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How Did James Weldon Johnson Influence The Harlem Renaissance

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The Harlem Renaissance brought about many great changes. It was a time for expressing the African-American culture. Many famous people began their writing or gained their recognition during this time. The Harlem Renaissance took place during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Many things came about during the Harlem Renaissance such as jazz and blues, poetry, dance, and musical theater. One of the most well known author from the Harlem Renaissance was James Weldon Johnson. James wrote many poems including lift every voice and sing, the black national anthem. James Weldon Johnson is a true representation of the artistically expressed 1920s and the Harlem renaissance due to his unique and creative writing style, ambition for change and his ability to unify …show more content…

Most of James inspiration came from experiences and religion. James was once a slave, so he was able to connect to the black community on a deeper level. When James was in college, he took a fieldtrip and experienced life among the poor African Americans. By witnessing the inhuman quality of life, James was inspired to fight for equality. His goal was to show the buried greatness and culture in black society. Trough rough times, James looked towards god for help and guidance. After being deeply affected both mentally and physically by the teaching of god, James incorporated religion in his writing. The use of god’s words both provided a sense of security and state of calmness in the peoples mind. By putting the courage, he had into words, searching for the potential hidden and providing a safe creative environment, James his lead society into the Harlem Renaissance trough his religious and inspirational …show more content…

He began by educating the public. To publicize the horrors of slavery, James published a book called ‘The autobiography of an Ex Colored Man.’ the book reminded society that the humiliation should never be repeated and to public image has to be changed. In 1895, James funded his own newspaper. He informed the community about ongoing social justices, the public image given to the black society and about political issues. By showing the horrendous image given to the back community, James inspired the African American community to show their inner

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Some of James Weldon Johnson’s other published work includes Fifty Years and Other Poems which was published in 1917 and The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man which was about a man who was light enough to pass as a white man and was published anonymously in 1912 and then again under Johnson’s name in 1927. Fifty Years and Other Poems, showed his political perspective of the African American influences that he portrayed throughout his writing and the poem “Fifty Years”, commemorated the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. He also published Black Manhattan, which was the first history of African Americans in New York City in 1930. Johnson has many other published works that described both how African Americans had to live and how they were trying to live during the Harlem Renaissance and the “new negro”

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Bringing intellectual stimulation through his invigorating works, Claude McKay was recognized to be one of the most inspirational figures during the Harlem Renaissance. McKay served to be a model for blacks, especially those who suffered the tortures of slavery in America. Poems, short-written books as well as novels were representatives of his art. From the application of skill and a bit of imagination the writings he expressed revealed real events that spurred the movement of reviving black cultural identity.

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“Art vs. Trade” Broken Down James Weldon Johnson, the poet of “Art vs. Trade”, organized the NAACP and was a leader the Harlem Renaissance (“James”). The Harlem Renaissance was a black cultural movement in the twenties that started in Harlem, New York City (“Harlem”). As an African American poet during the Harlem Renaissance, James Weldon Johnson had a deep hatred for segregation which he was talented enough to display with words. Johnson wrote the poem “Art vs. Trade” to appeal to many different types of people in order for the Harlem Renaissance movement to rise. Also, Johnson was born and grew up in Jacksonville, Florida in the 1870s and ‘80s (“James”).

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During the era of the Harlem Renaissance, a variety of different magnificent poets utilized poetry to express the feelings and pain that was inflicted upon them during that time period. A long time after the African Americans gained freedom and rights they still suffered. The Harlem Renaissance was a very crucial point in American history. People struggled to break down the racial barriers that were commonly associated with the Jim Crow laws. Many African Americans ought to express themselves through art and literature to exercise their rights.

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During the Harlem Renaissance many blacks were harmed due the the explicit evidence. This let whites to realize that they were harming blacks which led to social change. “Go Harlem” by Chick Webb was an upbeat rhythm that helped other African Americans relate to the society. Webb talked about, “Up and down the avenue, You see faces old and new, With a smile that, welcomes you, 'Cause it's holiday in Harlem” (Webb). The tone of his words are positive and jovial.

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The Harlem Renaissance was a black literary and art movement that began in Harlem, New York. Migrants from the South came to Harlem with new ideas and a new type of music called Jazz. Harlem welcomed many African Americans who were talented. Writers in the Harlem Renaissance had separated themselves from the isolated white writers which made up the “lost generation” The formation of a new African American cultural identity is what made the Harlem Renaissance and the Lost Generation unique in American culture because it influenced white literacy and it was a sense of freedom for African Americans.

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What is so significant about the Harlem Renaissance? The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement in the 1920’s. During this time, it was also known as the “New Negro” that was developed by a philosopher named Alain Locke. It was a book made in 1925 for African American artists to reconnect to their roots through the “ancestral arts of Africa.” The goal of this movement was it encouraged African-Americans to become politically active and racially conscious.

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The Harlem Renaissance is a African-Amercian movement in the 1920s, and mid 1930s, The Harlem Renaissance was a kindly movement that started a new black idenity. Many came from the South to find a place where they can freely express their talents. This was known as, The Great Migration. However the Northerners did not like the move. They complained that the African-Amercians were flooding the unemployemt markets.

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The Harlem Renaissance was a period of great cultural growth in the black community. It is accepted that it started in 1918 and lasted throughout the 1930s. Though named the ‘Harlem’ Renaissance, it was a country-wide phenomenon of pride and development among black Americans, the likes of which had never existed in such grand scale. Among the varying political actions and movements for equality, a surge of new art appeared: musical, visual, and even theatre. With said surge, many of the most well-known black authors, poets, musicians and actors rose to prevalence including Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Louis Armstrong, and Eulalie Spence.

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After slavery the promised land had not been brought like it was promised. Instead, white supremacy was quickly, legally, and violently restored to the New South, where ninety percent of African Americans lived. African American culture was reborn in the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance included Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, Rudolph Fisher, Wallace Thurman, Jessie Redmon Fauset, Nella Larsen, Arna Bontemps, Countee Cullen, and Zora Neale Hurston. The The Harlem Renaissance started the The Great Migration.

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The shame wasn’t a cause for them to turn away from the love for their culture, it just made the proud of their deep black beautiful roots. The black artists of the Harlem Renaissance put a visual scene to the joy, pain, laughter, tears, and the ugly truth within this endearing culture. The literature of the Harlem Renaissance gave an intellectual opinion in American during in the turn of the 20th century. Writers of the Harlem Renaissance have had a profound impact on the American society today.

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The Harlem Renaissance was a time of great artistic success by African Americans. During the Great Migration of World War I, many African Americans from rural areas and farms in the South to urban areas and cities in the North. By the end of this migration, nearly forty

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The Harlem Renaissance was a movement that reflected the culture of African Americans in an artistic way during the 1920’s and the 30’s. Many African Americans who participated in this movement showed a different side of the “Negro Life,” and rejected the stereotypes that were forced on themselves. The Harlem Renaissance was full of artists, musicians, and writers who wrote about their thoughts, especially on discrimination towards blacks, such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Langston Hughes. The Harlem Renaissance was an influential and exciting movement, and influenced others to fight for what they want and believed in. The Harlem Renaissance was the start of the Civil Rights Movement.

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The Harlem Renaissance was a burst on African American’s expression of culture, arts, and writings throughout the 1920’s. It was in Harlem, New York, the movement allowed many African American poets, painters, musicians, authors and philosophers to express the beliefs in their people's culture. They wanted to be equal to white people so they showed that through their talents. Louis Armstrong was a key asset to the Harlem Renaissance due to his inspiring music and playing his instruments for African Americans people during this period. Louis Armstrong was a pivotal musician in the twentieth century, but it was his contributions and his role he made during the Harlem Renaissance movement that is most substantial.

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If they before were disregarded, in the 1920s their works were widespread. Harlem Renaissance has changed not only cultural but social and political position of African-Americans in American society. The mass migration to the North changed the image of the African-American person, he was not an ignorant and illiterate peasant anymore, he turned into a smart and educated representative of the Middle class. Thanks to this changes, African-Americans became the part of the American and then the world cultural and intellectual elite.

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