Viscom CM 235

- Originated in Harlem (NYC), NY post-WWI
- A profound literary and political movement
- Explored the question "what does it mean to be Black?"
- Subject matter was frequently of a sensual nature, romance or active celebration
- In 1925, the African-American philosopher Alain Locke published The New Negro, an anthology that contained the works of some of the writers of the period: Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston. In Harlem, "Negro life is seizing upon its first chances for group expression and self-determination," Locke wrote in the introduction.
- One could argue that the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s was one of the first instances in the 20th century when whites -- albeit white elites and white social reform types -- collaborated with black intellectuals, social activists, educators, and artists in attempts to transform a largely segregated and racist American society.

(from PBS Online Forum, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/february98/harlem_2-20.html


Artlex reference