1. The Harlem Renaissance 1920’s & 1930’s

2. Cultural Times Development of the African American middle class WWI created jobs in the North Development of African American literature, art, and music

3. Attitude of the Times Artistic expression Racial pride Social and political equality Times led to great appreciation and awareness of African American culture

4. Music and Art Means of expressing: –African roots –modern struggles –new freedoms

5. Music Jazz and Blues –Louis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong –Duke EllingtonDuke Ellington

6. The Banjo Lesson Henry Ossawa Tanner

7. Jeunesse Palmer Hayden

8. Chain Gang William H. Johnson

9. Literature Many held to cultural language roots –Gullah Hopes to challenge racial prejudices Freedom to express struggles Motivation to overcome obstacles

10. Harlem Housing executives planned to create neighborhoods in Harlem designed specifically for white workers who wanted to commute into the city.

11. Harlem, cont. Developers grew overambitious, however, and housing grew more rapidly than the transportation necessary to bring residents into the downtown area. The once exclusive district was abandoned by the white middle-class. Harlem landlords began renting to black tenants..

12. As a result, African-Americans began moving to Harlem en masse; between 1900 and 1920 the number of blacks in the New York City neighborhood doubled.

13. Claude McKay Originally from Jamaica Began writing at age of 10 Famous journalist

14. McKay’s Works America If We Must Die Enslaved

15. Countee Cullen Grew up in NYC and Baltimore Adopted by powerful minister Became influential through his writing –Influenced English Romantics

16. Cullen’s Works Tableau Incident

17. Paul Lawrence Dunbar Born to slave parents in KY One of first recognized Af.Am. poets Befriended Douglass in Chicago

18. Dunbar’s Works The Lesson Sympathy We Wear the Mask

19. Arna Bontemps Friend of Langston Hughes Born of Creole parents Nashville connection! Bontemps worked for many years as the librarian at Fisk.

20. Bontemps’ Works God Sends Sunday (1931) Black Thunder (1936—historical novel) Personals (3rd ed., 1973 collection of poetry) The Harlem Renaissance Remembered (1972)

21. Langston Hughes Worked hard to pay for college Ambitious with poetry Influenced by Walt Whitman Wrote for musical audience

22. Hughes’ Works Weary Blues Dream Deferred I, Too Mother to Son

23. Presentations Your assignment for this unit: –Create a handout on one poem from the packet. –Handout includes your poem (including author), and a brief explication of the poem. –You will do a formal reading of your poem and then briefly summarize your poetic analysis.