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. another writer featured in this special issue was arthur schomburg also sometimes known as arturo schomburg a pioneer in the area of black history was an afro-puerto rican man who developed one of the most significant collections of printed material about the black diasporic experience in the world his collection was acquired by the new york public library and the collection grew into what would become the schomburg center for research in black culture the famous issue of the survey graphic also included work from walter white a lynching investigator who attempted to secure passage of a federal anti-lynching bill as well as pawned by writers like claude mckay and county cullen mckay and cullen were both cornerstones of the harlem renaissance literary scene but with divergent approaches cullen who many scholars believe was the person langston hughes was being critical of in the negro artist and the racial mountain essay embraced colorblindness in his work and wrote in a prose that appealed to eurocentric literary sensibilities mckay a jamaican immigrant proudly wrote poetry in his jamaican dialect in addition to what he called straight english one of mckay's most famous poems if we must die speaks to the rising sense of black militancy in many parts of the black community it goes if we must die oh let us nobly die so that our precious blood may not be shed in vain then even the monsters we defy shall be constrained to honor us though dead the editor of this historic issue of the survey graphic was elaine locke locke the first black american to earn a rhodes scholarship received both his undergraduate degree and phd in philosophy from harvard he would go on to teach at howard university and publish a book called the new negro a manifesto and collection of essays that embodied the spirit of the movement and expounded upon the importance of the harlem renaissance locke highlighted even more black literary geniuses folks like gwendolyn bennett and zora neale hurston bennett was a writer editor and poet who studied art in the united states and abroad she was also assistant to the editor at opportunity which was the major publication of the urban league and published many writers during the harlem renaissance hurston it wasn't fully appreciated until after her death was a writer known for her efforts to preserve the folklore of black southern life she wrote often about the nuanced experiences of black women best exemplified in her most well-known work the book their eyes were watching god we'll learn more about her in a few episodes in the area of music blues and jazz revolutionized the american landscape blues women singers such as ma rainey known as the mother of the blues and bessie smith known as the empress of the blues used the remarkable voices to express their highs their lows their challenges and their victories making their way through the united states as black women they especially focused on the stories of working class black life and both women also played an important role in exposing larger audiences to the music coming out of black communities another important jazz musician during this period was duke ellington he helped popularize big band style jazz music in the united states and produced many concerts at carnegie hall in new york city other legendary musicians of the era included yubi blake one of the first black americans to compose a major broadway musical and billie holiday whose song strange fruit is credited with being the first protest song of the civil rights era in fact many modern forms of music are influenced by blues and jazz including rock pop country and hip-hop we are just scratching the surface of the artistic outpouring of the harlem renaissance there are so many artists that we could have talked about today and more that we'll talk about in the episodes to come but what's clear is that black americans have made countless contributions to the cultural artistic musical and literary landscape of this country we can see it everywhere and as a writer like myself i know that my work is only possible because of the path that was laid by these remarkable people and who knows maybe i'll start painting or pick up a little bit of trumpet playing on the side or maybe not thanks for watching i'll see you next time crash course is made possible with the help of all these nice people and our animation team is thought cafe crash course is a complexity production and if you'd like to keep crash course free for everybody forever you can support the series at patreon a crowdfunding platform that allows you to support the content 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Channel: CrashCourse

Views: 364,013

Keywords: John Green, Hank Green, vlogbrothers, Crash Course, crashcourse, education, harlem renaissance

Id: vKaegbtcE00

Length: 12min 37sec (757 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 19 2021