The Great Migration From 1910-1970

Between 1910 and 1970, a mass number of African Americans moved from the rural southern states of america larger urban cities like Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Detroit. Historically this is known as ‘The Great Migration’, which proved to be an important factor in the development of African American music, art and culture. When the migrants left their homes the south in search of a better life, they left behind the threat of lynching, discrimination, segregation, denied human rights and lack of employment. For Blacks, the migration meant leaving what had always been their economic and social base in America, and finding a new one. They brought a culture constructed out of their own experiences of discrimination in the south, these cultural

Between 1916 and the end of the 1920s at least 75,000 southern immigrants arrived on the south side of Chicago. In 1920, the drafting of the eighteenth amendment banned the production, transport and sale of alcoholic drinks causing illicit speakeasies which became the dynamic venues of the ‘Jazz Age’ and sheer hedonism. As they worked in the factories by day, the musicians then had an opportunity to perform in the nightclubs and speakeasies at night, drawing major crowds. Over time they amassed an avid fanbase of a diverse range of ethnicities and it’s association with defying the prohibition started to give Jazz the reputation of immoral. Especially to those older members of the African American community who believed that it encouraged the youth to forget where they came from and abandon the cultural values that formed the framework of the community. Duke Ellington, a jazz musician of that time said “By and large, Jazz has always been like the kind of man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with”- Duke Ellington. The fast-paced and risqué values of the ‘Roaring 20s’ created a society of major social and political change. During this time, the nations wealth doubled ushering many Americans, notably African Americans soon found themselves quite affluent and living in

The blacks that already lived up north had been more educated and exposed to a wider and diverse array of cultures. When the migration of the blacks from the south enabled them to mix with the educated blacks from the north, the were culturally infused and a new african american culture. In result, the Harlem Renaissance emerged, where writers, poets, artists, activists, speakers and musicians of African American heritage were able to express their creativity, together. One of the most popular figures of the Harlem Renaissance is the poet Langston Hughes, who is known for writing with a rhythmic meter of blues and jazz. They were able to collaborate and contribute tot he artistic interface of what it mean to be american. Having being previously self taught, the jazz musicians of the south were then exposed to a better musical education and that lead to an increase in their musical abilities. The Harlem Renaissance presented to the public, the ideology of the ‘new negro’, a philosophy that a person could combat oppression and racism through the utilisation of intellect and the production of the arts. It was this idea of a ‘black middle class’ that somewhat elevated the race and put them on a level in which musical advancements like the development of Jazz could come into fruition. Jazz was the most important