The New Negro Summary
Precious Whitley
October 17, 2012
English II
Summary
In the beginning Locke tells us about “the tide of Negro migration”. During this time in a movement known as the Great Migration, thousand of African Americans also known as Negros left their homes in the South and moved North toward the beach line of big cities in search of employment and a new beginning. They left the South because of racial violence such as the Ku Klux Klan and economic discrimination not able to obtain work. Their migration was an expression of their changing attitudes toward themselves as Locke said best From The New Negro, and has been described as "something like a spiritual emancipation." Many African Americans moved to Harlem, a neighborhood located in Manhattan. Back in the day Harlem became the world’s largest black community; also home to a diverse mix of cultures. Having extraordinary outbreak of inspired movement revealed their unique culture and encouraged them to discover their heritage; and becoming "the New Negro,” Also known as “New Negro Movement,” it was later named the Harlem Renaissance. Realizing that America was not yet the racial equal country that it idealized to be, African Americans made sure to keep themselves conscious of what society would react to them. In order to create successful and meaningful literature, African American writers were forced to fully educate themselves on the government and history so as to compile accurate literature. One such writer was James Weldon Johnson; taking on the persona of a black preacher, he was able to greatly impress upon the black community how important it was to have a strong faith in God and in oneself. Catapulting the 1920s artistic movement that created a bulk of the first major literary pieces by African Americans, Johnson was the ancestor of great men and women such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Wallace Thurman, and W.E.B. Du Bois.
Langston Hughes is often called the poet laureate of Harlem. His
October 17, 2012
English II
Summary
In the beginning Locke tells us about “the tide of Negro migration”. During this time in a movement known as the Great Migration, thousand of African Americans also known as Negros left their homes in the South and moved North toward the beach line of big cities in search of employment and a new beginning. They left the South because of racial violence such as the Ku Klux Klan and economic discrimination not able to obtain work. Their migration was an expression of their changing attitudes toward themselves as Locke said best From The New Negro, and has been described as "something like a spiritual emancipation." Many African Americans moved to Harlem, a neighborhood located in Manhattan. Back in the day Harlem became the world’s largest black community; also home to a diverse mix of cultures. Having extraordinary outbreak of inspired movement revealed their unique culture and encouraged them to discover their heritage; and becoming "the New Negro,” Also known as “New Negro Movement,” it was later named the Harlem Renaissance. Realizing that America was not yet the racial equal country that it idealized to be, African Americans made sure to keep themselves conscious of what society would react to them. In order to create successful and meaningful literature, African American writers were forced to fully educate themselves on the government and history so as to compile accurate literature. One such writer was James Weldon Johnson; taking on the persona of a black preacher, he was able to greatly impress upon the black community how important it was to have a strong faith in God and in oneself. Catapulting the 1920s artistic movement that created a bulk of the first major literary pieces by African Americans, Johnson was the ancestor of great men and women such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Wallace Thurman, and W.E.B. Du Bois.
Langston Hughes is often called the poet laureate of Harlem. His