3 of 7

Write now Article Tools

"If I had to choose between Heaven and Harlem? Oh ho ho! Harlem would win every time!"
~Ossie Davis on the glory of Harlem in the 1920's

The Harlem Renaissance started as a cultural movement. It emerged in 1918 during intellectual upheaval in the black community. Increased education and employment created a black middle class that wanted literature and art aimed at their culture. This demographic created a niche for literature that could describe the reality of black life in America.

This period of history is also known as The New Negro Movement or the Black Literary Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was the awakening and expression for black writers. The literary powerhouses produced from this revival were: Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Claude McKay, W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Charles W. Chesnutt, and Countee Cullen. The 1920's and 30's were historical because mainstream publishers and critics were taking African-American literature seriously. It happened in Harlem because educated and socially conscious African-Americans lived there.

Harlem Shadows was published in 1922 making it one the first works by a black writer to be published by a mainstream publishing house. There Is Confusion was published in 1924. One of the first novels written about the black middle class was written from a black woman perspective.

Striving to give artistic expression to the African American experience scores of writers, poets, musicians and artists created a Renaissance in Harlem. Sixteen African American authors wrote more than fifty books. Those novels, most still in print today, appealed to whites and blacks. No single writing style dominated the Renaissance. Using poetry and grit the writers exposed the black experience and immortalized it on paper. No other time in history has black writing been as celebrated and appreciated as during the Harlem Renaissance.

Langston Hughes-said that black artists intended to express themselves freely, no matter what the public thought: black or white. Hughes and the writers of this time challenged racism and celebrated their cultures with dignity and creativity. What a profound impact this had! Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, even Spike Lee are still creating works based on the influence of the Harlem Renaissance.

Learn more about this author, R. Warner.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about How the Harlem Renaissance inspired a national community of black writers?
We want to hear your view. Write now!