13.4 Harlem R. Roaring 20's

Harlem Renaissance

                The Move North

                                Change in location reflected by change in attitude about themselves, “Black is beautiful”

                                                Known as the Great Migration

Left south because of racial violence and economic difficulties, plus economy was bad in South. Many lost money, jobs, farms, New start in the North, North cities did not always welcome the influx of blacks

                NAACP – founded in 1909, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

                                Membership doubled by 1920

                                Fought for protection of African American rights, especially anti lynching laws

                                Represented the new, more militant voice of African Americans

                                Still faced threats and discrimination

                Marcus Garvey

Jamaican immigrant, founded the UNIA ( Universal Negro Improvement Association), black nationalist group

                                African Americans build a separate society

                                Promote African American businesses to get followers

                                African Americans needed an independent nations (esp. looking at Africa)

His ideas were appealing, but support declined when he was convicted of mail fraud and jailed, deported, U.S. followers lost influence

                                Legacy:  black pride, economic independence, and reverence for Africa

Harlem Renaissance – New York

1920’s Harlem:  world’s largest black urban community, from South and West Indies, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico

                                suffered from overcrowding, unemployment, poverty

African American Writers

                Well educated middle class

                Celebrated African heritage and folklore

                Wrote about being black in white world

                                Claude McKay – poet, Jamaican immigrant, resist prejudice and discrimination

Langston Hughes – poet, Missouri born, difficult everyday lives of working class African Americans

                                Zora Neale Hurston – woman writer, portrayed lives of poor, unschooled Southern blacks

                But failed to show real problems of Harlem

                                Ex. High mortality rates, neglect, unemployment problems

African American Performers

                “Shuffle Along” – black musical comedy

                                Songs won popularity among white audiences, several singers won fame

                                Blacks began entering stage performances and winning fame and audiences

African Americans and Jazz

                Jazz – born in New Orleans- blend of instrumental ragtime and vocal blues

Louis Armstrong – trumpetist, most influential musician in history of jazz, improvization, syncopation ( irregular accents and rythms)

                                Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington – jazz pianist and composer, formed own band

                                Bessie Smith – blues singer, highest paid black artist in world in 1927

                Also in Europe

Josephine Baker – dancer, singer, comedienne, also volunteered with Red Cross in WWII, spied for French underground