HARLEM RENAISSANCE: THE CREATION OF THE CULTURAL IDENTITY OF

AFRICAN-AMERICANS

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Final Research Paper

Submitted to
Asst. Prof. Emmanuel Jeric A. Albela, M.Hist, LPT
Faculty of Arts and Letters
University of Santo Tomas

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In Partial Fulfillment
Of the requirements for the course,
History of the United States (HST330)

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By

UY, Emmanuel Mari A.

4HST1
December 16, 2018
 I. Introduction and Background

The term ‘Renaissance’ is understood by the vast majority as a period of ‘sudden rebirth’
in art, literature, and intellect in western Europe. It was a period of modern thinking and modern
way of life, it produced many intellectuals who became pioneers and experts in different fields
such as, philosophy, science, mathematics, arts, literature, music, and religion. In relation to the
study, the Harlem Renaissance was a period of African-American intellectual, social, and artistic
outbreak. It was a period which made this subjugated race the center of attention in the 1920s and
30s and their ‘outbreak’ had an immense influence which affected their relationship with the
Americans and the World.

The Harlem Renaissance or Black Modernism or the New Negro Movement, (coined by
Alain Locke) was a period which was caused the Great Migration in the early 20 th century – in
which African-Americans migrated en masse1 from the rural south to urban centers in the north
because of the increasing segregation, discrimination, unemployment, physical abuse, and
lynchings;2 it lasted until the Great Depression. One of the factors which led to the development
of this influential movement in shaping the cultural strata of African-Americans was the
concentration and collaboration of many educated African-Americans within single communities
particularly in New York City but there were also developments in the cities, where these groups
migrated, Philadelphia, Washington, and Chicago. 3

II. Statement of the Problem

The Harlem Renaissance ushered a new wave of cultural identity for the black community
and its significant accomplishments led not only to change the way African-Americans were
viewed but it also became the reason on which the civil rights movement of the 1960s was
initiated.4

1
In one group or all together
2
Lars Adams, “Harlem Renaissance”, In African American Leadership: A Concise Reference Guide, ed by Tyson D.
King-Meadows (Mission Bell Media, 2015), 117.
3
Jane Kuenz, “Modernism, Mass Culture, and the Harlem Renaissance: The Case of Countee Cullen,” Project
MUSE 14, no. 3 (September 2017): 507.
4
Adams, “Harlem Renaissance”, 119.
 In the situation of the Philippine understanding of African-American history, there is a
persisting gap on the knowledge of the history of African-American movements. The basic
understanding of African-American history ranges from slavery during the antebellum period,
Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, and 21 st century African-American music.
This study would look into the period which exhibited the capacity of African-Americans to be in
the same cultural, intellectual, and social sphere with other races, particularly, white, in the aspects
of literature, academe, and music. The study that will be done will analyze both the significance
and accomplishments of the movement in formation of the cultural identity and character of the
African-Americans in their intellectual, social, and cultural development.

The Harlem Renaissance had indefinitely changed the way African-Americans are viewed
and that their accomplishments are not given more recognition by the vast majority.5 During the
civil rights movement, many of the leaders and reformers of the renaissance were present in the
movement and continues to fight for the equal rights these African-Americans would. 6 Ideas that
emerged from the Harlem Renaissance, particularly those of Black Nationalism and African-
centered studies, were highly influential on future intellectuals and civil rights leaders.

Advances made in the aspect of civil rights during the Harlem Renaissance became the
primary on which the civil rights movement of the 1960s was based on. Many of the African-
American leaders had come out of the 19th century, never before had so many risen in such a short
space of time and had active collaboration among one another. This development and
consolidation of leadership oriented and organized the black community in a way that was
unprecedented and set the stage for the civil rights movement.

Main Question:

What was the significance of the Harlem Renaissance in the creation of the cultural
identity of the African-Americans?

Sub-questions:

5
Adams, “Harlem Renaissance”, 119.
6
Adams, “Harlem Renaissance”, 119.
 1. What was the main reason for the movement or rebirth to transpire?
2. Why was the city of Harlem the location for the African-American cultural movement to
materialize?
3. What were the achievements of the movement that gave African-Americans the courage
to continue in their cultural growth?

III. Methodology

In conducting the study, the researcher will employ the historical method and will use
techniques such as, analytical, descriptive, and narrative in understanding the qualitative data.

The sources that will be used are secondary which will be coming from the different
libraries in Metro Manila and the different websites referred to by the Library of Congress
Research and Reference Division. The secondary sources which will be used are monographs,
published journals, electronic sources, and website articles that will provide a comprehensive
background and understanding of the history of the movement and present contextualization of the
interpreted data. The data which will be gathered from these sources will be analyzed for
authenticity of historical facts and provide comprehensive and understandable interpretation of
describing and narrating the qualitative data.

IV. Review of Related Literature:

Monographs

Graham, Maryemma, and Jerry W. Ward, Jr. 2011. The Cambridge History of African American
Literature. New York: Cambridge Univesity Press. 847 pp.

This monograph provides a comprehensive four-hundred-year history of African-

American Literature, using articles of various topics relating to the subject. These articles range
from the early developments of African-American thought in the 18th century about slavery and
equality to the 21 st century, where African-American literature (and art) is accepted in the
American society compared to the latter periods. This monograph would be used in the study as a
means of providing additional understanding on how the Harlem Renaissance paved the way to
the acceptance of African-American culture.

Jones, Sharon L. 2002. Rereading the Harlem Renaissance: Race, Class, and Gender in the
Fiction of Jessie Fauset, Zora Neale Hurtson, and Dorothy West. CT: Greenwood Press.
159 pp.

The monograph re-examines the Harlem Renaissance from the perspective of different
prominent African-American writers who influenced the movement, such as, Jessie Fauset, Zora
Hurston, and Dorothy West. The monograph also provides an understanding on how previous and
succeeding African-American movements had occurred in relation to the Harlem Renaissance.
The monograph is only contained to the ‘rereading’ of the different literary works of the above-
mentioned writers and on how their works influenced the general populace in accepting their
writing. The study that will be done will provide information on other movements prior and after
the Harlem Renaissance, and it will make use of literary works as a medium which enticed the
general public. However, it will only serve as a means of understanding the significance of the
movement to influence other movements to transpire.

Locke, Alain, ed. 1968. The New Negro. New York: Atheneum. 452 pp.

The monograph provides a comprehensive analysis on the collective understanding and

importance of the Negro Renaissance. It makes use of articles written by different professionals in
the areas which the movement had an influence on, such as, literature, drama, music, and on how
this modern movement for equality changed the social landscape of the United States. This
monograph would be helpful in understanding comprehensively the influence of the movement in
shaping the cultural identity of the African-Americans. The study that will be done will use this
monograph as a paradigm in differentiating the different aspects of influence brought by the
movement and it will utilize historical narrative as its manner of interpretation, which the
monograph lacked.
Journal Articles:

Baker, Houston A., Jr. “Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance.” American Quarterly 39, no. 1
(Spring, 1987): 84-97.

This article is an essay which provides insights on how modernism affected the Afro-
American movement and on how it was a failure and a success. The author did not indicate
historical facts, it was mainly concerned with the understanding of the concepts from writers who
surveyed the movement, such as, Nathan Huggins and David Lewis, and the author’s personal
perspective on the event. The study that will be done will also look into the question of whether or
not, the movement had an impact on racial equality in the American society and how it influential
it become.

Lewis, David Levering. “The Intellectual Luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance.” Journal of
Blacks in Higher Education 7 (Spring, 1995): 68-69

This article provides a general overview of ‘what the Harlem Renaissance is’ and the
different Afro-American professionals who were instrumental for the movement to transpire. The
author also provided short descriptions per intellectual to be able to understand the contribution of
these intellectuals for the movement to occur and were not merely common working-class citizens
but also as scholars and professionals in their respective fields of expertise. This article will be
used in the study to be able to provide a background on the different ‘intellectuals’ that will be
stated in the interpretation of the data. The study that will be done will not focus on the
‘intellectuals’ but merely their role in the growth and development of the movement.

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The African-Americans from being treated as chattels to being emancipated individuals, have

been oppressed and subjugated in the history of the United States even prior to the establishment
of the American republic. During the European colonial rule in the African continent, the Africans

were used as human resources in the slave trade to the Americas. 7 Since the independence of the

United States from its European colonizers until the American Civil War – which was a war to end

slavery, resolutions were made in their constitution that present not only the changing times but

also the society’s changing behavior towards the black community. Such resolutions made to the

U.S. Constitution to further provide a bridge between the American society and the African-

Americans are the Thirteenth Amendment (1865), which outlawed slavery and granted former

slaves their freedom; the Fourteenth Amendment (1868), which instated Federal Legal Protection

to all U.S. citizens; and the Fifteenth Amendment (1870), which guaranteed the right to vote for

any ‘race, color, and previous condition of servitude’.8

During the Civil war, there was a huge number of African-Americans in the south who pushed

for equal treatment and when the war ended upon the victory of the Union army they were able to

achieve emancipation for black slaves or community, in general. However, the white community

still frequently resorted to intimidation and to keep the blacks in their place.9 Their condition

showed little to no improvement and was not given the right to practice both their political and

civil liberties. Although, it was only during this period that the black population had developed

their own character and slowly converged with other groups or communities. 10 Following the end

of the Civil War, the Freedmen’s Bureau and various societies established and organized

educational institutions for the people of color, that provide training and education for teachers.

7
Ralph Austen, African Economic History: Internal Development and External Dependency. (London: James
Currey, 1987), 81.
8
Monaco Rare Coins, “Civil War: Results of the Civil War,” Monaco Rare Coins, accessed on November 9, 2018,
https://www.monacorarecoins.com/civil-war-results-civil-war/.
9
Steven Watson, The Harlem Renaissance: Hub of African-American Culture, 1920 – 1930 (New York: Pantheon
Books, 2001), 51.
10
Joe William Trotter, Jr. “The Great Migration,” OAH Magazine of History 17, no. 1 (Oct. 2002): 31
Through the different African-American denominational churches’ establishment of colleges, and

the second Morrill Act of 1890, which enacted land-grant for African-American institutions; also,

some sympathetic whites who were in cooperation with the African-Americans, who wanted to

establish educational institutions for higher education. 11

With all these turning points in education, many African-American’s in the south were engaged

in secondary education, while in the north there was an increasing number of African-Americans

attending school; thus, they began to demand admission to the state-sponsored universities of the

border and southern cities; with the educational opportunities provided for the African-Americans

also led to the rise and birth of African-American social and political leaders. 12

Some of the institutions for higher education that were established after the Civil War, Lincoln

University, Pennsylvania (1866), Fisk (1866), Howard (1867), Morehouse (1867), Hampton

Institute (1868), and Tuskegee Institute, Alabama (1881). These educational institutions were the

elite universities that taught ‘useful arts’ such as carpentry, farming, and trained these African-

Americans to become teachers. 13

Although there were advances in the education, there was a difference in philosophy, which

symbolized a division among African-American elites. Educational institutions such as, Tuskegee

and Hamptons, were less concerned on preparing the black students to compete with the whites

and challenge the ideological concept of racism than to simply supple the need for labor in the

South and suffice the need for material standards. There were numerous individuals who acted in

solving this underlying problem such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. Washington

11
E. Franklin Frazier, The Negro in the United States (New York: MacMillan Company, 1957), 450-1.
12
Frazier, The Negro in the United States, 450.
13
Watson, The Harlem Renaissance: Hub of African-American Culture, 1920 – 1930, 52.
became the preeminent spokesman of the black community and initiated the consciousness of the

black community to fight for social and political equality. While DeBois formed an organization

to challenge white racism, demanded all rights of American citizenship, and the abolition of racial

distinctions. However, it did not get much of the attention of the whites that would but the militant

Niagara Movement represented a turning point in African-American politics. The movement

formed a new organization dedicated to the battle for full citizenship, the National Association for

the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.14

The Great Migration

In the 1890s, the U.S. population totaled to 63 million; 7.5 million were African-Americans

and 6.7 million lived in the south. As a result of the First World War, an estimated seven hundred

to one million blacks left the South; and in the 1920s, eight hundred thousand to one million left. 15

This large number of migrations has been a persistent theme in African-American history and had

a major role in the formation of the African-American’s desire for better opportunities in the

different cities in the United States. The black community started to disperse and spread from the

rural south to the urban north and west in large numbers, in their quest for different opportunities

such as jobs, freedom, and social justice. Other than that, there were also labor demands coming

from northern industries which provided greater access to rights, better health care, education, and

right to vote, which tremendously attracted the black community. There was also the emergence

of new patterns in race, class, and ethnic relations in the American culture, society, and politics.

The First World War also had an important role in the outcome of the Great Migration because of

the numerous industries which demanded in the North and Midwest. Other than economic

14
A History of the American People, 109-11.
15
Trotters, Jr., “The Great Migration,” 31 and Watson, The Harlem Renaissance: Hub of African-American Culture,
1920 – 1930, 52.
opportunities, life in the South was deteriorating and the burdens of racism increased through time.

However, in 1920 more than 85 percent of the country’s total African-American population (10.4

million) continued to live in the South. 16

This mass movement of the black population in the early twentieth century where six-million

African-Americans migrated in the major cities of the United States such as, Chicago,

Philadelphia, and New York created a feeling of ‘racial solidarity’ and a consciousness “of his

value as a black person”, African-American nationalism grew noticeably stronger towards the end

of the nineteenth century. The black population did not comprise solely the populace but there

were also West Indians who in all the same stimulated a renaissance in literary activity and self-

confidence.17

Table 1: The Great Migration of African-Americans from the South: Selected Northern and
Western Cities, 1910 – 1930

(Source: Joe William Trotter, Jr. “The Great Migration,” OAH Magazine of History 17, no. 1 (Oct. 2002): 31)

16
Thackeray, Frank W., Findling, John E., What Happened? : An Encyclopedia of Events That Changed America
Forever, 52
17
Marion Berghahn, Images of Africa in Black American Literature (London: The MacMillan Press Ltd., 1977),
118.
 The impact of the Great Migration to the African-American community led to the construction

of new places for themselves in public life and with their position in the society they were active

in confronting racial prejudices in respective economic, political, and social challenges. Also, it

led to the creation of a black urban culture which exerted enormous influence in the decade to

come.18 One of the influences that the Great Migration and also the First World War brought to

the African-Americans is the New Negro Movement or the Harlem Renaissance. It was a period

in American history which developed many cultural advances that changed on how the society

would perceive the African-American community in the aspects of art, theater, literature, music,

and especially, scholarship. Approximately, the movement lasted from 1918 until 1938, wherein

there was a developing creative culture occurring in the social landscape of the African-Americans

in cities such as, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Washington but not as flourishing as in the

city of New York, particularly in Harlem. The black population in New York City grew from

92,000 to 152,000 in 1920 and to over 327,700 in 1930.19

Harlem is a neighborhood in the northern section of New York City in the borough of

Manhattan. The neighborhood had a series of economic boom-and-bust scenarios which had

significant population shifts. In the early years of the 20th century, real estate developers were keen

in developing Harlem in anticipating a ‘housing boom’. However, the boom did not occur and

there was a decline in the value of many surplus housing stock. The black community were willing

to pay for premium housing as the whites were all moving out. The Great Migration transformed

Harlem into the ‘race capital of the world’ 20 wherein painters and poets, jazz musicians and blues

18
History.com Editors, “Great Migration,” HISTORY, accessed on December 15, 2018,
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/great-migration
19
A History of the American People, 125.
20
A History of the American People, 125.
singers, actors and orators, dancers and composers, poets, playwrights and novelists crowded

nightclubs, lecture halls, and salons; in which Harlem became a laboratory, a place for cultural

discourse where traditions would coincide with the occurring modernization and reconstruction

due to its wide reach, which spread in Europe (Paris and London), the Caribbean Islands, and

Africa. It was a period when “the Negro was in vogue”.21 On the contrary, the movement was not

entirely for the black community, there were frustrated white artists and intellectuals who made

Harlem their meeting-place to find both inspiration and new ideas. 22

There was a vibrancy and excitement there. Black artists, musicians,

and those looking to make it in the world flocked the neighborhood…

even though the vast majority lived in overcrowded houses,

suffered discrimination, and struggled in poor-paying jobs. But the

streets were crowded with performers, religious leaders, political

bosses, and street vendors.23

The movement can be cited that through the development of the mobilizing elite called the

“Talented Tenth,” which was coined by DuBois, propagated a new ideology of racial assertiveness

among the black affluent and influential individuals. These individuals comprised of professionals

from different areas of the society such as, physicians, dentists, educators, preachers, business

people, lawyers, and morticians, that initiated the renaissance on the culture, character, and

creative expression of the black community. Composed of 10,000 men and women who led the

black community among white liberals through methods like helping one African-American

21
Thackeray and Findling, What Happened?, 56. And Emily Bernard, “The New Negro Movement,” In The
Cambridge History of African American Literature, 268.
22
Berghahn, Images of Africa in Black American Literature, 123
23
Thackeray and Findling, What Happened?, 58.
continue his/her education, write books, poetry or poems, or include them in social change. 24

However, criticized by many of the intellectuals especially by Langston Hughes, that the concept

of the “talented tenth” and the mentality which seemed in effect on conforming to white standards

and was only limiting the overall growth and development of the black community due to

statements of DuBois in his essay the Negro Problem (1903), “the Negro race, like all races, is

going to be save by its exceptional men… the problem of education, then, among Negroes must

first of all deal with the Talented Tenth.”25

The movement had a keen effect on high art such as literature, painting, sculpture, plays, and

poetry. It revolutionized a new understanding about the United States in their issue on

consumerism, the rise of mass culture, the legacy of the First World War and the persistent problem

on race and racism. One of the more evident artistic expression which flourished during this period

was the revolutionizing music which developed a new genre in the industry, Jazz and blues. The

development of Jazz and blues was essential in the formation of the uniqueness of the identity and

culture of the black community. These new genres of music played throughout the establishments

in the streets of Harlem and paved the way in the development of the first music nightclubs in

history.26 Initially, Jazz was seen as a low form of music among the African-American underclass,

however, through refinement and addition of the piano it became more pleasing for the general

public which came to be known as Harlem Stride Style. During this period, piano was considerably

an instrument among the wealthy. 27 This new style of music infused the musical interests of the

upper and lower classes. Among the popular musicians during this period were Louis Armstrong

24
Lewis, “The Intellectual Luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance,” 68.
25
Thackeray and Findling, What Happened?, 55.
26
Adams, “Harlem Renaissance,” 118.
27
Adams, “Harlem Renaissance,” 118.
and Duke Ellington who is considerably one of America’s great composers and would play in the

much noted, Cotton Club in Harlem. Jazz and blues would continue to remain a favorite musical

genre among the international community for many decades to come. 28

During this period of rebirth, there was rise in African-American literary context and the

society’s interest towards the black community’s history. The crown jewel of the movement was

the outpouring of literary works that examined sympathetic and emotional experience of the

African-Americans.29 The consciousness of the society started when publishing houses wanted to

understand the inner yearnings, desires, heartache, ideas, and “human-ness” of the black

community. Thus, these publishing houses began to seek out authors to write about ‘the black

experience,’ which was primarily expressed through poetry, theater, and novels. Among of the

known influential writers of that period were Langston Hughes, Jessie Fauste, Jean Toomer, Zora

Neale Houston, Marcus Garvey, and many more. In the works of these writers they changed on

how the society perceives the black community as ignorant, inferior, and prideful. 30 In particular,

Langston Hughes perhaps one of the most famous writers of that period and lauded ‘the Poet

Laureate of Harlem’ 31, gained much of his recognition among the international community and the

youth. He provided the advances by the black community towards racial integration. Some of the

works which increased his popularity are the Negro Speaks of Rivers (1921), the Weary Blues

(1925), Mother to Son (1922), and especially, in his essay, the Negro Artist and the Racial

Mountain (1926), wherein he gave recognition on the black cultural achievements, attention on the

rich cultural fabric woven by African-Americans, and became the manifesto for the movement.

28
Adams, “Harlem Renaissance,” 118. And Justin Harmon, et al, “Harlem,” In What Happened?, 64.
29
Thackeray and Findling, What Happened?, 54.
30
Adams, “Harlem Renaissance”, 117.
31
Thackeray and Findling, What Happened?, 55 and 66.
He stated, that “black artists in America should stop copying white writers and they should instead

be proud of who they are, proud of being black, thus ‘black is beautiful’, and draw inspiration

from it and the culture that developed”. Also, Zora Neale Hurston, wrote numerous novels about

presenting and exploring the varied richness of African-American folklife, and racial themes are

the marrow of her writings, however, she was criticized by other writers and intellectuals in lacking

critical racial oppression in her works. 32

By the 1920s, Harlem was a radiant jewel busting with intellectual energy, creative juices, and

lush lifestyle. There were many African-American scholars, historians, and philosophers who rose

to prominence as leaders within their respective communities.33 Among the intellectuals who were

present during the movement are W.E.B. Du Bois, Alain Leroy Locke, James Weldon Johnson,

Marcus Garvey, and many more. Du Bois is the considerably the ‘other’ father of the movement.

While Hughes was able to capture the heart of the black community, Du Bois was able to capture

their minds; his work the Souls of Black Folk (1903), is a collection of autobiographical essays on

African-American life which was mainly centered on American politics which defined and raised

the discussion on race politics, he was also the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. from

Harvard.34 Locke, was considerably the actual mentor of the movement; coined the term, the New

Negro Movement; and his work the New Negro (1925), provided contemporary achievements of

the black community and prophesized on what was yet to come and was a key text in the

movement, which showcased the writings and works of black intellectuals and artists. James

Weldon Johnson, his work the Negro Book of American Negro Poetry, with an Essay on the

32
David Levering Lewis, “The Intellectual Luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance,” 68. And Thackeray and
Findling, What Happened?, 54, 60, 70. And Abagond Editors, “Langston Hughes: The Negro Artist and the Racial
Mountain,” ABAGOND, accessed on December 16, 2018, https://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/langston-
hughes-on-wanting-to-be-white/
33
Thackeray and Findling, What Happened?, 55.
34
Thackeray and Findling, What Happened?, 53-5. And “Harlem Renaissance Literature,” shmoop, accessed on
December 16, 2018, https://www.shmoop.com/harlem-renaissance-literature/web-dubois-author.html.
Negro’s Creative Genius (1922) became one of the major catalyst of the movement, wherein he

organized and collected well-received poems written by African-American writers. Sterling

Brown, published a collection of poems on life in the rural South, Southern Roard (1931). Marcus

Gravey, was influential due to his pragmatic attitude towards the “homeland,” Africa, wherein he

moved away from the Western literary and intellectual traditions to focusing on ‘African

consciousness,’ and the movement was once called, “Literary Garveyism”. There were many more

intellectuals who did not only raise the question on racial equality but also joined in sophisticated

philosophical and academic discussions about the American and the African-American society.

The writings done by these scholars were not merely enclosed within the black community but

also to other communities outside of theirs. Also they led in the formation of organizations and

movements to improve conditions for the black community as a whole and influence future leaders

of the civil rights movement. 35

Some of the organizations formed by these intellectuals were the National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1910 by DuBois; the Universal Negro Improvement

Association (UNIA) in 1917 by Garvey. These organizations led the black community to reject

racist stereotypes and instead accepted a more political, visible, and self-conscious view of

themselves that celebrated their history and culture, with demands for equal rights, better living

conditions, and an end to racial violence. On the process it developed among their community an

economic independent and self-improving individuals, and providing a black consciousness

among the political leaders.36

Among the social problems which the black community experienced in Harlem were

inadequate housing contributed to social unrest and health problems. Landlords charged high and

35
Berghahn, Images of Africa in Black Literature, 118-9.
36
Justin Harmon, et al, “Harlem,” In What Happened?. 57 and 66.
overpriced rents to people who earned low wages, thus, there was a widespread of overcrowding

in buildings and apartments. In Harlem’s history of marginalization and economic deprivation, the

residents rioted numerous times in 1935, 1943, 1964, 1968, and 1995. 37

In the late-1920s, the movement have reached maturity and sophistication that it created a

rivalry between intellectual and cultural movements. Some of the writers and intellectuals would

criticize the lack of allowing the total creativity of the African-Americans due to the creative

divisions and political differences which damaged the movement from within. Some sources state

that much of the success of the movement was based on the large outside audience coming from

the white community. They were fascinated by the developments of the black community in art,

music, and literature. Although as time went on, many of its audience shifted their attention to

different means of entertainment and this subsequently led to the decline of literature and art. The

same time that the movement began to slowly decline. Then in October 1929, the stock market

crash, which resulted to the Great Depression, a period of unemployment, poverty, and business

failures. It was a national calamity that brought mass suffering, unemployment rose to an estimated

25 percent of the total labor force, and 20 million Americans turned to public and private relief

agencies for assistance. Families struggled to look for jobs and make money from both agricultural

and industrial industries, and most of the jobs were gone to machines, gone to whites, or gone out

of style.38 The black community had little to no time devoted for higher culture or art, however, in

the 1930s, the movement continued with new publications to clarify the changing fortunes of the

black community. Such publication is Sterling Brown’s Southern Road (1932) which is one of the

most collections of modern black verse in existence, the work analyses black songs among are folk

37
Beeby, “Interpretive Essay,” In What Happened?, 62.
38
A History of the American People, 127-9.
song of the American negro, jubilee, and ten spirituals.39 Although, tensions still existed between

the new generation of writers and intellectuals, and the neighborhood of Harlem began to decline

into poverty and internal problems in the movement proved to be difficult to resolve. Also one of

the reasons why the movement was during the Harlem Race Riot in 1935 which is described as

the “first modern race riot” in Harlem. The riot was caused by a black Puerto Rican teen named,

Lino Rivera, who was caught stealing a penknife and when the owner called the police, a crowd

had already gathered outside the store, and the storekeeper afraid from being beaten if he would

let the boy get arrested, let him free. However, when the boy left through the store’s backdoor,

rumors spread that the police had killed the boy. More than 10,000 people went to the streets and

protested on police brutality. The riot and protest resulted to the destruction of property. Property

damage resulted to $2 million worth of damages. The riot served as a marker of the eventual end

of the Harlem Renaissance. 40

VI. CONCLUSION

The Harlem Renaissance is considerably one of the most important cultural and political

movements in the history of the United States in the modern period and a significant movement in

African-American history. Thus, it was one of the most significant expressions of black culture. 41

It had a profound effect on black art and culture, particularly in high art such as literature, painting,

sculpture, plays, and poetry. One of the notable factors of the movement is that artist and

intellectuals alike are all interrelating, wherein an artist can be an intellectual at the same time, and

39
Houston A. Baker, Jr. “Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance.” American Quarterly 39, no. 1 (Spring, 1987):
95.
40
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, “Harlem race riot of 1935,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed on
December 16, 2018, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Harlem-race-riot-of-1935 and History.com Editors, “Harlem
Renaissance,” https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/harlem-renaissance.
41
Thackeray and Findling, What Happened?, 56.
vice-versa. These artists and intellectuals provided a consciousness for the American society to

understand the experience, capabilities, and uniqueness of the African-Americans. In the advances

and developments made in music, literature, and scholarship which are considerably present until

this time, is a clear manifestation that the movement had truly become a success. However, not

being able to end racism it does not mean that it was a failure. The movement led the development

of racial consciousness, was the primary root cause of the civil rights movement, transformed the

image and history of black culture, and most especially, revolutionizing on how the society views

the black community.

In history, the Africans and African-Americans was infamously used as chattels and were

considered inferior among the society. This stigma of inferiority which was engrained in their

psyche for a long period would definitely have an impact on their way of thinking and how they

would interact with their environment. With the development of the cultural identity of the

African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance proves that all races have a uniqueness which

have not been freely and fully expressed yet, and that if given the opportunity to excel and compete

they could be in par or even greater than those privileged individuals. It also ended the “double

consciousness” among black oppressors and had developed a true self-consciousness, a usable and

worthy past, and a vibrant intellectual movement among the African-Americans that was carried

on for years to come.

In this present day and age, we could see the widespread influence that the African-

American community has in the society. There are numerous individuals who have not only

excelled in their own profession but also became one of the notable figures. Some of the notable

African-Americans, Barack Obama, first African-American President; Michael Jordan, one of the

greatest NBA players; Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights movement, spokesperson and leader;
Malcolm X, human rights activist; Serena Williams, one of the greatest tennis players; Oprah

Winfrey, media executive and philanthropist; Colin Kaepernick, political activist and American

professional footballer; Prince, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong, popular musicians

who were able to capture the international community. These numerous individuals all initiated

and displayed the capabilities of African-Americans to walk in the same path way of those who

were privileged from the very start of their lives and history. Presently, these African-Americans

who became the best in what they do and had an impact on the society wherein all races and all

communities have looked upon them as their role models as to which they would want to live their

lives. In this being said, the influence of the Harlem Renaissance will continuously go-on while

there are African-Americans present in the big stages of the society and active on the social issues

such as, inequality and injustices that are still plaguing the American society until this day – which

was the very reason why the movement developed in the first place.
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