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  • Essay / The Harlem Renaissance Essay - 1255

    The months and even years before the Harlem Renaissance were very bleak and the future of life in America for African Americans did not bode well. The progression to the era known as the Harlem Renaissance changed the entire perception of the future of the African American people as well as the life of the group as we know it today. It can be best described by George Hutchinson as "a flourishing (c. 1918-1937) of African-American culture, particularly in the creative arts, and the most influential movement in African-American literary history [which had place specifically in Harlem]. Adopt the literary, musical, theatrical and visual arts…”. With a growing focus on “black culture,” America seemed. African American culture spread through several artistic forms and mediums during the decades in which the Harlem Renaissance took place. One of the largest and arguably most important forms of black culture. broadcasting was the form of music. At that time, music was an indispensable form of artistic expression that conveyed the thoughts and feelings of the black people occupying Harlem and its environs. Music was an important art form at the time because "no aspect of the Harlem Renaissance shaped America and the entire world as much as jazz." Jazz ignored many musical conventions with its syncopated rhythms and improvised instrumental solos. Thousands of townspeople flocked night after night to see the same artists.” This music created by African Americans in Harlem transformed the negative view of many into a positive view or some understanding towards the black population. This introduction of Jazz and Blues into the society of the time gave birth to several influential and notable artists such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. This popularized the Jazz and Blues musical genres and brought major notoriety to African Americans, bringing about a much-needed change in the perception of the black person. Poetry was another important form of expression during the Harlem Renaissance era. Poetry was another form of self-expression for African Americans, similar to that of jazz and blues. This form of media served in the same way (or very similarly) as music. Some notable poets include Langston Hughes, who is considered by some to be one of the most important and influential Harlem Renaissance poets of the era, James Weldon Johnson, and Claude McKay. The most notable of the three is the poet and intellectual Langston Hughes who, in addition to writing books and plays, helped to propagate the emotions of African Americans as well as himself and to clarify ambitions and dreams of the American people within the country. UNITED STATES. As Concordia Online Education stated, "Hughes wrote novels, plays, and short stories, but it is his moving and heartfelt poems that express the common experiences of black culture for which he is most important.