Impact Of The Harlem Renaissance

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Harlem, New York was the heart of an African American cultural shift that influenced the whole country. The Harlem Renaissance was a historical movement that inspired many authors to create incredible pieces of literature, and left a legacy that can still be seen today. It also inspired a change in theatre and music.
The Harlem Renaissance started right after World War I, in New York, during the 1920- 1930’s. After World War I there was a crash in the cotton industry in the south and a shortage of workers in the north (Harris, 40-41). This caused the African American workers from the rural south to move up to the northern cities to work. This was the Great Migration. More than six million African Americans made this move across the country and this caused an
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In the book The Great Migration North 1910-1970 it describes the African American community in the Harlem era as, “During the 1920s they worked together to create a vibrant and exciting community that filled the Africans with pride and many whites with a blend of fascination and envy” (Harris, 40). The Harlem Renaissance created an immense amount of black pride that eventually made the whites envious. By creating this pride it helped promote the Civil Rights movement in the …show more content…
This was unlike past generations because before African Americans were not allowed to perform for white audiences. The well known play Three Plays for a Negro Theatre helped black actors jump into theatre. There were many theatres that allowed and featured African American actors because of their talent. The Encyclopedia Britannica states, “Black actors gained unprecedented opportunities (still limited by racism) to perform before all-white, mixed, and all-black audiences” (Hutchinson). Opportunities were opening up for the African American