Harlem Renaissance - By: Domenica Pacheco

 Harlem Renaissance by Domenica Pacheco-American Literature 馃暜




At the end of the war in 1865, thousands of enslaved people were freed, and they were filled with hope for economic, social, and political equality, as well as greater participation. However, in 1870, white supremacy was restructured, and that hope disappeared. Discriminatory and segregationist laws were enforced, and everything possible was done to prevent Black people from exercising their right to vote.

Over time, African Americans realized that better opportunities could be found outside the South, so many moved to cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Detroit. The growth of Harlem came to host up to 175,000 African Americans.

A growing Black creativity began to emerge in Harlem. Writers, artists, musicians, and theater professionals inspired one another and often worked across disciplines, seeking an art that challenged stereotypes and fought against injustice and discrimination.

The person who provided most of the intellectual foundation for the Harlem Renaissance was philosopher, sociologist, writer, and patron of the arts Alain LeRoy Locke, with his essay “Harlem, Mecca of the New Negro.” This essay introduced Harlem and its cultural boom to a broader audience. Locke expanded these ideas in his anthology of essays The New Negro: An Interpretation (1925), which included his influential essay “The New Negro.” The initial name of the movement, “The New Negro,” comes from this anthology and essay. The essay called for a “new dynamic phase... of renewed self-respect and self-reliance” within the African American community. 


Most importantly, the Harlem Renaissance instilled in African Americans across the country a new spirit of self-determination and pride, a new social consciousness, and a new commitment to political activism, all of which would provide a foundation for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In doing so, it validated the beliefs of its founders and leaders like Alain Locke and Langston Hughes that art could be a vehicle to improve the lives of the African Americans. 



Connection to the present

Today, that same struggle continues in new forms. The Black Lives Matter movement, for example, reflects that same need for social justice, equal rights, and respect for African American life and culture.


Sources 

Sienra, R. (2021, 24 de febrero). El Renacimiento de Harlem: Conoce la historia de este movimiento. My Modern Met.

Hutchinson, G. (2025, 11 de junio). Harlem Renaissance. Encyclop忙dia Britannica. Recuperado el 27 de junio de 2025




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