Women During The Harlem Renaissance

     The Harlem Renaissance was a time of racism, injustice, and importance. Somewhere in between the 1920s and 1930s an African American movement occurred in Harlem, New York City. The Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. It was the result of Blacks migrating in the North, mostly Chicago and New York. There were many significant figures, both male and female, that had taken part in the Harlem Renaissance. Ida B. Wells and Langston Hughes exemplify the like and work of this movement.

Who was involved? Langston Hughes, W. E. B. Du Bois, Wallace Thurman, Zora Neale Hurston, Jessie Redman Fauset, Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Walter White are just a few of the literary contributors of the Harlem Renaissance (Richard Wormser, pbs.org). These people, through their writings, offered a better understanding of what it meant to be African American during this time in history. Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Paul Robeson, Florence Mills, Cab Calloway, and Billy Pierce are just a few of the musical contributors (bio.com).

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement where African Americans embraced their newfound freedom through various types of art. An important figure involved in this movement was a woman named Gwendolyn Bennett. Being one of the most versatile figures she was a Poet, short-story writer, columnist, journalist, illustrator, graphic artist, arts educator, teacher, and administrator on the New York City Works Progress Administration Federal Arts Project (1935-1941). Bennett was the first African-American member of her school's theater, and literature student organizations. She strengthened her education by attending multiple institutes such as Columbia University's Teacher College, Pratt Institute, and later received a scholarship to travel to Paris. Throughout her many accomplishments through her life, her legacy can still be discerned today as impactful and important. Gwendolyn Bennett substantially impacted the Harlem Renaissance and modern day through her involvement in the George Washington Carver School and Harlem Community Center.

History.com (2009) describes the Harlem Renaissance movement as “a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement that kindled a new black cultural identity.” The 1920s and 1930s emcompass a time in history where blacks found themselves ostracized from mainstream society. It was uncommon to see the expressions of black artistry in everyday life, especially on a literary level.

The Harlem Renaissance was the name given to the cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem, New York between the conclusion of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. During this period, Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. Many had come from the South, fleeing its oppressive caste system in order to find a place where they could freely express their talents; this became known as The Great Migration. Among those artists whose works achieved recognition were Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Arna Bontemps, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jean Toomer. The Renaissance involved racial pride, fueled in part by the violence of the "New Negro" demanding civil and political rights. The Renaissance incorporated jazz and the blues, attracting whites to Harlem speakeasies, where interracial couples danced. However, the Renaissance had little impact on breaking down the rigid barriers of Jim Crow that separated the races; while it may have contributed to a certain slackening of racial attitudes among young whites, perhaps its greatest impact was to reinforce race pride among blacks. The importance of the social movement we refer to as the Harlem Renaissance cannot afford to be overlooked. Like the musicians of their day, Harlem Renaissance poets advocated for an equal society, and incorporated personal anecdotes and historical snippets into their compositions to make the

Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks are regarded as highly influential poets in African American literature, which continues to inspire writers to this day. Langston Hughes is a well-known pioneer of the Harlem Renaissance, a movement in which African Americans in Harlem during post World War I and the early 1930’s began a cultural and artistic revolution. During this time, African American musicians, artists, writers, and poets revolutionized their position in and through many artistic fields of expression. This cultural and artistic revolution redefined how America viewed the African American population, which garnered respect and criticism from Americans nationwide. Gwendolyn Brooks, an African American poet also in the 19th century, was introduced to Langston Hughes at a young age peeking her interest in the Harlem Renaissance that eventually became a foundation and influence in her writing. Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes share similarities in the writing as she was highly inspired by Langston Hughes, but also share many differences that are responsible for making their pieces of writing unique to other authors and each other.

I will be writing about the Harlem Renaissance taking place in 1920’s New York. Specifically, I will be discussing the influence African American women have on art, music and literature during the Harlem renaissance. The argument of the paper will be identifying the importance of African American women participating in the Harlem Renaissance and how their participation has influenced modern day African American trends: showcasing media, literature and art. Another major point of my argument is how African American women developed after slavery and into the women of the Harlem Renaissance.

The Harlem Renaissance was a time of reinvention and creation for the black citizens of America. Throughout this period in history, black Americans invented new dances, new music genres, new styles and trends. However, one of their most important contributions to this time period was that of their literary contributions which publicly spoke about political and personal issues that authors faced as black citizens. Gwendolyn Bennett, a poet and fiction writer, was one of the main contributors to this movement.

A group of people who had at one point held no power and position in society were now thriving in the nation, as they spread their culture and ideas. It was the start of an era known as the Harlem Renaissance. This was a more than a literary movement, it was a cultural movement based on pride in the Africa-American life. They were demanded civil and political rights (Stewart). The Harlem Renaissance changed the way African Americans were viewed by society. It, “changes the image of the African-American from rural, undereducated peasants to one of urban, cosmopolitan sophistication”. This era expanded from the early 1920s to the mid 1930s (Wikipedia). It generated great pride in the people

Everyone faces challenges; however, not everyone faced the two pronged sword that the New Negro Women faced during the Harlem Renaissance. Not only did they have to find a way to define New Negro Woman to the New Negroes in the facially masculine Harlem Renaissance, but they also had to find a way to participate and connect with her new womanhood throughout discriminatory New Woman movement. Many New Negro women wanted to be able to have a private and public part of life - have a family and be able to work. However, they both had to face the trials of gender inequality and the tribulations of racial discrimination in the workplace. This question of “allegiance to race or gender” became a common theme in the works of the New Negro women.

The Harlem Renaissance was a time of “Rebirth” of the African heritage. In a quest for racial identity and equality. This made way for various African American musicians, artists and writers to emerge. A few of those became central figures of the Harlem Renaissance. One of those central figures was Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston was a writer, folklorist and anthropologist. Hurston made use of African American dialect to create some of the strongest female characters in the earliest twentieth century fiction. Langston Hughes was another central figure. He was a musician, journalist and a novelist. He became a rare poets that included powerful phrases. Gwendolyn Brooks was a central figure. Brooks was a writer. She was the first African-American

The story of the glamourous and revolutionary young white women of the roaring 20’s, the flappers, the designers, and the actresses has been praised, the story of the African American women during that time hasn’t received the spotlight they deserve. Female African American artists were instrumental in the development of the Harlem Renaissance. Enchanting blues singers, admired socialites, and poets who captured the hundreds of years of struggle African Americans endured artistically on paper, all heavily contributed to the development of black culture.

African Americans that started this doing different things such as writing poems , music , doing art like all that became into one huge program it’s very impressive to hear that black people from all over come to Harlem , New York and get together or be by themselves and comparing things together. The Renaissance was a very interesting piece to learn about because what I learned is that musicians such as: Langston Hughes , Rudolph Fisher , Wallace Thurman also writers Claude McKay , Alain Locke , Charles S Johnson , etc came together and made a group for black people which was called the “New Negro movement”. I never would have thought some random person that either be on the side of the road or just writing a little mini paragraph would become so interesting or in other words popular.

I have learned a substantial amount of information this past week. For a little over a week we have been doing a project over The Harlem Renaissance, why it is important, and we have learned about the poet of your choice.Before this project, I thought The Harlem Renaissance was just African Americans in Harlem, New York making the new music genres, such as jazz and blues. After this project I have learned that the movement was not just about making music, but instead about African Americans wanting social change. The way they brought about this was by peacefully speaking through their art, music and writing, getting their problems heard and talked about. The poet i had chosen for this project was doing just that. Her name was Gwendolyn Bonnett,

The Harlem Renaissance or "New Negro Movement" was the most significant moment in African American literature because of an exceptional outbreak of creative activity among black writers. The renaissance was not confined to the Harlem district of New York City. Harlem involved a notable concentration of intellect and talent and served as the representative capital of this cultural development. The writers of the Harlem Renaissance shaped ideas and an identity that has left a lasting influence on American literature. Some of the major names including Langston Hughes, Jessie Redmon Fauset, W.E.B.Du Bois, Claude McKay and Jean Toomer.