Essay on the Harlem Renaissance: Music, Culture, and Identity

This essay delves into the Harlem Renaissance, a significant intellectual and social movement of the 1920s centered in Harlem, New York, also known as the New Negro Movement. It examines the movement's origins, spurred by the Great Migration of African Americans and cultural exchange, focusing on its influence on music, art, and literature. The essay highlights key themes such as racial pride, challenges to racism, and the emergence of new jazz styles, while also discussing the contributions of notable figures like Louis Armstrong. It explores the socio-political context after the Civil War, where African Americans sought social and political representation through cultural expression. The essay also addresses the challenges faced by artists like Armstrong in gaining recognition. The essay uses references to support the information and provides a comprehensive overview of the Harlem Renaissance and its enduring legacy.

Running head: HARLEM RENAISSANCE
Harlem Renaissance
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Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance is an intellectual social movement that took place in the 1920s,
in Harlem, New York. It was essentially known as the Black Movement, or the New Negro
Movement. The name was gained from an anthology that was edited by Alain Locke. The great
migration of the African Americans to the country, after the Great war, and the inter cultural
transmission between the cultural expressions of the African American and the native
Americans, created the impetus for the movement. The movement essentially generated and
spread across the urban space of the country; however, the propensity of the movement was
mostly felt in Harlem, and thus the movement or the social got its name. The movement was
essentially generated by the African Americans of the American Blacks, who were much
influenced by the music and the culture of the country, and tried to create their own space and
their own style of music and culture in the country (Baker, 2013). The renaissance had given the
country a new form and style of music and culture and initiated the rebirth of the African
American arts.
The social movement had taken place after the Civil War, to which the country was
exposed. According to the researchers the civil war had resulted into the enslavement of a huge
number of blacks, and with the end of the civil war, the freed Black Americans were faced with a
news type of situation, that is, striving for the social representation. The freed men were trying to
represent themselves and their group, socially, politically and economically, and the form and the
languages of music, art and literature, provided the men with a way to express themselves and
their grievances and their demands (YouTube, 2019). This had created a situation of unrest
within the society, as the people faced with rigidity and unacceptance, and this further resulted
into an inter cultural transmission within the country.

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Harlem Renaissance
The distinctive form of art and culture was characterized by certain themes, which were
essentially an overt racial pride that challenged the prevailing racism and channeled the
progressive politics. The styles presented through this movement was wide and diverse and
presented the society with a new form of jazz music that was fused with the traditional jazz and
blues. The art and literature were inspired by the black identity, racism, experiences of the
modern blacks, slavery and the dilemma or writing and performing to reach to the elite white
audience (Outka, 2016).
The Harlem Renaissance had presented the world with many notable musicians, and one
of the most eminent figures was Louis Armstrong, who was essentially known as “Satchmo”, or
“Pops”, was trumpeter, singer, soloist, comedian and one of the most influential jazz musicians
of the time. He brought in the form of Scat singing, which is, referred to the music without
words, and his solo instrumentals had influenced the jazz music. Although having a beautiful,
unique and melodious voice, Armstrong had faced a hard time to get his deserved place in the
industry, because of the coarseness in his voice, and his way of speech and his dressing sense,
which according to his white band members, not elite and urban enough for the audience at the
jazz room (Beckman, 2013). However, the world still remembers him for his exquisite single,
“La Vie En Rose”, and for his contribution in the movement.

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Harlem Renaissance
References:
Baker Jr, H. A. (2013). Modernism and the Harlem renaissance. University of Chicago Press.
Beckman, W. H. (2013). Harlem Renaissance Artists and Writers. Enslow Publishing, LLC.
Outka, P. (2016). Race and nature from transcendentalism to the Harlem renaissance. Springer.
YouTube. (2019). History Brief: The Harlem Renaissance. [online] Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90PTxdsqfsA. [Accessed 23 Jun. 2019].