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Did African Americans Contribute To The Harlem Renaissance

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Langston Hughes, the brilliant poet and author of the twentieth century, once wrote that it was the “mission of an artist is to interpret beauty to people - the beauty within themselves.” This mission delegated to all artists was no easy task; especially African-Americans who were consistently persecuted and ignored by white supremacists. For example, if you had an idea - an idea that would change the way that people think of you - but were persecuted and attacked for presenting it, would you make that idea a reality? The African-American artists of the 1920s and 1930s went against all oppression and published wonderful works, making them one of the first people of color to openly share their masterpieces in a racist America. This period of mass publication in the 1920s was known as the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a time of rebirth for African-American culture, which left a legacy in jazz, literature, theater productions, motion pictures, and visual rats.
The Harlem Renaissance was created as a result of many factors that went into effect during the Roaring Twenties. For example, due to the decimated economy of the South because of the Civil War, many “African-Americans headed [north] for jobs, education, and opportunities, [especially in Harlem], known as the Great Migration” (“The Harlem Renaissance” 1). Blacks migrated to the North to escape the prejudiced Southerners and to find jobs because of the economic boom. Although many African-Americans were
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