Harlem Renaissance By Zora Neale Hurston Analysis

During the Great Migration, thousands of African Americans moved to Harlem for job opportunities, affordable housing, and to escape the blatant racism of the South. Along the mass immigration, came cultural influences such as blues and jazz music, which had stemmed from African spirituals. Poetry also became a large part of the culture with many poems following similar rhythms as those found in blues music. Writers tackled the theme of racial injustice for the first time and brought a sense of racial identity to the African American community. The writers of the Harlem Renaissance era exhibited strength through their writing that transcended to their communities. The Harlem Renaissance was sparked by writers looking to end racial injustice, highlight the beauty of African American culture, and explore their African American heritage through their writing. Racial injustice was a common and

Specifically, Zora Neale Hurston celebrated African American culture in a unique way by using authentic African American dialect and raw storytelling. The dialect used in the second paragraph of the story gives ample insight into the racial tension of that era, “Setting up dere looking dem white folks right in de face! They’s gowine lynch you, yet.” Hurston uses her grandmother’s African American dialect to celebrate her culture and to accent the story. Exploring African American culture and their unique heritage is another common theme of writers from the Harlem Renaissance era. In Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, Hughes focuses on the long history of African American race and its roots. Hughes writes, “I’ve known rivers as ancient as the world and older than the blood in human veins.” In the following stanza it says, “My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” These lines symbolizes African American culture’s rich, proud history filled with