1. Harlem Renaissance Movement
Definition: Greatest (and first) period of literary and cultural achievement by African-Americans in this country.
The vast majority of blacks were slaves before this
Also called: the Roaring 20’s, the Jazz Age
Renaissance means “re-birth”
Harlem is a city in New York
Lasted from about
Group of authors, musicians, and artists from the 1920’s including:
Langston Hughes ,Eubie Blake, James Weldon Johnson , Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington

2. Before the Renaissance
It was illegal to teach a slave to read & write, helped keep them inferior
The Great Migration up to the northern cities
Blacks were not allowed to vote in the Southern states (Literacy Test), lynching happened by the KKK in the south

3. 1920’s-Prejudice and Close-mindedness
Prohibition (“The Noble Experiment”: Ban of alcohol (prohibit of sale)
Easier to get illegal booze in Harlem where these artists were performing
Bathtub Jim-not illegal to drink, just to sell
Exposed white public to black culture
It was considered risque to show an ankle during the 20’s. Some women wore skirts that went just below the knee-known as Flappers

4. About the author: Zora Neale Hurston:
Born in Eatonville Florida on January 7, 1903 and
Died on January 28, 1960 in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Overcame childhood diversity
Was forced to leave school at the age of thirteen to take care of younger siblings
Eventually attended Howard University
Received a degree in anthropology from Bernard University.
She also did graduate work in anthropology at Columbia University.
She tried her hand at being a librarian, maid, actress, college professor, and writer.

5. Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered her strongest work.
Controversial – critics would express concern that she glosses over black oppression and focuses on the woman or the individual instead
Celebration of black language and cultural heritage

6. Hurston died in poverty
sold her typewriter to a pawnbroker who believed that it was too nice to be owned by a maid
Alice Walker, who wrote The Color Purple, arranged for a gravestone to mark the general area of Hurston’s grave.

7. Their Eyes Were Watching God (TEWWG)
About Janie Crawford
Southern black woman
1930s
This book is her journey from being a free-spirited girl to a woman of independence and substance.

8. African-American culture and heritage
Black folk traditions
African-American culture and heritage
Story telling
Porch sitting
Struggles of women in this culture
Abuse
Lack of rights
Viewed as property
Dialect (written the way people talk)

9. Other Topics/Themes Identity Womanhood Perseverance, Endurance
Empowerment
Loneliness
Metamorphosis
Search for Happiness
Betrayal
Marriage
Pursuit of Security
Search for Independence
Search for Identity
Disillusionment