement helped to progress their political objectives particularly through various literary publications that expressed the opportunities and crisis of the black.

Culture as a Political Instrument during the Renaissance

The migration of African American in the northern urban centers led to the formation of a new Negro movement that was rich in different cultures. The rich culture is particularly considered to have been used by the Africans as a political instrument to drive their political agenda and objectives. African Americans usually exploited their culture in different ways in order to achieve their political interest. Some of these ways include firsts; they used their songs and dance to fight for political equality. The African Americans who originated from the south were able to revolutionize jazz music through the use of different instruments such as piano and brass instruments. This made the music to gain huge popularity and acceptance amongst the American population. The renaissance was able to produce numerous jazz performers such as Noble Sissie and Enbie Blake, who used their music to fight racial inequality and discrimination that was being experienced by African Americans (Phipps, 2018). This made the government to introduce measures that were aimed at enhancing equality, for instance, though there creation of new laws. Secondly, African Americans used different forms of literature, such as poems, journals, and books, to express their concerns and political objectives. The famous black authors, such as Langston Huges, were at the forefront of ensuring that the black's concerns and needs were heard and addressed by the government.

Cultural Authenticity in the Renaissance and Its Impact on Market Demand

The blossom of the Harlem renaissance led to the growth of the African American culture through various fields such as literature and other creative arts. The movement's growth and unity helped to create a sense of cultural authenticity among the members. For instance, embracing the literally, theatrical, visual, and musical arts helped the participants to reconceptualize the blacks despite the existence of numerous white stereotypes or perceptions that had negatively influenced the African Americans' relationship with their natural heritage. The African American culture tried to express their values, beliefs, and their daily interactions with the aim of eliminating negative moral values and the existing shame concerning some of their aspects. The African Americans raid enough groundwork for all their different cultural aspects, thus creating a tremendous impact on the society. The cultural authenticity developed by the African Americans helped to increase demand for their works, particularly among the people who desired to know more about the blacks. Harlem renaissance was able to attract a large number of talents and intellect that acted as a symbolic sign of their cultural awakening.

The fall of the Harlem Renaissance

Although the Harlem renaissance had grown and achieved much of its objectives, particularly through their rich culture, it was highly affected by the great depression that occurred in the United States. The great depression caused an unfair increment of rent prices while the cost of living also increased significantly. This made most African Americans living in the urban centers to relocate to other areas where the cost of living was a bit cheaper. The remaining African Americans also relocated to emerging neighborhoods such as Brooklyn and Queens (Phipps, 2018). The relocation of most of the new Negro movement members led to the dissolution of the movement. However, since the movement was mainly based on its cultural aspects, most of the movement's literary works continued to gain much acceptance within the country and across the globe.

Conclusion

Harlem renaissance is considered to be the largest social, artistic, and intellectual explosion that occurred in Harlem, New York City. The renaissance brought together numerous blacks who had migrated from the southern part of the country due to various reasons such as the pull and push forces and the poor health and well-being. The huge cultural factors of the renaissance made it to gain huge influence and acceptance across the globe. However, the movement met its fall during the great depression that made the cost of living to increase significantly.

References

Fearnley, A. M. (2014). When the Harlem renaissance became vogue: periodization and the organization of postwar American historiography. Modern Intellectual History, 11(1), 59-87. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1479244313000334

Lassiter, F. L. (2015). From Toasts to Raps: New Approaches for Teaching the Harlem Renaissance. Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture, 15(2), 374-377. https://read.dukeupress.edu/pedagogy/article-abstract/15/2/374/20471

Nash, W. R. (2017). Harlem Renaissance. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature. https://www.dentonisd.org/cms/lib/TX21000245/Centricity/Domain/535/Harlem%20Renaissance%20Article.pdf

Phipps, G. (2018). The Narrative of Creative Democracy in the Harlem Renaissance. In Narratives of African American Women's Literary Pragmatism and Creative Democracy (pp. 77-111). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-01854-2_3