New Negro Movement and the Harlem Renaissance - Essay Example

The New Negro Movement and the Harlem Renaissance New Negro movement and renaissances was in effect a product of the African American mass movement from the south to the north in search of better opportunities to improve their lives. This migration started during the civil war era and continued even after leading to development of new black society in the north. As new arrivals in the new world of opportunities , African Americans from the south they took strides toward equality, individual freedom, and self-expression as they made their contributions in the social, economic, cultural, and political issues of the present day. Certainly, Negro movement was a result of the many critical events surrounding the African American experiences in U.S, including the slavery period, the Great exodus of Africans from the south in the Harlem Renaissance era and the later influences of the World War I African American soldiers To help advance their goals, African Americans arriving in the north created or joined new social organization. For instance, the benevolent societies and black churches established in the north which offered support to new arrivals. In Chicago, Phyllis Wheately Home offered young women a safer stay while searching for job opportunities. The Chicago branch of national urban League which was established in 1916 offered similar help to all new comers from the south. Additionally, long established churches of Chicago eased the movement from the rural south to the urban north. For instance, Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest in Chicago, grew its membership significantly as it received new black people from the south. Another church that notably supported the black transition is the Olivet Baptist church whose members are reported as meeting the new arrivals at the railway station carry their belongings and help them settle in their new homes. The above mentions organizations served primarily in helping new arrivals settle in the north (Pg 497-498). Their arrival was not without its share of challenges both from the already established blacks and the whites. These problems ranged from struggles for resources due to the ever bulging population and even differences in lifestyle. For example, the new arrivals from the south were not readily accepted in the unions, particularly those affiliated to the American federation of labor. However, the most serious tension was that experienced between the whites and blacks, particularly on the housing issue. Here, the Chicago south population is said to have tripped, between 1910 and 1920, forcing the blacks to attempt beyond what was referred to as “the black belt.” This attempt movement forced the whites to respond with both legal injunctions and violence. (Pg 498) New Negro movement reflected the African American response to the many problems faced during and after the slavery period. This movement found its popularity alongside the Harlem renaissance, a new era which depicted a more outspoken advocacy of dignity by African American and a refusal to comply quietly to the provisions and practices of Jim Crow racial segregation. During this period African Americans moved to create stronger unity which was depicted by a strong belief of their racial pride and self identity. This was a clear cut from their previous experiences throughout the many decades of oppression and imprisonment by the white man. The term “New Negro” was popularized by Alain LeRoy Locke and has been applied by African –American in many areas since 1895. The idea behind the New Negro movement evolved over a long period as African American slowly began to advocate for equal rights with their counterparts and became critical in the peak period marking the Harlem Renaissance. For the many African Americans, World War I played a significant role in their awakening to the reality of the great need to change the traditional systems they had been subjected to by the whites. Such is the case that this war highlighted the increasing gap between the American insinuations on the reasons behind the war and the reality. Here, many ex-world war I African Americans soldier questioned the validity of the war being an avenue to creation of a better world where democracy could flourish. They argued that the claim failed to resonate with the reality of exploited and disenfranchised black farmers living in the South or the poor and alienated black populace living in the northern slums. This was better highlighted based on experiences of the black world war soldiers who saw how they were treated with respect and got a kind of freedom they had never experienced in the U.S while serving alongside the French White soldiers. Following the war, African American soldiers who had got a glimpse of what freedom and respect meant, which they had never known, came back only to find the same discrimination thriving as it were before the war. Consequently, they incited their fellow Africans to demand for freedom and equality, a factor that resulted to heightened racial tension In addition to the racially motivated aggression, the continued massive inflow of African Americans from the south who arrived in the north in search of better life, increased segregation and the regeneration of the Ku Klux Klan. Racial tension that ensued from these new developments resulted in riots witnessed in several major cities, a period that was nicknamed “the red summer African Americans elites in the Harlem Renaissance also established many organizations to represent the New Negro in addition to the NAACP and National Urban League. This was made possible considering the fact that majority of the New Negro leaders and celebrities operated in Harlem, a factor that saw it declared Alain Locke meaning “race capital.”(pg 510). The universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), established in Jamaica, in 1916, by Marcus Guryev grew to become the largest and most militant in that era. This organization put emphasis on racial unity and race pride, a message that resonated well with the blacks. Using this movement, Garvey stirred Black Nationalism, and even black separatism. His ideas ignited movements in the grassroots, leading to the formation of chapters in both urban and rural areas across the country. Publications by backs during the renaissance era played a key role in the events of the day. Magazines like The Crisis, published by NAACP(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People); opportunity, published by the national Urban League; and The Messenger , a publication of socialist which later connected with the brotherhood of sleeping car porters, a black union ruled the day. Additionally there was the Negro World newspaper advanced by the Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association. Writers and artists in the Harlem Renaissance such as Locke, Du Bois and Johnson focused on presenting authentic experiences of African Americans. For instance, in one of his writings entitled “We return from the war” W. E.B Du Bois wrote: “We are returning from war! ........ We fought gladly and to the last drop of blood…….. ………We stand again to look America squarely in the face……..This country of ours, Despite all its better souls have done and dreamed, is yet a shameful land. It lynches And lynching is barbarism of a degree of contemptible nastiness unparallel in human history. Yet for fifty years we have lynched two Negros a week and we have kept this up right through the war.” (pg 503). In many ways like UNIA and other early organizations, they strongly agreed to the values of blackness and African heritage except on the idea of separatism advanced by the former. In contrast they were integrationists, and often depended on white patrons and applealed to the white audiences. The renaissance and its accompanying new Negro movement also led to the creation of a strong black community, opening up more opportunities for African Americans to present their artistic and intellectual abilities. Writers, politicians, poets, and musicians all used their respective talents to express their beliefs concerning social, economic, cultural, and political issues. for example Charles S Johnson, a graduate in sociology, spearheaded a research on interracial violence and even published a 672 page book called “the study of race relations and race riot(1922) which emerged as a classic for sociological analysis(pg 505). Political leaders and writers such as Marcus Garvey and W.E.B Dubois articulated their beliefs with regard to black pride and actions and also addressed the ideas of communism and socialism during the Harlem Renaissance. Musicians and artistes like Duke Ellington, and Aaron Douglas, inspired cultural recognition through their artistic presentations. The growing consciousness of the many disillusioned African Americans with regard to racial, political and social consciousness shaped up a new spirit of militancy that was often expressed (pg 493) Following all these, the strong willed African American associated with the Harlem renaissance took significant role in the society daily happenings. The American society was no longer dominated by whites as it once was, since blacks came out strongly as equal partners. The racial equality unfolding got the whites flat footed in anew, unfamiliar situation, fearing the probability of a black dominance of the social, political and economic disposition of the American society. The 1920s great depression in a way served as a blessing to the now advancing Negro movement. During this period the African American, who by then were becoming increasingly determined to dismantle segregation in workplaces and unions, in schools and even stores became an important group for the white politicians. The black’s significance became more evident even more as the whites considered their growing voting and economic power. It is in this spirit that the then president made deliberate move in consulting black leaders and even placed more of black in the federal agencies where they would oversee black interests (pg 515). However, it is important to mention that African Americans especially those in the south were the most affected throughout and even after the depression period. It is important to note that while many Americans had realized prosperity in the 1920s, majority of the blacks Americans had not. Their plight was even made worse during this period with black unemployment in the south standing at 33% two years after the depression only to rise to 50% within a year. The racial segregation that characterized America was manifest in the new deal offered by Roosevelt. Some people referred to it as a “raw deal” for African American. (Here, African Americans received an unfair deal of the programs rolled down, particularly on in areas where such programs were locally administered. For instance, the agricultural adjustment administration offered millions of dollars to help farmers of which only small percentage was advanced to black farmers. The same was experienced with the federal housing administration which forbade mortgage loans within the integrated regions, allowing loans only to African Americans living in the all black neighborhoods. This happening led to a fruitless effort by the NAACP and the National Urban League that sought to insert a non discrimination clause in the new deal legislation. With persistent lobbying and the support of the then first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, these organizations succeeded in securing the expansion of the new deal. These changes realized an increase in the number of blacks working with the civil service, precisely growing from 50,000 in 1933 to over 150,000 by 1941. Additionally some more Africans were taken as political appointees to the government agencies. For instance, Mary Mcleod Bethune who moved from her 1936 appointment as the head to the Division of Negro Affair of the national youth Administration to be an official division director in 1939(pg 517). May be one of the new deals with greatest impact on African Americans was the Works progress administration (WPA) rolled down in 1935. This program was meant to inject federal money into public works projects found to hire individuals in need of jobs. WPA did not only construct roads, parks and bridges; it also supported programs that included writers project which employed writers, musicians, artists and actors. In this regard, WPA brought light in the life of many African Americans who had previously witnessed the dark depression times. By 1960s Africans had made significant achievements, particularly with regard to their rights. President Kennedy’s enactment of the desegregation law just before his assassination in 1963 meant much for the African Americans. The enactment of these law was closely followed by other important Civil Rights Legislation including: the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act which stretched the African American capabilities.(PPT) In conclusion, the Negro movement made a significant contribution not only in folk-art, music in particular that tend to overshadow the events of this period, but in greater through humbler and less appreciated ways. This movement which began with the movement of African Americans from the south to the northern cities in quest of better life, helped realized a united African American society that formed the “new negro”: the new spirit which characterized the black people. Once a slave working the cotton fields down South, the African American in the North developed into a profound figure of influence and contribution to American society during the Harlem Renaissance. The harem renaissance brought about a golden age marked by great exchange of African-American ideas and art presented across the world. This period served as a culmination of the slavery, civil war and the post- reconstruction struggles realised by African American throughout the past decades. Read More