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Harlem Renaissance Research Paper

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The 1920s gave way to an explosion of media and entertainment amongst middle and upper class citizens. The Harlem Renaissance was a showcase of African American artistry and sophistication. Jazz music played a key role in this cultural awakening. The generation which participated in the Harlem Renaissance was the first of black people not being born into slavery. Though they were living in post slavery America, African Americans were still combating systemic oppression and demonizing stereotypes. The “New Negro Movement”, later called The Harlem Renaissance, was all about self expression through art (Opinde). Jazz was derived from the experience of black americans, borrowing from European and African musical traditions. Music in this genre …show more content…

Once the elitists of New York started to arrive at jazz clubs, the market for this music was stimulated (Effects of the Harlem Renaissance on Jazz). Jazz began to gain traction not only locally, but nationally. Radio broadcasts of voices such as Cab Calloway,
Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington, whose orchestra had performed at the Cotton Club, could be heard in any household that contained a radio (Jazz during the Harlem Renaissance). In The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan sees it fit to introduce Nick Carraway to his mistress, Mrs.Myrtle Wilson. As the three are heading to a hotel to socialize with other friends, they are passed behind a limousine containing three seemingly upper class African Americans. Once Carraway notices this, he makes a remark about the impossible being possible with the crossing of the bridge they were traveling on (Fitzgerald 69). With the Harlem Renaissance, especially the breakthrough of representation for black creators, African Americans were on their way to being viewed as sophisticated.The Harlem Renaissance was founded on dismantling thuggish stereotypes, as white Americans viewed African Americans as subhuman. This shift apparently gained the attention of whites, even being represented in works of

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