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Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: To make a poet black, and bid him sing! - from "Yet Do I Marvel" by Countee Cullen |
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Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: To make a poet black, and bid him sing! - from "Yet Do I Marvel" by Countee Cullen |
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Harlem Renaissance Mailserv.
Introduction
There are many reasons for the existence of this web page; I will list just a few. I want the chance (and want to give others the chance) to learn something I wasn't taught in school. I want to appreciate and celebrate the incredible treasure left us by the Harlem Renaissance. I want to show that the music, literature, and art produced and/or inspired by the Harlem Renaissance are an incredible gift, and are no less significant or magnificent than any other "great work" admired by American society.
What was the Harlem Renaissance?
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One of the factors contributing to the rise of the Harlem Renaissance was the great migration of African-Americans to northern cities (such as New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.) between 1919 and 1926. In his influential book The New Negro (1925), Locke described the northward migration of blacks as "something like a spiritual emancipation." Black urban migration, combined with trends in American society as a whole toward experimentation during the 1920s, and the rise of radical black intellectuals — including Locke, Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), and W. E. B. Du Bois, editor of The Crisis magazine — all contributed to the particular styles and unprecedented success of black artists during the Harlem Renaissance period. |
Poetry and Prose of the Harlem Renaissance.
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Links to other sites featuring the Harlem Renaissance
Find out how to join the
Harlem Renaissance Mailserv.
From
1920 until about 1930 an unprecedented outburst of creative
activity among African-Americans occurred in all fields of
art. Beginning as a series of literary discussions in the
lower Manhattan (Greenwich Village) and upper Manhattan
(Harlem) sections of New York City, this African-American
cultural movement became known as "The New Negro Movement"
and later as the Harlem Renaissance. More than a literary
movement and more than a social revolt against racism, the
Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of
African-Americans and redefined African-American expression.
African-Americans were encouraged to celebrate their
heritage and to become "The New Negro," a term coined in
1925 by sociologist and critic Alain LeRoy Locke.
On
12/16/97 I began adding full texts of 
As
with my Poetry and Prose page, I'm trying to put up all the
works I can find. The paintings already on my site feature
the artists Hale Woodruff, Edward Burra, Jacob Lawrence,
John T. Biggers, Loïs Mailou Jones, and William H.
Johnson. Since my collection in general is growing large, I
have created three galleries in addition to the main