1. Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance

2. Harlem Renaissance
A literary and artistic movement that celebrated the African-American Culture
The movement began in a New York community called Harlem.
Harlem was located on the upper west side of New York’s Manhattan Island.
Harlem had the world’s largest black community in the 1920s.

3. Harlem Renaissance

4. In 1909, W.E.B. Dubois protested against racial violence
In New York, Dubois led a parade of 10,000 African American men to protest violence.
Also led a platform for civil
rights through a newspaper
called The Crisis.

5. James Weldon Johnson Poet and Lawyer Executive Secretary of NAACP
Wrote lyrics to “Lift Every Voice and Sing” some refer to as the Black national anthem
Spearheaded the fight against lynching.

6. Marcus Garvey Originally from Jamaica
Founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association
Promoted African American businesses but not popular with the NAACP
Encouraged followers to return to Africa and create separate societies in America.
He left a legacy of black pride and economic independence

7. Claude McKay Novelist Poet Jamaican immigrant
Writings urged African Americans to resist prejudice and discrimination

8. Langston Hughes
One of the most well known poets of the Harlem Renaissance era.
Poems described the difficult lives of working class African Americans.

10. As I Grew Older By Langston Hughes
It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream.
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun—
My dream.
And then the wall rose,
Rose slowly,
Slowly,
Between me and my dream.
Rose until it touched the sky--

11. The wall.
Shadow.
I am black.
I lie down in the shadow.
No longer the light of my dream before me,
Above me.
Only the thick wall.
Only the shadow.

12. My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find my dream!
Help me to shatter this darkness,
To smash this night,
To break this shadow
Into a thousand lights of sun,
Into a thousand whirling dreams
Of sun!

13. Famous Artists of the Harlem Renaissance Josephine Baker, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong
Florence Mills
Duke Ellington
Josephine Baker
Louis Armstrong

14. Louis Armstrong
A trumpet player who was known for his amazing sense of rhythm and his ability to improvise.
What a Wonderful World clip below

15. Duke Ellington
He was a popular pianist and composer who became very famous for his music.

16. Three popular female singers of the Harlem Renaissance were:
Josephine Baker
Bessie Smith
Florence Mills

17. Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was the highest paid black artist in the world in 1927.

18. Lots of beautiful and
talented people
worked at the Cotton
Club. Some of the best
began their careers
there.

19. The Cotton Club lured white audiences because of the great jazz artists, singers, and dancers who played there.
The club segregated black and white audiences

20. The Cotton Club was the most famous of the city's nightclubs in the 1920s and 1930s, attracting an audience that often included the cream of New York society. The club provided a medium for performances by the most prominent jazz musicians of the day, and the club's activities were brought to a wide audience by frequent broadcasts.

21. The race riots of Harlem in 1935 forced the Cotton Club to close until late 1936 when it reopened at Broadway and 48th St

22. What caused the race riot?
On March 19 Lino Rivera, a 16-year-old black Puerto Rican, was caught stealing a penknife from the S.H. Kress dime store at 256 West 125th Street (across from the Apollo Theater), and the owner called the police. By the time the officers arrived, a crowd had gathered outside the store. The storekeeper, afraid of what the crowd might do if the boy was arrested, asked police to let Rivera go.

23. The officers agreed, and the boy left by the store’s backdoor.
No one told the crowd what had happened, and soon rumors spread that the police had killed Rivera. More than 10,000 people took to the streets to protest the perceived police brutality. Black frustration exploded into rioting and the destruction of property.

24. With the onset of looting, storekeepers tried to protect their property by posting such signs as “Black owned” and “We employ black people” in their windows. When the all-white police force arrived to attempt to regain control, the rioters fought them.

25. The riot continued through the night and into the next day
The riot continued through the night and into the next day. When it ended, 125 people had been arrested, more than 100 people had been injured, and 3 African Americans were dead. Property damage to some 200 stores was in excess of $2 million.
The cause of the racial tension that lead to the riot is said to be economic competition and poor living conditions for African Americans due to the Great Depression