Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance

Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance Harlem Renaissance was undoubtedly a cultural and social-political movement for the African American race. The Renaissance was many things to people, but it is best described as a cultural movement in which the high level of black artistic cultural production, demanded and received recognition. Many African American writers, musicians, poets, and leaders were able to express their creativity in many ways in response to their social condition. Until the Harlem Renaissance, poetry and literature were dominated by the white people and were all about the white culture. One writer in particular, Langston Hughes, broke through those barriers that very few African-American artists had done before this period. Langston Hughes played a major role and was a tremendous influence on African-American culture throughout the United States during the era of the Harlem Renaissance. He has written many poems that were influenced during the Harlem Renaissance, Trumpet Player and Harlem. From my perspective these poems expressed his rhythmic style and his connection to the Harlem Renaissance. In the 1920's and early 1930's, there was an African American cultural movement that took place in the neighborhood of Harlem, New York. It is variously known as the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Literary Renaissance, or the New Negro Movement. This movement developed at the end of World War I in 1918, blossomed in the mid to late 1920's, and faded in the mid 1930's. There were several things that contributed to the rise of this time period, after segregation was made legal in the South, it made living conditions intolerable for African-Americans. “They were powerless before the law and less than human in the eyes of many whites” (Harlem Renaissance 954). This caused a great migration to the North which seemed absolutely necessary for African-Americans. There was an industrial explosion occurring in the North and it was creating a demand for labor.

Cited: Harlem Renaissance 1919-1940. Essay. African American Literature. Edited by: Gates, Louis Henry and McKay, Nellie. New York, 2004. 953-962. Print. "Harlem renaissance." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 1 Dec. 2007. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. "Langston Hughes." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 Apr. 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. Miller, R. Baxter. The Art and Imagination of Langston Hughes. University Press of Kentucky, 2006