Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement - Essay Example

Unfortunately, not everyone knows that the Harlem Renaissance was one of the basic sources of power feeding the rapid expansion of the Civil Rights Movement and decisions in America. It should be noted, that the Harlem Renaissance emerged as a distinct cultural movement somewhere in the 1920s. The origins of the Harlem Renaissance movement could be traced to the Harlem neighborhood in New York City, where black artists, musicians, and art professionals gathered with the goal of changing the nature and history of racism in America.

Although the Harlem Renaissance movement came to its end in the 1930s, its cultural and racial equality legacies continued to persist. The Harlem Renaissance produced profound influences in the culture and public consciousness in America and became one of the major drivers of the national Civil Rights Movement. The effects of the Harlem Renaissance period on American culture have been abundantly established. However, different researchers view the relationship between the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement differently.

Professor Richard Powell believes that the Harlem Renaissance affected the politics of the Civil Rights Movement in two different ways. On the one hand, the Harlem Renaissance was, probably, the first time in the history of modern America when black and white intellectuals collaborated towards a common goal (PBS, 1998). The Harlem Renaissance brought black and white artists, intellectuals, educators and social activists together in an attempt to transform the racist and seriously segregated American society (PBS, 1998).

The Harlem Renaissance did not eliminate the most outdated racial beliefs and made it easier for social activists to fight against segregation and racial abuse (PBS, 1998). Really, the rapid emergence of African American arts revolutionized the American cultural landscape and transformed the system of race relations in the country (Kramer, 2009). Members of both white and black races worked together to reduce and eliminate racial stereotypes and create a more positive image of African Americans (Kramer, 2009).

The discussed cooperation eventually became one of the lasting legacies of the Harlem Renaissance and one of the crucial preconditions for the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement. On the other hand, the Harlem Renaissance changed the nature of political relations and life in America during the 1950s. The Harlem Renaissance resulted in the development of new knowledge about Black Nationalism (PBS, 1998). Marcus Garvey was one of the first political activists of the Harlem Renaissance who developed a set of “back to Africa” ideas, followed by the ideas of Negroes’ economic and social isolation in the American society and finally to the moment when, for the first time in the history of America, Negroes finally saw themselves as a distinct but not isolated political and cultural community within the United States (PBS, 1998).

Professor Jeffrey Stewart adds that the Harlem Renaissance was a unique instrument of creating a positive image of African Americans through the mass media and creative art (PBS, 1998). This is also what Professor William Drummond says: the Harlem Renaissance was the period and the major driver of the rebirth of the Negro people and the creation of the New Negro. By the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans had sufficient knowledge and power to fight for their rights successfully and effectively.