The Harlem Renaissance

Abstract

the spring of 2017, I was approached by a professor to join him in a writing project that will be published in 2019. The project is a volume called: 50 Events that Shaped African American History. My contribution to this project is a chapter on the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance took place between 1920 and 1930. Once the decade passed, the Harlem Renaissance ended as quickly as it had begun. Using primary and secondary sources, I researched and learned about the various themes within the Harlem Renaissance. Such themes include: politics, literature, music, and black identity and culture. I had to write a chronology, a narrative, two biographies, and two sidebars. One biography is about Langston Hughes, and the other, James Weldon Johnson. The one side-bar comments on the concept of “The New Negro” and the other, comments on the Harlem Riot of 1935 and how that symbolized the end of the Harlem Renaissance. The goal of this project was to write an unbiased view of the Harlem Renaissance. I encountered the arguments, victories, and defeats of the Harlem Renaissance. Writing about the Harlem Renaissance also caused me to ask questions. One question was: “Was the Harlem Renaissance a success?” I intend to share what this writing experience has taught me and also hope to offer my own take on the questions offered above, and help to start an educated conversation of an influential moment in African American History.