Harlem Renaissance Research Paper
Angelica Robinson
English 344
Dr. Saloy
Research Project
Harlem Renaissance Arts: Painting the Portrait of the New Negro
The Harlem Renaissance, originally called the New Negro Movement, can be described as a cultural explosion that took place in Harlem in the early 1900’s. During this period Harlem was a haven for black writers, artists, actors, musicians and scholars. Through literature and art, blacks created a new image for themselves defying pervading racial stereo types. Blacks were finally able to showcase their many talents as well as their intellect, forming a concrete image of the New Negro. The New Negro was not comfortable being categorized as rural, and undereducated. During the Harlem Renaissance, there was a battle to create …show more content…
Whites deprived blacks of their civil and political rights by terrorizing black communities with lynch mobs and other forms of violence. As life in the South became increasingly difficult, African Americans began to migrate north in great numbers. African Americans sought a better standard of living from the institutionalized racism in the South. Through this great migration the New Negro was born. The New Negro had a more outspoken advocacy of dignity and a refusal to submit to the practices and laws of Jim Crow and segregation. Harlem was the destination for several blacks from around the country, attracting both people seeking work from the South, and an educated class who made the area a center of culture. The migration of southern Blacks to the north transformed the image of the African American from “undereducated peasants to one of urban, cosmopolitan sophistication.” (Carol, 80) This renewed identity led to a greater social consciousness, and paved the way for Blacks to branch out culturally, intellectually and …show more content…
Locke’s attitude about black advancement was very art oriented; he believed that art was tied intimately into the political and cultural future of the New Negro. Locke believed that art by African Americans should look different from art created by white Americans because black artists should look to Africa for inspiration like the sculptor Richmond Barthé, an African American sculptor known for his many public works, which included the Toussaint L’Ouverture Monument in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Sargent Claude Johnson, an African American, painter, potter, ceramist, printmaker, graphic artist, sculptor, and
English 344
Dr. Saloy
Research Project
Harlem Renaissance Arts: Painting the Portrait of the New Negro
The Harlem Renaissance, originally called the New Negro Movement, can be described as a cultural explosion that took place in Harlem in the early 1900’s. During this period Harlem was a haven for black writers, artists, actors, musicians and scholars. Through literature and art, blacks created a new image for themselves defying pervading racial stereo types. Blacks were finally able to showcase their many talents as well as their intellect, forming a concrete image of the New Negro. The New Negro was not comfortable being categorized as rural, and undereducated. During the Harlem Renaissance, there was a battle to create …show more content…
Whites deprived blacks of their civil and political rights by terrorizing black communities with lynch mobs and other forms of violence. As life in the South became increasingly difficult, African Americans began to migrate north in great numbers. African Americans sought a better standard of living from the institutionalized racism in the South. Through this great migration the New Negro was born. The New Negro had a more outspoken advocacy of dignity and a refusal to submit to the practices and laws of Jim Crow and segregation. Harlem was the destination for several blacks from around the country, attracting both people seeking work from the South, and an educated class who made the area a center of culture. The migration of southern Blacks to the north transformed the image of the African American from “undereducated peasants to one of urban, cosmopolitan sophistication.” (Carol, 80) This renewed identity led to a greater social consciousness, and paved the way for Blacks to branch out culturally, intellectually and …show more content…
Locke’s attitude about black advancement was very art oriented; he believed that art was tied intimately into the political and cultural future of the New Negro. Locke believed that art by African Americans should look different from art created by white Americans because black artists should look to Africa for inspiration like the sculptor Richmond Barthé, an African American sculptor known for his many public works, which included the Toussaint L’Ouverture Monument in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Sargent Claude Johnson, an African American, painter, potter, ceramist, printmaker, graphic artist, sculptor, and