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The Harlem Renaissance: The New Negro Movement


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             The nineteen twenties provided an opportunity for black performers to show off their talents before mostly all-white audiences. A famous club known for showcasing black-talent was the "Cotton Club". The "Cotton Club" was owned by whites, but all of the performers were black. The "Cotton Club" was located in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. All of its" customers were white; African-Americans were not allowed to enter as usual.
             The radio and film industries also discriminated against blacks. These two industries never gave blacks a chance and often denied them airtime or portrayed them in degrading roles ("Against the Odds" Act 1). When a black personality was allowed to perform in these industries, it was often in a role the degraded his or her personal character. "Hollywood saw African-Americans as the downfall of society" (McKissack 35).
             Black artists flocked to Harlem in the late nineteen twenties. There they worked among "their people" and tried to represent their race accurately in all art forms (Smith 192). Poets, artists, musicians, and performers stunned and dazzled mostly white audiences with their work. "It was bold and dramatic to a white audience, but to a black audience it was sensitive and optimistic" (Earle 81). They took the pain and suffering of a whole race and turned it into art (King). Out of the Harlem Renaissance, which was also known as the New Negro Movement, developed great American artists.
             African-American literature, music, theatre, art, and politics flourished during the nineteen twenties. African-American musicians created two new styles of music called "Jazz" and "Swing". This new contemporary style of music used a "combination of big band instrument [ ] and smooth low brow tones to create electrifying sounds" (Earle 181). This new style of music caught the attention of many white Americans and soon became the most popular form of music in the country.


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