Arts and Letters of the Harlem Renaissance: Crash Course Black American History #26

hi i'm clint smith and this is crash course black american history the harlem renaissance also known as the new negro movement was an outpouring of artistic production and expression that took place shortly after world war one and lasted into the mid-1930s it was one of the richest most vibrant and most culturally generative artistic periods in american history and the work that emerged from this period continues to shape the landscape of american arts and letters today in this episode we're going to explore some of the writers artists and musicians who turned harlem into a world-renowned hub of art and culture and delve into the factors that brought them all together in the first place let's start the show [Music] so a few episodes ago we discussed the great migration the decades when many black americans moved to the north for better economic opportunities and to escape domestic terrorism in the south we also talked about the red summer of 1919 where black veterans were targeted by white supremacist groups police officers and mobs upon their return from world war one as these things were happening more and more people in the black community became increasingly politicized they were tired of being treated as second-class citizens and many began more forcefully advocating for their civil and political rights large cultural shifts can not only serve as a catalyst for social and political change but they can also spark new forms of creative and artistic expression by the time the first great migration was over over 1. 5 million black americans had moved to the north with 175 000 of them settling into harlem a single neighborhood in new york city even though harlem was only three square miles this influx of black americans turned the small area into the largest concentration of black people in the world these communities develop new forms of expression that were so unique so moving and so unlike anything america had ever seen before that harlem gained both national and international attention and this explosion of artistic creation wasn't just limited to harlem it also flourished in cities like chicago cleveland los angeles and washington dc we can separate much of the work into three categories visual arts literary arts and musical arts there were so many incredible visual artists who contributed to the harlem renaissance one of them was sculptor richmond barthe who enrolled at the art institute of chicago to study oil painting despite not having any formal training or a high school education while there however he was drawn to sculpting and ended up creating work that betrayed the beauty of the black body photographer james van der zee provided some of the most complete documentation of african american life during this era especially the emerging black middle class in new york muralist and artist aaron douglas used egyptian and west african sources in his art to depict segregation and race his innovative techniques drew the attention of black intellectuals like w. e.

b du bois who would ask him to provide illustrations for their journals and there was meet-a-vo warrick fuller an interdisciplinary artist and sculptor who portrayed the black american experience using african themes born in philadelphia pennsylvania she said her work was quote of the soul rather than the figure she was the first african-american woman to receive a u. s government commission for her art and of course the harlem renaissance included the literary arts let's go to the thought bubble langston hughes was one of the most famous poets of the day he was born in joplin missouri in 1901 and lived in a variety of places across the united states from illinois to ohio to new york city where he spent a year at columbia university he also traveled abroad to europe and africa while working as a seaman in 1926 he published his first book of poetry the weary blues while living in washington dc he finished his education at lincoln university in pennsylvania which was a historically black university where he felt like he had more support than he did at columbia langston hughes's poetry was unique because it reflected both his personal experience as a black man living in america and the experiences of working-class black people across the country he strived to reflect what he thought of as the authentic black experience and refused to make black life look happier or less painful than it actually was for so many and because of this hughes had many critics many black intellectuals believe that hughes was portraying black americans in a bad light but in his autobiography hughes responded the negro critics and many of the intellectuals were very sensitive about their race in books and still are in anything that white people were likely to read they wanted to put their best foot forward their politely polished and cultural foot and only that foot hughes wasn't daunted by the criticism and believed that his work showed black life and america for what it was he wasn't interested in hiding anything from anyone thanks thoughtbubble hughes wrote in his essay the negro artist and the racial mountain quote we younger negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame if white people are pleased we're glad if they are not it doesn't matter we know we are beautiful and ugly too one of my favorite poems of his is entitled harlem which goes what happens to a dream deferred does it dry up like a raisin in the sun or fester like a sore and then run does it stink like rotten meat or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet maybe it just sags like a heavy load or does it explode langston hughes was one of many famous black writers during the harlem renaissance in fact there were so many that a special issue of the survey graphic a social science and culture journal was produced in 1925 to commemorate the impact of harlem on the american literary landscape it featured scholarly writings in history and sociology from some very important figures in academia and research one was james weldon johnson a lawyer a poet an activist who is best known for co-writing lift every voice and sing which is now known as the black national anthem additionally he was an active participant in the naacp and served as its first black executive secretary from 1920 to 1930.