Who We Are

About Us
Lily Montgomery 11/19/13 Green Group

Countee Cullen
Countee Cullen was born in New York City in 1903. Cullen began to write poetry when he was 14 years old. He went to New York University in 1922 and graduated in 1923. Cullen later went on to complete a masters degree at Harvard University. Countee Cullen wrote about collective African American identity and that of his own. Some of his strongest poems question a God who could create a race with such mixed blessings. His poems were published in The Crisis, Opportunity, Harpers Century Magazine, and Poetry.

THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

Art/Music/Writing
The Harlem Renaissance changed literature, music, drama, painting, sculpture, movies, and many more aspects of creative life. Common themes shown in these books, plays, paintings, poems, sculptures, and music include alienation, marginality, and a divided awareness of ones identity. The first musical written and performed by African Americans was Shuffle Along. It opened on May 23, 1921 at Broadways David Belasco Theater and had more than 500 performaces. Two common forms of music during the time were blues and jazz.

The Cotton Club

History/Overview
The Harlem Renaissance was the period in art and literature that started at the end of World War I, and continued to the end of the Depression in the 1930s. This time represented a change in culture and art centered around Harlem, New York. Many African American writers, artists, and musicians traveled to Harlem in the hopes of finding a place where they could freely share their talents. Such African Americans include Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Countee Cullen. Although the Harlem Renaissance began in Harlem, it spread around the country and outside of it.

Political and Social Impacts

The Harlem Renaissance started when many African Americans moved to the North, away from the strict racial boundaries in the South. For African Americans, the North offered them a place where they could freely express themselves. The effects of the Harlem Renaissance on political culture in the United States lasted into the Civil Rights movement. There were many political themes of the Harlem Renaissance, including separation vs. integration and PanAfricanism. However, one of the most important political themes was the rebirth of a people, the creation of the New Negro.

Our problem is to conceive, develop, establish an art era. Aaron Douglas