Harlem is often associated to a cultural and political movement but do you really know what the Harlem Renaissance was ?
Before Harlem was a neighborhood populated by white people. However, from 1910 to 1920, African American populations migrated in large numbers from the South to the North. The Harlem Renaissance is a cultural and intellectual movement of African-American artists born in the 1920’s. Indeed black people wanted to smash stereotypes about African-Americans and started denouncing slavery and the difficult living conditions in this community. So Harlem became an African cultural center that inspired many artists and the Harlem Renaissance has had a profound cultural impact on the US and abroad.
Several artists participated to this movement such as musicians, writers, painters or intellectuals.
The Harlem Renaissance has developed the jazz culture with several famous musicians.
Dizzie Gillepsie is a famous trumpeter. Dizzy Gillespie was one of the most influential and well-known jazz musicians of all-time.
Duke Ellington is a pianist who had an enormous impact on the popular music in the Harlem Renaissance. For almost fifty years he toured the world as a band leader and piano player.
Moreover several writers participated in this movement such as famous poet like Langston Hughes with jazz poetry.Poems like I,too sing Americadenounce racial segregation.
But the Harlem Renaissance was also led by intellectuals such as the activist WEB Du Bois. He was the most important Black activist leader in the United States during this movement.
Finally, painters like Aaron Douglas and Archibald Motley took part in the movement with famous paintings.
A dark past
When you think of Harlem, you may think of the dangerous neighborhood you can see in American movies. In fact, in the 1970s, Harlem had to face obstacles such as crime, poverty and racial discrimination. But today Harlem has completely changed. It is now a very touristic place in New York and very popular for its Gospel masses and his jazz music.