How Did The Harlem Renaissance Affect Society

Have you ever wondered how events of the past affected society? In the 1920-30s there was an uproar in African-American culture, which became known as the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance is thought to be one of the most influential movements in African-American literary history. The Harlem Renaissance encompassed African-American culture literature, stage performances, art, and music, in a way that forever changed the American cultural landscape. A number of talented artists made a name for themselves during that time and contributed to their community and society. African-Americans weren't given recognition for their talents until the Harlem Renaissance began and artists like Augusta Savage became renowned and helped teach art to

Amongst one of those arts to be recognized was music, especially jazz. Jazz had become fairly popular and the 1920s became what was known as the “Jazz Age”. Jazz gathered plenty of people night after night to see the exact performers as the night before and with the use of improvisation no two performances would ever be the same. There were a ton of musical events headlining Jazz because of its rhythms and unique instrumental solos. “Many singers like Billie Holiday made the blues and jazz so popular with their vocals, as well as other artists like Louis Armstrong who brought in huge audiences, both black and white Americans alike, while they all caught jazz fever”. The Harlem Renaissance was also extremely significant because The Harlem Renaissance helped to further advance women's rights. It was paramount for women because it brought up a lot of new sentiments for a lot of different topics like feminism. “Flappers were women who often wore short hair and showy jewelry”. Flapper refers to strong, confident, young women who scattered from the norm by taking part in things, such as drinking, dancing, smoking, and other things in relation to those activities. Prior to the 1920s activities like those were only alright for men to take part of. Ultimately, it was during the period of the Harlem Renaissance, in the 1920s that women were granted the right

The acclaimed ‘father of the Harlem Renaissance’ philosopher Alain Leroy Locke wrote on a lot of different topics, but one of the topics he wrote on was the Harlem Renaissance, which spoke on Harlem culture and its the potential. “Locke has made a world of difference, including the change to a more self-assured and politically assertive comprehension of identity and racial pride led to the creation of the ‘New Negro’ concept conceived by Locke”. When speaking of the ‘New Negro’, Locke was talking about a resuming intellectual curiosity in the study of the of black culture and history among the African-American population. In other words, Locke wanted people to spend more time connecting to their roots and focusing on both black culture and history; which required an honest representation of the black experience and the adoption of serious portrayal of black American life in art was an important step to take in the development of the ideals of the Harlem Renaissance. “ In Locke's’ mind the black artist’s goal was to “repair a damaged group psychology and reshape a warper social perspective”. Locke wanted to create a new image of black life by showing an accurate representation of what it was like then and for thinkers and artists alike, the way to achieve this revolution was through incorporating