preview

Harlem And The Harlem Renaissance

Decent Essays

The Great Migrations was the movement or relocation of over 6 million blacks from Southern rural regions to Northern urban areas. Looking to leave behind the racial tension of the south, and with hopes of new job opportunities in the north, many blacks moved in to urban cities such as Chicago, Detroit, and Harlem. Out of these northern metropolises, the most popular was Harlem; “here in Manhattan (Harlem) is not merely the largest Negro community in the world, but the first concentration in history of so many diverse element of Negro life”(1050). Harlem became the mecca of black people, and between the years of 1920 and the late 1930s it was known as the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance, brought artiest, poets, writers, …show more content…

Despite their many similarities, they have an equal amount of differences, which add to their experience in the black community. Arna Bontemps was born on October 13, 1902 in Alexandria, Louisiana. To two loving partners, his father descendent of slaves and his mother was English and Cherokee Indian bloodline. When Bontemps was a young boy, around the age of three his family moved to Los Angles California. Growing up he was considered middle class and his partners influenced him greatly as they were involved in the arts. Arna went on to attend Pacific Union College now known as UCLA and obtained a degree win teaching where he went on to become a teacher in Harlem in 1924. After his death, his Harlem home was into an African American museum. In looking at Langston Hughes, we see that we were born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. Like Arna, he was not fully black as both of his partners were biracial. However, unlike Bontemps, his partners separated when we was young, and was mainly raised by his grandmother in Cleveland, Ohio. Hughes also obtained a higher education at Lincoln University and Columbia University. Having a love to travel, he spent much time on the road until he made is home in Harlem. From looking at the background of these men, we see that they have many similarities, however we also see big differences in their upbringing which all played a role in how they experienced being black, but more

Get Access