In the introduction to the Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader, David Levering Lewis states that the Harlem Renaissance was not a cohesive movement, but a constructed and forced phenomenon that was “institutionally encouraged”. and led by leaders of the national civil rights establishment with the overarching goal of improving race relations. (Lewis, xiii) However, after researching many of the influential artists, politicians, and speakers of the era, I have to disagree. Although, yes, the cultural and racial awakening movement can only be considered a phenomenon and the movement itself was in no way coherent, these powerful men and women needed no encouragement institutionalized. Each of their works was their own with diverse ideas and methods, but somehow they came together to form an interconnected goal within the movement. Lewis's view is not without truths. The Harlem Renaissance was overseen by a number of intellectuals such as Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, and WEB Dubois. The words of Booker T. Washington, a highly influential orator of the time, appealed to both Caucasians and African Americans. Washington forged a bridge of interracial communication through his unique tactics in the quest for equality. He believed in more subtle ways to achieve equality through hard work, cunning, and humility. He said: "The wisest of my race understand that agitation over questions of social equality is extremist folly and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges which will be granted to us must be the result of a struggle fierce and constant rather than a fierce and constant struggle. artificial forcing. » (Salley, 15 years old) With this statement, Washington himself denies that this new awakening in matters of equality and art can be forced,...... middle of paper ......g au beyond the stereotypical opinion expressed by the majority. Thus, with the entirely conceptual identity of the movement, the sheer number and variety of such powerfully raw works created in such a short time is incredible and is almost certainly unmatched by any other movement. These works could not be guided or constrained by even the greatest minds, but instead could only come from souls with a new voice in a turbulent America. Works Cited Gates JR, Henry Louis & West, Cornel. The African-American century. New York: The Free Press 2000 Kellner, Bruce, ed. The Harlem Renaissance: A Historical Dictionary for the Times. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1984 Lewis, David Levering, ed. The Harlem Renaissance portable player. New York: Penguin, 1994Salley, Columbus. The Black 100. New Jersey: A Citadel Press Book, 1993.