Jazz and the Renaissance. Harlem Renaissance. Arts Essay

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Jazz and the Renaissance
The African Americans are a community that has a vibrant culture and one that forms the basis for some of the most crucial developments in the American culture. What is more interesting is the fact that much of the history is tied to the cultural developments that are associated with music. These are the steps African Americans have taken as a community. Specifically, the African American community has had some significant contributions relative to the jazz music. These tie to the Renaissance period. The Harlem Renaissance was a cause for the change in the elements of culture as music, art, and literature. This was a time in the history of America where the African American artists, musicians, writers and thinkers sought to embrace their heritage and culture within the American culture. They were shifting towards a more politically assertive position that inspired confidence among the African Americans for the good of the decades that would follow, and formed the basis for the cultural underpinnings on the race to freedom and recognition.
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance is a time in the African Americans history that marks a start of what would later become the identity of the community. It was early in the 20th century and a time when the community was getting ready to adopt a motion to embrace their heritage and the culture more than they had ever before (History.com). There was not a just an artistic explosion, but also artistic exploration. Among the latter was jazz music, as a way to express themselves.
‘The Harlem Renaissance was the development of the Harlem neighborhood in New York City as a black cultural mecca in the early 20th Century and the subsequent social and artistic explosion that resulted. Lasting roughly from the 1910s through the mid-1930`s, the period is considered a golden age in African American culture, manifesting in literature, music, stage performance and art.’ (History.com)
The Great Migration
The Northern Manhattan parts of the Harlem neighborhood were designated for the upper-class whites in the most of te1880s. However, there were rapid developments that led to a shift in the demographics relative to the housing. There was a housing boom that led to more empty houses than the people that inhabited them. Later in the 1900s, some of the middle-class families living in the Black Bohemia moved to Harlem. Much of this immigration was against the resistance that came from the white community. Events leading to the immigration were largely one of the strongest fuels for the Renaissance period. This is relative to the fact that, for most of the African Americans that were coming into the northern parts, they were trying to escape the horrors of the southern states. Jim Crow laws were rampant in the south, and there were some very subtle developments associated with hate crimes. This was largely associated with the white supremacy that was developed in the southern states. For most of the southern states, the element of slavery was quite advanced. The slave trade and the use of slave in the building the economy was a serious business. As such, the African Americans’ immigration and the need to express themselves, was one that was highly contested by the whites. The promises of owning land had not materialized as much of the slavery had returned even after the African Americans had taken part in the war as a show of good faith and in the hope of being recognized as equals to the whites. The African Americans were still stuck in a society which did not appreciate them and most importantly took advantage of them. Many of the southern states were in the rural areas while most of the northern states were now becoming more industrialized and offered better more lenient treatment for the African Americans. As such, they sought to move to the north in search of better lives. Here, they could live in the urban areas other than the rural areas, and they had a chance to be employed in the industries that were cropping up across the northern states. As more of the African Americans moved to the northern states and settled, there was a shift in perception. Instead of wallowing in pity of their situation, the African Americans shared in their situation and took pride in their heritage (History.com). There was a boom in confidence as African Americans sought to express themselves and their newfound pride in the culture and heritage. Part of the movement was in a bid to fight back against all the discrimination that they were facing in the society. If they were going to withstand the test of time, they had to embrace themselves and their culture in a bid to form an identity that they could pass on to generations to come. The Renaissance would bring about a proliferation of artists, musicians, and actors.
‘It was time for a cultural celebration. African Americans had endured centuries of slavery and the struggle for abolition. The end of bondage had not brought the Promised Land many had envisioned. Instead, WHITE SUPREMACY was quick, legal, and violently resto...