The Harlem Renaissance: A Retrospective

Every living organism burdened with the obligation humans define as "existence" knows that nothing lasts forever, that change is life's only certainty, though it does not come easily. There are times in the world's history when humans have begged and pleaded the powers that be for change: social, economical, or other. Sometimes people have demanded change and have resorted to violence and warfare in order to achieve it, only to exterminate lives and create hardship whether their battle was won or lost. Too rarely, though, groups of people capable of harnessing the influence of creativity would bypass the practice of submitting requests for change by simply creating it. Without bloodshed, international invasions and the horror of war, armies of educated men and women have marched peacefully into the minds and hearts of citizens around the world via the written word, the visual image, the smooth tune, the festive dance and/or the inspiring speech. One of these times was the Harlem Renaissance, a period between the World Wars (roughly 1919-1930) when all fields of African-American art saw an immense explosion of creative activity. The Harlem Renaissance, simply put, was a cultural movement that celebrated and uplifted the culture of African-Americans while redefining Negro expression.

The Harlem Renaissance began as a series of literary discussions in the Greenwich Village and Harlem areas of New York City and quickly turned into a cultural movement in the areas of poetry, fiction, drama, essay, music, dance, painting, and sculpture (Gates Jr. 929). The Norton Anthology of African-American Literature describes the Harlem Renaissance as "...the irresistible impulse of blacks to create boldly expressive art of a high quality as a primary response to their social conditions, as an affirmation of their dignity and should also be linked to certain trends abroad" (Gates Jr. 929). The movement was known first as "The New Negro Movement" and later as the Harlem Renaissance, which is a somewhat misleading name.

Though many of the artists involved in the movement hailed from the Harlem section of New York, the Harlem scene was a representation of the artists and new cultural ideas that were being created and spread across the nation, mostly in the big northern cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Cleveland (Gates Jr. 929).

The Great Migration is one of, if not the greatest contributing factor in creating the Harlem Renaissance. Before World War I, the expansion of industry in the North created a demand for more labor, sending thousands of black workers and their families north in search of employment. This need for labor only intensified when World War I broke out and thousands of employed white workers from the North joined the armed forces and were sent to fight in Europe, which left many jobs unoccupied and increased the demand for able-bodied workers (Gates Jr. 930). With a lack of labor in the North and an abundance of unemployed labor in the South, blacks moved northward in search of employment.

African-American philosopher, sociologist and critic Alain LeRoy Locke published The New Negro in 1925, where he described the migration of blacks to the cities of the North as "something like a spiritual emancipation" (Diesman). Thousands of blacks escaped harsh oppression in the South and began to live a somewhat easier, less financially stressful life in the North, giving blacks for the first time a chance to study their African heritage and realize that being black was not something to be ashamed of.

In the introduction to The New Negro, Locke describes Harlem during the Great Migration: "Negro life is seizing upon its first chances for group expression and self-determination" (Online). Before moving north, blacks had not the luxury to study their culture or the means to celebrate it, but with freedom and a more stable financial base, blacks now had a better understanding of the world and the role their ancestors played in it.

Though the Harlem Renaissance is strictly American and almost exclusive to the American North, the movement itself is linked to a changing of ideas far beyond American borders. Works by young African and Caribbean students studying in Paris as well as intellectuals and artists of all kinds living in the West Indies created a movement much like the Harlem Renaissance, the Negritude Movement. The Negritude Movement, which was a movement made up mainly of French-speaking black writers, paralleled the Harlem Renaissance in time, subject matter, and (in some ways) style. The Negritude movement emphasized an African aesthetic and aimed to celebrate African culture, teaching lacks in America and around the world to praise and enjoy African accomplishments and values. The movement, much like the Harlem Renaissance, dug up the rich, once-buried culture of those hailing from the African continent and held it up for the world to see. No longer would blacks think of their ancestors as simple slaves subservient to whites but as the independent, proud people hailing from the great African continent. The Negritude movement was, in many ways, an international version of the Harlem Renaissance as it expressed similar values and aimed for the same awareness of African culture and pride (Gates Jr. 929).

During the height of the Harlem Renaissance, few writers were better than Langston Hughes. Born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri, Hughes wrote short stories, poetry, novels and plays (Langston Hughes - The Academy). His greatest strength was his ability to incorporate his personal experiences with the common black condition in America, applying his personal troubles and experiences with the world around him. His style allows readers to identify with everyday, realistic troubles that plague not only African-Americans but also the unlucky, impoverished souls of every race (Gates Jr. 1252). Hughes is remembered because of his style but more so because he was one of the few Harlem Renaissance alumni whose career survived the end of the movement. During his later years in the 1950s, Hughes began releasing works at a fever pitch. He released children's books, novels, short stories, a volume of an autobiography, plays, musicals, various anthologies and a history of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) just to name a few (Gates Jr. 1254). Hughes unique style also included writing poetry in a jazzy lyrical style. One of his poems, "Dream Deferred", is written and read with a short, broken jazzy tone:

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over--

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode? (Langston Hughes)

The Harlem Renaissance, however, was not always the artistic utopia many believed it to be. As the movement progressed, conflicts erupted between members of the movement that would eventually contribute to its ultimate demise. The conflicts were mostly between older and younger members with disputes over immorality and subject matter. W.E.B. Du Bois, the most powerful member of the older-generation of writers in the movement, complained that many of the young writers' works were immoral and lacked serious political themes. Younger members like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, however, saw the movement as one of freedom and sought the right to write freely in such areas as subject matter and style. Some of the younger writers even ran a short-lived magazine, Fire!!, whose stated purpose was to "burn up a lot of old, dead conventional Negro-white ideas of the past" (Gates Jr. 934).

The Harlem Renaissance began to wind down after the crash of Wall Street in 1929. The movement had relied heavily on the success of publishers, theatres, and the art world and once the economy began to tank, the resources needed to broadcast the artistic talents of the members of the Harlem Renaissance dried up. Unemployment and the rise of crime in the Harlem area eventually killed the area's atmosphere and reputation as an artistic wonderland and the city would eventually become a symbol of crime and misconduct.

Once it was over, critics questioned whether or not the Harlem Renaissance achieved a considerable amount of change for the condition of African-Americans. Whether or not the movement was successful in changing lives of blacks in its day is debatable but one thing is for sure: the movement set a solid foundation for future artists, black, white or other and showed African-Americans that their heritage is rich and fruitful and has contributed much to the world (Gates Jr. 936).

The Harlem Renaissance was a period between the World Wars (roughly 1919-1930) was a cultural movement that celebrated and uplifted the culture of African-Americans while redefining Negro expression. One of the greatest causes of the Harlem Renaissance was The Great Migration, a period when blacks moved cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia and Cleveland in order to find employment in the growing industry of the North. With the newfound financial security and relative freedom in the North, blacks would reflect and learn about their ancestors, finally understanding and celebrating the richness of African culture. Locke even went so far as to describe the migration of blacks to the North as "something like a spiritual emancipation."

Though the Harlem Renaissance was a strictly American movement, the Negritude movement was its international equivalent. Langston Hughes quickly established himself as a superb writer during the Harlem Renaissance and was one of the lucky alumni to have a successful career following the time period of the movement. But, as with any interaction, conflicts erupted within members of the movement over matters such as subject matter and morality. The conflicts began taking a toll on the movement and contributed to its demise, which came following the crash of the Stock Market in 1929, which financially killed the outlets that broadcasted the artistic talents of the members of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a success in that it changed the hearts and minds of African-Americans around the country and educated them with a reason to celebrate their African culture.

Works Cited

Diesman, Jill. The Harlem Renaissance. 5 May 1998. 15 May 2005.

http://www.nku.edu/~diesmanj/harlem_intro.html>

---. Langston Hughes. 5 May 1998. 15 May 2005.

http://www.nku.edu/~diesmanj/hughes.html#dreamdeferred>

Gates Jr., Henry Louis and Nellie Y. McKay, ed. The Norton Anthology of

African American Literature. New York: W. W. Norton & Company,

1997.

Langston Hughes - The Academy of American Poets. 2005. The Academy of

American Poets. 14 May 2005.

http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=84>

Online NewsHour Forum: Harlem Renaissance. 20 Feb. 1998. PBS.org. 14 May

2005.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/february98/harlem_2-20.html>