21.4: THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE OBJECTIVE: Understand why the 1920

1
21.4 THE HARLEM RENAISSANCEOBJECTIVE
Understand why the 1920s were a crucial era in
African-American History

• HW 22.1

2

1. What does UNIA stand for?
2. James Weldon Johnson was the leader of the
   _______.
3. Sec. of the Interior Albert _____ was at the
   heart of the scandal.
4. The US tried to restrict immigration with a
   ________ system.
5. __________ replaced Harding as President after
   Harding died of a heart attack.

3
CHANGE IN AFRICAN AMERICAN SOCIETY

• Great Black Migration during WWI and 1920s
• 4.8 of 12 million Af-Am move from South to
  cities, mainly in Northeast and Mid-West
• 1917-1919 25 race riots
• NAACP membership doubles
• James Weldon Johnson leads NAACP on anti-lynching
  crusade
• Fails to pass anti-lynching bill in Congress

4
MARCUS GARVEY

• Marcus Garvey founds more radical UNIA (Universal
  Negro Improvement Association)
• Promotes collective action and Af-Am businesses
• Argues for separatism and separate businesses,
  such as Black Star Line, attempt to re-colonize
  Africa.
• Deported to Jamaica for mail fraud

5
http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/garvey/gallery/3.html
6
HARLEM RENAISSANCE

• Harlem is the Mecca or Capital of Black
  America
• At 330,000 inhabitants, it is the largest black
  urban community in the world
• 1920s Harlem is the epicenter of an artistic and
  literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance

7
African-American Writers

• Claude McKay Poet, inspired resistance to
  prejudice, known for his militant verses.
• America
• Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,And
  sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth,Stealing
  my breath of life, I will confessI 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 me like a flood.

8
African-American Writers
Langston Hughes Poet, described every-day life
of African-Americans

• Hugh Langston Poet, described every-day life of
  African-Americans
• I am a NegroBlack as the night is blackBlack
  like the depths of my Africa
• Backlash Blues
• Mister rich man, rich man,Open up your heart
  and mind.Mister rich man, rich man,Open up your
  heart and mind.Give the poor man a chance,Help
  stop these hard, hard times.
• While you're livin' in your mansionYou don't
  know what hard times means.While you're livin'
  in your mansionYou don't know what hard times
  means.Poor workin' man's wife is starvin',Your
  wife is livin' like a queen.

9
African-American Writers

• Zora Neale Hurston Female Author, Their Eyes
  Were Watching God
• Quotes
• "...I am not tragically colored. There is no
  great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking
  behind my eyes. I do not mind at all."
• "Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that
  I am the granddaughter of slaves. It fails to
  register depression with me.
• "At certain times I have no race, I am me. When
  I set my hat at a certain angle and saunter down
  Seventh Avenue, Harlem City, feeling as snooty as
  the lions in front of Forty-Second Street
  Library, for instance. ...The cosmic Zora
  emerges. I belong to no race nor time. I am the
  eternal feminine with its string of beads."
• "Sometimes I feel discriminated against, but it
  does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me.
  How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my
  company? It's beyond me."

10
African-American Performers

• Paul Robeson Actor, Lawyer

• Louis Armstrong Trumpet Player, Band Leader

• Duke Ellington Jazz pianist,
• Composer,
• Band Leader
• at Cotton Club

• Bessie Smith Blues Singer

11
http//www.archives.gov/education/lessons/robeson/
images/alston-drawing.jpg
12
What were some of the most important ideas,
opinions and beliefs expressed in
African-American art and literature, and politics
in the 1920s?