The Harlem Renaissance htt p:/ /w w w. yo ut ub e.c o m/ wa tch ?v = Gl Pa Sg nj uO I& fea tur e= rel ate d htt p:/ /w w w. yo ut ub e.c o m/ wa tch ?v = Gl Pa Sg nj uO I& fea tur e= rel ate d What is it? The Harlem Renaissance is the name given to the period from the end of World War I (1919) to the middle of the 1930s Depression, during which time a group of talented African-American artists, musicians, writers, and thinkers produced a sizable contribution to American culture, expressing themselves through: Intellectual Dialogue Literary and Artistic Creation Blues and Jazz Dance and Musical Theater Where is Harlem? The Island of Manhattan New York City is on Manhattan Island Neighborhoods Where was the HR centered? Centered in the Harlem district of New York City, the New Negro Movement (as it was called at the time) had a major influence across the Unites States and even the world. What was the district like? Harlem is vicious Modernism. BangClash. Vicious the way it's made, Can you stand such beauty. So violent and transforming. - Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) What did the HR include? Racial Consciousness The Back to Africa Movement Racial Integration Music - esp. Jazz, Ragtime, Spirituals, and Blues Painting and Sculpture Dancing Dramatic Revues Novels, Plays, and Poetry How does the Harlem Renaissance connect to the Great Migration? The economic opportunities of the era, especially those brought on by World War I, triggered a widespread migration of Black Americans from the rural south to the industrial centers of the north - especially to New York City. Many of the Blacks were fleeing poverty and growing racial violence in the South membership in the KKK grew to more than 4 million nationwide in the 1920s. In New York and other cities, Black Americans explored new opportunities for intellectual and social freedom. Black American artists, writers, and musicians began to use their talents to work for civil rights and obtain equality. And they flocked to Harlem, as described by Philosopher Alain Locke: Harlem has become the greatest Negro community the world has known--without counterpart in the South or in Africa. But beyond this, Harlem represents the Negros latest thrust towards Democracy. Here in Manhattan is not merely the largest Negro community in the world, but the first concentration in history of so many diverse elements of Negro life . In Harlem, life is seizing upon its first chances for group expression and self- determination. It is or promises to be a race capital. I had an overwhelming desire to see Harlem. More than Paris, or the Shakespeare country, or Berlin, or the Alps, I wanted to see Harlem, the greatest Negro city in the world. - Langston Hughes, The Big Sea Alain Locke & Marcus Garvey The New Negro New Negroes, according to philosopher Alain Locke, rejected beastlike or sentimental stereotypes, claiming the right to define themselves and defend themselves against attack. They felt a collective identity they had pride in their race and asserted its contributions to American culture. At the same time, they possessed an international consciousness, recognizing kinship among blacks in the United States, West Indies, and Africa. The New Negro New Negroes, according to philosopher Alain Locke, rejected beastlike or sentimental stereotypes, claiming the right to define themselves and defend themselves against attack. They felt a collective identity they had pride in their race and asserted its contributions to American culture. At the same time, they possessed an international consciousness, recognizing kinship among blacks in the United States, West Indies, and Africa. The New Negro Has No Fear How did it impact history? Helped to redefine how Americans and the world understood African American culture Encouraged a new appreciation of folk roots and African culture Integrated black and white cultures Marked the beginning of a black urban society Set the stage for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s What were some common themes? Alienation Marginality Use of folk material Use of the blues tradition Problems of writing/creating artwork for an elite audience (ie. white patrons) Who do we associate with the Harlem Renaissance? Intellectuals such as W.E.B. Dubois, Marcus Garvey, and Alain Locke Artists such as Jacob Lawrence, Palmer Hayden, Hale Woodruff, and Aaron Douglas Authors such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, and Countee Cullen Musicians such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and Bessie Smith Dancers such as Bill Bojangles Robinson and Josephine Baker The Young Black Intellectuals The Notion of Twoness The notion of "twoness," a divided awareness of one's identity, was introduced by W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the author of the influential book The Souls of Black Folks (1903): "One ever feels his twoness - an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled stirrings: two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder." Alain Locke in The New Negro: So for generations in the mind of America, the Negro has been more of a formula than a human being - a something to be argued about, condemned or defended, to be kept down, or in his place, or helped up, to be worried with or worried over, harassed or patronized, a social bogey or a social burden. The thinking Negro even has been induced to share this same general attitude, to focus his attention on controversial issues, to see himself in the distorted perspective of a social problem. His shadow, so to speak, has been more real to him than his personality. The HR gave birth the many important publications, such as The Crisis magazine, edited by W. E. B. DuBois, giving black writers a forum where their voices could be heard. The Crisis sought to use art and literature to help build a new image for Negroes All art is propaganda and ever must be, despite the wailing of the purists. I stand in utter shameless- ness and say that whatever art I have for writing has been used always for propaganda for gaining the right of black folk to love and enjoy. - W.E.B. Du Bois, from Criteria of Negro Art Writers of the Harlem Renaissance Langston Hughes Claude McKay James Weldon Johnson Countee Cullen Jean Toomer Zora Neale Hurston James Baldwin Langston Hughes Hughes is known for his insightful, colorful, realistic portrayals of black life in America. He wrote poetry, short stories, novels, and plays, and is known for his involvement with the world of jazz and the influence it had on his writing. He wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including both their suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language itself. One of Hughes's poetic innovations was to draw on the rhythms of black musical traditions such as jazz and blues, but The Negro Speaks of Rivers recalls the heritage of Negro spirituals in the poem's majestic imagery and sonorous repetitions. Written when Hughes was only twenty as he traveled by train across the Mississippi, the poem is a beautiful statement of strength in the history of black people, which Hughes imagines stretching as far back as ancient Egypt and further into Africa and the cradle of civilization. The poem returns at the end to America in a moment of optimistic alchemy when he sees the "muddy bosom" of the Mississippi "turn all golden in the sunset.The Negro Speaks of Rivers I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset. I've known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. (1919) I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen, Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed-- I, too, am America. I, too, sing Americae.com/watch?v=4C UKyVrhPgMe.com/watch?v=Tu RQDrySOVQ Cross My old mans a white old man And my old mothers black. If ever I cursed my white old man I take my curses back. If ever I cursed my black old mother And wished she were in hell, Im sorry for that evil wish And now I wish her well. My old man died in a fine big house. My ma died in a shack. I wonder where Im going to die, Being neither white nor black? Harlem 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? Justice That justice is a blind goddess Is a thing to which we black are wise. Her bandages hide festering sores That once perhaps were eyes. Dreams Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow. The Weary Bluesoutube.com/ watch?v=Zd mp5lnj2WQ James Weldon Johnson Author Diplomat & Politician Journalist & Critic Poet & Songwriter Anthologist Educator Lawyer & Early Civil Rights Leader Lift Every Voice and Sing (aka. Negro national anthem, first performed in 1900) by James Weldon Johnson Lift every voice and sing Till earth and heaven ring; Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us; Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us, Facing the rising sun of our new day begun Let us march on till victory is won. The Making of Harlem, by James Weldon Johnson To my mind, Harlem is more than a Negro community; it is a large scale laboratory experiment in the race problem. The statement has often been made that if Negroes were transported to the North in large numbers the race problem with all of its acuteness and with New aspects would be transferred with them. Well, 175,000 Negroes live closely together in Harlem, in the heart of New York, 75,000 more than live in any Southern city, and do so without any race friction. Nor is there any unusual record of crime. Claude McKay America Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks into my throat her tigers tooth, Stealing my breath of life, I will confess I love this cultured hell that tests my youth! Her vigor flows like tides into my blood, Giving me strength erect against her hate. Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood. Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state, I stand within her walls with not a shred Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer. Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, And see her might and granite wonders there, Beneath the touch of Times unerring hand, Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand. The Lynching by Claude McKay ( ) Countee Cullen The Incident Once riding in old Baltimore, Heart-filled, head-filled with glee, I saw a Baltimorean Keep looking straight at me. Now I was eight and very small, And he was no whit bigger, And so I smiled, but he poked out His tongue, and called me, 'Nigger. I saw the whole of Baltimore From May until December; Of all the things that happened there That's all that I remember. Yet Do I Marvel I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind And did He stoop to quibble could tell why The little buried mole continues blind, Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die, Make plain the reason tortured Tantalus Is baited by the fickle fruit, declare If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus To struggle up a never-ending stair. Inscrutable His ways are, and immune To catechism by a mind too strewn With petty cares to slightly understand What awful brain compels His awful hand. Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: To make a poet black, and bid him sing! Simon the Cyrenian Speaks He never spoke a word to me, And yet He called my name; He never gave a sign to me, And yet I knew and came. At first I said, "I will not bear His cross upon my back; He only seeks to place it there Because my skin is black." But He was dying for a dream, And He was very meek, And in His eyes there shone a gleam Men journey far to seek. It was Himself my pity bought; I did for Christ alone What all of Rome could not have wrought With bruise of lash or stone. James Baldwin Novelist Essayist Playwright Poet Social Critic Female Writers of the Harlem Renaissance and Beyond Zora Neale Hurston Alice Walker Toni Morrison Maya Angelou Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston ( ) was a novelist, folklorist, anthropologist and playwright. She is the author of Tell My Horse, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Dust Tracks on a Road, Mules and Men, and Mule Bone. $945 is the most any of her books made. In the 1930's, Zora Neale Hurston returned to her "native village" of Eatonville, Florida, to record the oral histories, sermons and songs, dating back to the time of slavery, which she remembered hearing as a child. In her quest, she found herself and her history throughout these highly metaphorical folk-tales, "big old lies," and the lyrical language of song. Mules and Men Mules and Men is the first great collection of black America's folk tales. In it, Hurston captures the vernacular of the people. With this collection, Hurston helped to reveal and preserve African American culture in the South. Their Eyes Were Watching God Excerpt from Their Eyes The sun was goneIt was the time to hear things and talk. These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins. But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human. They became lords of sounds and lesser things. They passed nations through their mouths. They sat in judgment (1.4). Toni Morrison Beloved Sula The Bluest Eye Jazz Paradise Song of Solomon A Mercy I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it. - Toni Morrison The theme you choose may change or simply elude you, but being your own story means you can always choose the tone. It also means that you can invent the language to say who you are and what you mean. -Toni Morrison Maya Angelou I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Gather Together in My Name I Shall Not Be Moved Singin and Swingin and Makin Merry Like Christmas All Gods Children Need Traveling Shoes At President Clintons Inauguration: On the Pulse of Morning Artists of the Harlem Renaissance Jacob Lawrence Aaron Douglas Palmer Hayden Hale Woodruff Edward Burra John Henry Adams Lois Mailou Jones Jacob Lawrence Lawrence grew up in a settlement house in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance. His life in Harlem, as well as the struggle of other Black Americans, inspired his earliest work. Lawrence's parents were among those who migrated between , considered the first wave of the Great Migration. Lawrences Work Jacob Lawrence painted his Great Migration series during the 1940s to capture the experience of African Americans during the 1920s010/edit/migration/migration.html010/edit/migration/migration.html Jacob Lawrence Palmer Hayden One of the premiere artists of the African American folk experience, as well as ordinary aspects of twentieth-century black life Helped pioneer candid representations of everyday existences in American modern art Incorporated African American folkloric themes and images, which was initially more widely debated than celebrated for its novelty Characterizing his work as black primitivism, his critics denounced Hayden for his use of minstrel-like forms, which they felt played to racist stereotypes of black people. Haydens Portrayals of John Henry Haydens The Subway The Janitor Who Paints Haydens The Card Game Hayden, The Tunnel Hale Woodruff, 1934 Hale Woodruff Edward Burra, 1934 Edward Burra Ascent from Ethiopia, Lois Mailou Jones Study the picture for two minutes. Form an overall impression of the painting, then start to focus on individual details. Questions to think about: 1. What do you see? 2. What people do you see? 3. What objects do you see? 4. What colors do you see? 5. What actions/activities do you see? 6. How does this painting relate to the Harlem Renaissance? Music of the Harlem Renaissance Duke Ellington Louis Armstrong Cab Calloway Count Basie Bessie Smith Ella Fitzgerald Billie Holiday Josephine Baker Harlems Apollo Theater In 1914, The Apollo was constructed on 125th Street in the heart of Harlem. Originally, African-Americans were not allowed in the audience. In 1934, the Apollo held the first live Amateur Night Hour at the Apollo. Ella Fitzgerald was one of the first winners. That same year, "16 Gorgeous Hot Steppers" dazzled the crowds with the theater's first "Colored Revue." In 1935, Bessie Smith made her Apollo debut, followed by an unknown vocalist by the name of Billie Holiday who mesmerized the audience with her undeniable style and talent. Soon thereafter, the Apollo Theater became known as the place "Where Stars are Born and Legends are Made" and "home" to thousands of major performance artists, fans, and patrons of the arts from around the world. Duke Ellington Ellington was a jazz composer, conductor, and performer during the Harlem Renaissance. During the formative Cotton Club years, he experimented with and developed the style that would quickly bring him worldwide success. Ellington would be among the first to focus on musical form and composition in jazz. Ellington wrote over 2000 pieces in his lifetime. The Cotton Club The Duke Ellington Orchestra was the "house" orchestra for a number of years at the Cotton Club. The revues featured glamorous dancing girls, acclaimed tap dancers, vaudeville performers, and comics. All the white world came to Harlem to see the show. The first Cotton Club revue was in There were two new fast paced revues produced a year for at least 16 years. How do you get to Harlem? Take The A Train Billy Strayhorn for the Duke Ellington Orchestra You must take the A train To go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem If you miss the A train You'll find you missed the quickest way to Harlem Hurry, get on, now it's coming Listen to those rails a-humming All aboard, get on the A train Soon you will be on Sugar Hill in Harlemw2m1JmCY Louis SatchmoArmstrong Louis Armstrong was a jazz composer and trumpet player during the Harlem Renaissance. He is widely recognized as a founding father of jazz. He appeared in 30 films and averaged 300 concerts per year, performing for both kids on the street and heads of state. Which do you want to hear? When the Saints Go Marchin InWhat a Wonderful WorldLa Vie en RoseMack the Knife What is Jazz? Man, if you gotta ask youll never know. - Louis Armstrong The Jazz Age Jazz music is idiosyncratic by nature where the performer creates the rhythm. There is truly no incorrect way to play Jazz. J.A. Roger wrote, Jazz isn't just music, but also a spirit that can express itself in almost everything. It was in many ways a revolt against constraints because it was so joyous. Typically instrumented by piano, string bass, brass, and drums, jazz began to take charge of the new era of music. -- Kwa King, The Jazz Age Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues Bessie Smith was a famous jazz and blues singer during the Harlem Renaissance. Smith recorded with many of the great Jazz musicians of the 1920s, including Louis Armstrong. Smith was popular with both blacks and whites Josephine Baker Josephine Baker fled the racism of America to live and perform in France This scene was shot in 1927 for the French silent movie La Revue Des Revues0&feature=related Billie Holiday, aka. Lady Day Legendary Jazz singer Known for the tagline Lady Sings the Blues The U2 song Angel of Harlem paid tribute to HolidayQ&feature=fvwrel The Lindy Hop The Charlestonutube.com/wat ch?v=s58iTzzn kp0&feature=r elatedutube.com/wat ch?v=lm- gAmzo0EY&f eature=related Flappers in the 1920s Song by Cliff Edwards - 'The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi'. Edwards, aka. 'Ukulele Ike, was the voice of Jiminy Cricket for the Pinnochio movie. The ukulele was booming in the 1920's. Quickstep vs. Charlestonw.you tube.c om/w atch?f eature =ends creen &v=x 6KDtr _RP5 Q&N R=1 Dorothy Dandridge and the Nicholas Brothers, Chattanooga Choo Choo - Scene from the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade Chattanooga Choo Choo, with Glenn MillerR3OnbmWkA&NR=1