1. I, Too I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed-- I, too, am America. Langston Hughes

2. Harlem Renaissance A cultural “rebirth”

3. 1920’s - Many more African Americans are living in cities like Chicago and NY. “Great Migration” : 1910-1920 – Hundreds of thousands of Southern African Americans go to cities in the North.  Escape racial discrimination  Job opportunities in the North (Ford’s assembly line)  WWI – need steel mills, munitions plants, etc.

4. Many African Americans migrated to Harlem, in the Upper West Side of Manhattan  Faced issues of overcrowding and poverty just like other neighborhoods.  BUT – that was overshadowed by what became known as the Harlem Renaissance – an explosion of black culture, intellectualism, and creativity including art, music, poetry, and literature in the 1920’s.

5.  Jazz – Began in New Orleans and made its way to Northern cities with migrating blacks. Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were among the biggest names.

6.  Literature and art begin to flourish. African Americans are writing poetry and fiction and creating new paintings to express and explore their new American identity.