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hi
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i'm clint smith and this is crash course
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black american history the harlem
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renaissance also known as the new negro
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movement was an outpouring of artistic
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production and expression that took
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place shortly after world war one
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and lasted into the mid-1930s
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it was one of the richest most vibrant
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and most culturally generative artistic
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periods in american history
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and the work that emerged from this
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period continues to shape the landscape
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of american arts and letters today
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in this episode we're going to explore
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some of the writers artists and
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musicians who turned harlem into a
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world-renowned hub of art and culture
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and delve into the factors that brought
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them all together in the first place
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let's start the show
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[Music]
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so a few episodes ago we discussed the
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great migration
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the decades when many black americans
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moved to the north for better economic
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opportunities and to escape domestic
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terrorism in the south
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we also talked about the red summer of
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1919 where black veterans were targeted
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by white supremacist groups police
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officers and mobs upon their return from
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world war one
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as these things were happening
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more and more people in the black
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community
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became increasingly politicized
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they were tired of being treated as
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second-class citizens and many began
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more forcefully advocating for their
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civil and political rights
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large cultural shifts can not only serve
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as a catalyst for social and political
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change
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but they can also spark new forms of
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creative and artistic expression by the
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time the first great migration was over
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over 1.5 million black americans had
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moved to the north
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with 175 000 of them
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settling into harlem
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a single neighborhood in new york city
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even though harlem was only three square
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miles
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this influx of black americans
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turned the small area
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into the largest concentration
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of black people in the world
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these communities develop new forms of
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expression
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that were so unique
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so moving
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and so unlike anything america had ever
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seen before
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that harlem gained both national
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and international attention and this
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explosion of artistic creation
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wasn't just limited to harlem
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it also flourished in cities like
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chicago
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cleveland los angeles and washington dc
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we can separate much of the work
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into three categories
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visual arts
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literary arts
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and musical arts
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there were so many incredible visual
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artists who contributed to the harlem
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renaissance
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one of them was sculptor richmond barthe
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who enrolled at the art institute of
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chicago to study oil painting despite
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not having any formal training or a high
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school education
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while there however he was drawn to
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sculpting and ended up creating work
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that betrayed the beauty of the black
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body
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photographer james van der zee provided
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some of the most complete documentation
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of african american life during this era
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especially the emerging black middle
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class in new york muralist and artist
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aaron douglas used egyptian and west
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african sources in his art to depict
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segregation
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and race
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his innovative techniques drew the
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attention of black intellectuals like
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w.e.b du bois who would ask him to
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provide illustrations for their journals
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and there was meet-a-vo warrick fuller
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an interdisciplinary artist and sculptor
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who portrayed the black american
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experience using african themes
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born in philadelphia pennsylvania she
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said her work was quote
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of the soul
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rather than the figure
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she was the first african-american woman
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to receive a u.s government commission
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for her art
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and of course the harlem renaissance
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included the literary arts
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let's go to the thought bubble
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langston hughes was one of the most
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famous poets of the day
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he was born in joplin missouri in 1901
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and lived in a variety of places across
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the united states from illinois to ohio
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to new york city where he spent a year
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at columbia university
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he also traveled abroad to europe and
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africa while working as a seaman
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in 1926 he published his first book of
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poetry the weary blues while living in
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washington dc
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he finished his education at lincoln
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university in pennsylvania which was a
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historically black university where he
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felt like he had more support
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than he did at columbia
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langston hughes's poetry
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was unique because it reflected both his
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personal experience as a black man
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living in america
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and the experiences of working-class
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black people across the country
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he strived to reflect what he thought of
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as the authentic black experience
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and refused to make black life look
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happier or less painful
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than it actually was for so many
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and because of this
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hughes had many critics
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many black intellectuals believe that
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hughes was portraying black americans in
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a bad light
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but in his autobiography
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hughes responded
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the negro critics and many of the
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intellectuals were very sensitive about
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their race in books
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and still are
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in anything that white people were
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likely to read they wanted to put their
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best foot forward their politely
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polished and cultural foot
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and only that foot
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hughes
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wasn't daunted by the criticism and
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believed that his work showed black life
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and america
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for what it was
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he wasn't interested in hiding anything
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from anyone
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thanks thoughtbubble
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hughes wrote in his essay the negro
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artist and the racial mountain
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quote
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we younger negro artists who create
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now intend to express our individual
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dark-skinned selves without fear
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or shame
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if white people are pleased
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we're glad
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if they are not
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it doesn't matter
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we know we are beautiful
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and ugly too
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one of my favorite poems of his
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is entitled harlem
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which goes
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what happens to a dream deferred
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does it dry up like a raisin in the sun
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or fester like a sore
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and then run
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does it stink like rotten meat
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or crust and sugar over
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like a syrupy sweet
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maybe
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it just sags like a heavy load
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or
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does it explode
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langston hughes was one of many famous
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black writers during the harlem
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renaissance in fact there were so many
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that a special issue of the survey
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graphic a social science and culture
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journal was produced in 1925 to
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commemorate the impact of harlem on the
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american literary landscape it featured
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scholarly writings in history and
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sociology from some very important
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figures in academia and research
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one was james weldon johnson
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a lawyer a poet an activist who is best
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known for co-writing lift every voice
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and sing
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which is now known as the black national
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anthem
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additionally he was an active
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participant in the naacp
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and served as its first black executive
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secretary from 1920
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to 1930.
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another writer featured in this special
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issue was arthur schomburg
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also sometimes known as arturo
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schomburg a pioneer in the area of black
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history was an afro-puerto rican man who
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developed one of the most significant
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collections of printed material about
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the black diasporic experience in the
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world his collection was acquired by the
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new york public library and the
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collection grew into what would become
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the schomburg center for research in
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black culture
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the famous issue of the survey graphic
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also included work from walter white a
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lynching investigator who attempted to
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secure passage of a federal
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anti-lynching bill as well as pawned by
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writers like claude mckay and county
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cullen
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mckay and cullen were both cornerstones
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of the harlem renaissance literary scene
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but
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with divergent approaches
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cullen who many scholars believe was the
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person langston hughes was being
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critical of in the negro artist and the
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racial mountain essay embraced
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colorblindness in his work and wrote in
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a prose that appealed to eurocentric
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literary sensibilities mckay
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a jamaican immigrant proudly wrote
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poetry in his jamaican dialect in
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addition to what he called
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straight english one of mckay's most
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famous poems
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if we must die
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speaks to the rising sense of black
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militancy in many parts of the black
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community
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it goes
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if we must die
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oh let us nobly die
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so that our precious blood may not be
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shed in vain
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then
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even the monsters we defy shall be
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constrained to honor us though dead
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the editor of this historic issue of the
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survey graphic was elaine locke
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locke the first black american to earn a
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rhodes scholarship received both his
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undergraduate degree and phd in
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philosophy from harvard he would go on
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to teach at howard university and
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publish a book called the new negro
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a manifesto and collection of essays
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that embodied the spirit of the movement
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and expounded upon the importance of the
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harlem renaissance
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locke highlighted even more black
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literary geniuses
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folks like gwendolyn bennett and zora
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neale hurston bennett was a writer
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editor and poet who studied art in the
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united states and abroad
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she was also assistant to the editor at
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opportunity which was the major
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publication of the urban league and
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published many writers during the harlem
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renaissance
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hurston it wasn't fully appreciated
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until after her death
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was a writer known for her efforts to
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preserve the folklore of black southern
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life
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she wrote often about the nuanced
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experiences of black women best
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exemplified in her most well-known work
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the book
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their eyes were watching god
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we'll learn more about her in a few
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episodes
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in the area of music
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blues and jazz revolutionized the
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american landscape
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blues women singers such as ma rainey
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known as the mother of the blues and
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bessie smith
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known as the empress of the blues
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used the remarkable voices to express
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their highs
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their lows their challenges and their
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victories
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making their way through the united
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states as black women
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they especially focused on the stories
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of working class black life
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and both women
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also played an important role in
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exposing larger audiences
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to the music coming out of black
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communities
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another important jazz musician during
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this period was duke ellington
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he helped popularize big band style jazz
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music in the united states and produced
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many concerts at carnegie hall in new
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york city
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other legendary musicians of the era
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included yubi blake one of the first
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black americans to compose a major
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broadway musical
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and billie holiday whose song strange
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fruit is credited with being the first
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protest song of the civil rights era
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in fact many modern forms of music are
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influenced by blues and jazz
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including rock
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pop
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country and hip-hop we are just
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scratching the surface of the artistic
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outpouring of the harlem renaissance
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there are so many artists that we could
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have talked about today and more that
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we'll talk about in the episodes to come
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but what's clear
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is that black americans have made
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countless contributions to the cultural
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artistic
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musical and literary landscape of this
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country we can see it everywhere
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and as a writer like myself
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i know that my work is only possible
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because of the path that was laid by
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these remarkable people
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and who knows
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maybe i'll start painting or pick up a
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little bit of trumpet playing on the
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side
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or maybe not
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thanks for watching
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i'll see you next time
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crash course is made possible with the
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help of all these nice people and our
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animation team is thought cafe crash
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