The Harlem Renaissance

1. The Harlem Renaissance Roderick D. Mitchell II

2. What When and Where? • The Harlem Renaissance, known as “The New Negro Movement” at the time was a cultural explosion in Harlem New York during the 1920’s. • “The great migration” of the 1910’s where African Americans migrated north from the south and started to heavily populate urban cities, New York being the most targeted city for incoming black families. • As a result by 1920 the first significant influx of educated and artistically inclined African Americans began to surface becoming pioneers. The main hub of this activity was located in Harlem USA.

3. The Impact • “The Renaissance coincided with the Jazz Age, the Roaring Twenties, and the Lost Generation, and its impact was keenly felt on an individual and collective level within the African-American community as well as on America's robust cultural industries, music, film, theater—all of which fully benefited from the creativity and newly discovered contributions of African Americans.”

4. Why the Renaissance Mattered • The Renaissance is significant to education because it is historically the first example of educated African Americans as a collective in a “free” time. • The Era set the standard for African American Intellectualism and Creativity

5. Why the Renaissance Matters to Me • When I was initially taught about it, being able to relate to something gave me more motivation than the history we typically encounter. Although I am sure all my potential students, regardless of grade class type, will not feel the same way about this period in time it is the fact I learned that when someone feels they can relate to the subject even a little, it can make the student far more interested.

6. Visual Aid • American Voices / Black America - Harlem Renaissance • http://youtu.be/4Bc2Tekynis

7. Online Sources • http://exhibitions.nypl.org/africanaage/essay-renaissance.html • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance