The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement centered in Harlem, New York in the 1920s. African American artists, writers, musicians and thinkers flourished during this period, exploring and celebrating African American identity and culture. The movement had a significant influence on art, literature and music in the United States and worldwide. Key themes in works from this period included racial pride, social equality, and the exploration of African American experiences.

2. During this period, African Americans were subjected to random racial violence and lynching. McKay’s defiant poem reflected the resolve of African Americans to defend themselves. (“If we must die, O let us nobly die, so that our precious blood may not be shed.") If We Must Die reflects similar sentiments; but it also indicates a will to fight for honor, liberty and democracy, even if the cost is death. (“Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!”) For those African Americans supportive of the U.S. in wartime, If We Must Die , can be seen as an expression of loyalty and patriotism. On the opposite side, are those African Americans who are also willing to risk their lives, but for the purposes of speaking out against the U.S. war effort, even at the risk of persecution or death.

3. The Harlem Renaissance 1919-1929

4. Harlem Renaissance

5. I pick up my life And take it away On a one-way ticket - Gone up North… - Langston Hughes

6. The island of Manhattan New York City is on Manhattan island Neighborhoods WHERE IS THE HARLEM

7. Mets Lose Here!! Yankees Buy Pennant Here!! Can you see any evidence from this map that this is an African American community? Giants Stink Here! Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City, was the center of the African American political, cultural, and artistic movement in the 1920s and early 1930s.

8. 1930 1911 1920

9. During the Harlem Renaissance Centered in the Harlem district of New York City, the New Negro Movement (as it was called at the time) had a profound influence across the United States and even around the world.

10. The visual art of the Harlem Renaissance was an attempt at developing a new African-American aesthetic in the fine arts. Believing that their life experiences were valuable sources of material for their art, these artists created an iconography of the Harlem Renaissance era .

11. TSW #1 Development of values and beliefs in African-American artists are reclaiming their ancestral heritage as a means of strengthening their own expression and continuing to participate in mainstream traditions while also proclaiming their own heritage in their art Black .

12. TSW #3 Harlem Renaissance developed due to the development of African-American urban migration. African Americans began their migration north and to the west following the Civil War. This movement redefined African American expression in Literature. They were encouraged to be happy with who they were and not hide from the fact that they were black. This literary movement began towards the end of the World War 1, flourished in the 1920's, but in the 1930's began to dwindle. The movement of Harlem Renaissance also came from the move of unconventional African American intellects. Culturally the African Americans developed a "Black" Middle class. The economy in the south had not completely recovered from the Civil War. The African Americans looking for a better future migrated. There were great opportunities in the north due to industrial jobs. Black historians and black nationalists stimulated pride in blacks. The Literary movement developed as a result in the change of society for the African American people. After the Civil War they migrated to the north where they had found refuge with northern abolitionist during the war. They also migrated to the west where many people had sought new beginnings. Along with this migration a new type of literature was developed. Although the literature from this movement varied in topic, the general or common theme was race. The movement developed due to the interest people showed in the lives and experiences of African Americans.

14. TSW #7 Fredrick Douglass and Zora Hurston both are African Americans, but living in different times. They both brought to us personal experiences that help us to understand to some extent what it was like to be black. A slave narrative tells tales of torment. They tell of the abuse that each of the slaves suffered, also the struggle of everyday life, being separated from families. The Authors of slave narratives drew from their life experiences. Harlem Renaissance writers wrote of overcoming their adversities. In a work of Harlem Renaissance by Zora Hurston, She tells of her life growing up in Eatonville, Florida. She had seen white people as they had passed through her town, but to her that was the only difference. Than at the age of thirteen she was sent to a school in Jacksonville. For the first time in her life she was not Zora, but she was "The little colored girl." She began to see the differences in the way that black people were treated. The Slave narrative and the Harlem Renaissance movements were similar in many ways. They both were written by authors of the African American race. They both told of the experiences that African Americans deal with in everyday life. They are different in that the slave Narrative was written before the Civil War. The Harlem Renaissance was written as result of. The slave narrative was written in their fight for freedom. The Harlem Renaissance looked to future and did not dwell on the past. They knew where they came from and where they wanted to go.

15. TSW #7 FREDRICK DOUGLAS : Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas Slave narratives provided the most powerful voices contradicting slave owners. These narratives demonstrate the knowledge and literary skills that slaves possessed in spite of their lack of schooling. The narratives told of the sadness and horror of families being separated and sexual abuse of the women and girls. “I have observed this in my experience of slavery, that whenever my condition was improved, instead of increasing my contentment, it only increased my desire to be free, and set me to thinking of plans to gain my freedom. I have found that, to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one.” Zora Hurston How it Feels to be Colored Me “ In my heart as well as in the mirror, I became a fast brown-warranted not to rub or run,” this quotes means that although sometimes she might feel discriminated, she never feels angry because she remarks that "...I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes...I do not belong to the sobbing school of neighborhood who hold that nature somehow has given them a lowdown dirty deal and whose feelings are hurt about it…..No, I do not weep at the world, I am busy sharpening my oyster knife.” I also love how she always keeps her sense of humor and her level of self esteem, "Sometimes I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company?”

17. The Harlem Renaissance ART

18. William Johnson 1901-1970

19. Johnson arrived in Harlem when the Renaissance was in the making. While there he created several paintings that dealt with political and social Harlem. Chain Gang is one example. William H. Johnson 1901-1970 Chain Gang. 1939

20. William H. Johnson Swing Low, Sweet Chariot 1939 Johnson always showed great devotion to painting themes that celebrated Black Christianity. This painting is an example of one based on a literal interpretation of a spiritual occasion.

21. The Three Abolitionists (1945)

22. WILLIAM H. JOHNSON “GOING TO CHURCH”

23. William H. Johnson “Mount Calvary”

24. William H. Johnson Street-life Harlem

27. “Out Chorus” (1979)

28. Bearden’s art combines African American Symbols and Culture with stylized realism .

30. “Le Jazz” (1966)

31. “The Family” 1975

32. Aaron Douglas 1899-1979

33. Aaron Douglas was a very influential artist throughout the Harlem Renaissance. He created many paintings, portraits and murals that depicted the history of African Americans from their foundations in Africa to their growth in America. Into Bondage Right: Song of the Tower

34. Study for Aspects of Negro Life: The Negro in an African Setting, 1934 This painting is a scene of dancers surrounded by onlookers and drummers. This painting is seen as one of Douglas’ better interpretive paintings because he had never been to Africa.

35. Aaron Douglas Into Bondage 1936

36. “ Aspects of Negro Life” (1934)

37. Aspiration by Aaron Douglas

38. “Creation” (1927)

39. “The Unknown” (1924)

40. Archibald Motley 1891-1981

41. Jockey Club, by Archibald Motley

42. “ BARBEQUE” by Archibald Motley Jr.

43. “ Barbeque” Oil on canvas 1934 The people in “Barbeque” do not have distinct features. Motley makes the painting’s main idea black people who were like everyone else, moving on and enjoying life. One does not get a sense of oppression, but then realizes that there are no white people in the painting, either.

44. This painting has a “full of motion” look to it. “Barbeque”, although not perfectly symmetrically balanced, appears visually balanced by the strategic placement of the color yellow, which balances the black suits.

45. Being that yellow, red and blue paints are primarily used, I would say the color scheme is primary, with a lot of black. Motley put his “signature blue” in almost every painting he painted.

46. “Nightlife” (1943)

47. Saturday Night Street Scene by Archibald Motley

52. “ Black life from the perspective of Black artists.”

53. The Harlem Renaissance 1919-1929

54. If you wanted the best chance at changing your circumstances and you were black, you went to Harlem.

55. HARLEM

56. Thank you for watching my documentary. I sincerely hope that we have learned something new about these vibrant artists who paved the way for African-American artists in the 20 th century.

57. The End