The Harlem Renaissance was an artistic, intellectual, and social explosion that took place in Harlem, New York between the 1910s and the 1920s. However, it was commonly referred to as the “New Negro Movement” named after Alain Locke’s anthology titled The New Negro arising from the Great Migration . Its initial areas of impact was in urban areas within the Northeastern and Midwestern states. The Harlem Renaissance ensured cultural development in the entire country as it promoted expression of the African American culture as an equal and of relevance in the national culture. Despite the apparent oppression, notable individuals would advocate self-worth among members of the black community.
Although the movement is widely associated with the celebration of the literati like W.E.D. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston, it was much more than that. The Harlem Renaissance promoted the expression of the black people through fine arts. The literati parties helped present African American identity that would be accepted even by white audiences in attendance. Jazz music would be an acceptable genre among whites despite being previously played in Harlem speakeasies. Its widespread acceptance brought success for artists like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Tap dancers like Bill “Bojangles” Robinson would become a part of the entertainment where such music played. A vibrant nightlife culture was born that would last late into the night. White audiences who did not wish to mingle with African Americans established their own settings like the Cotton Club that featured the African American Jazz artists.
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As the movement spread, it bore more opportunities for black people to express their pride and culture through stage performance in Broadway and visual arts. The musical Shuffle Along by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake helped launch Josephine Baker’s career as an entertainer. Although art schools, museums, and galleries were not as welcoming to black visual artists, it did not stop them from stepping up for recognition. Sculptor Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller and painter Aaron Douglas became notable figures of visual arts. The various fine arts incorporated helped curve into history the first-hand perspective of African American culture to the white Americans and the rest of the world. Through its integration of black and white cultures, the era paved way for the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s in overcoming racism, segregation, and white dominated culture as was the primary belief of Paul Robeson.
