The Beginning of the Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was a period from 1919 to 1930 of African American awaking the realm of art, literature, and music that captivated the American public as well as established the “Negro” as a force to be reckoned. The movement was both a national and global event. Although African Americans established themselves in the arts as equals with many whites, they were not immune to the daily reminder that they were still considered second class citizens. Artists such as Josephine Baker found it necessary to explore her career in Europe since her skin color restricted her from performing at many nightclubs in Harlem.

However, among African Americans the Harlem Renaissance established the powerful image of the African American people as positive, capable, and determined. No longer were they slaves or just sharecroppers. Now African Americans had a true voice and presence in the artistic world. From slavery ships to jazz greats such as Ella Fitzgerald and literary greats as Langston Hughes, the African American people arrived into the artistic world with a bang. Take a moment to relish and reflect on the experience known as the Harlem Renaissance.

The Harlem Renaissance was the first period in the history of the United States in which a group of African American poets, authors, and essayists seized the opportunity to express themselves and were embraced by others both nationally and globally. Two basic conditions which fostered this unique situation were African American’s contact with other blacks from different parts of the world which gave him a renewed sense of self-respect, and mass migration of African Americans from the South to major northern industrial areas—one of them being Harlem, New York.

The Harlem Renaissance began in 1918 with the publication of Claude McKay’s “Harlem Dancer” and ended in 1929. During this period, there was a wave of literary works by and about African Americans. Despite this productivity, the Harlem Renaissance was not a renaissance in the literal sense of the word. The New Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a “renaissance” as a rebirth or revival of literary ideas. The Harlem Renaissance can be more accurately described as a period of vigorous artistic creativity on the part of the African American intellectual.

One of the main goals of black writers and The Harlem Renaissance succeeded in proving the “Negro” as an individual who was able to make great achievements if given the opportunity. However, continued injustices forced black intellectuals into the harsh realization that racism was deeply rooted in American society.