Interpretation of "The Harlem Dancer" The poet, Claude McKay, was an African American who was born in Jamaica. ... One poem in particular, "The Harlem Dancer", reflects his anger towards the the perjudice that the black people received, and many other African Americans looked to him for inspiration. ... This signifies that the African Americans at this time had no voice in society. ... McKay explains that the dancer is not proud of her "accomplishments" as a dancer. ... The symbols used within the poem vary from the physical appearance of the dancer to the way she dances. ...

• Word Count: 1662
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

White people dressed up as plantation slaves and acted like black musical in the act of dance forms. ... African Americans were shown as innocent people who sang and danced all night long. ... The term "African American Literature" is understood by most as Sub-Saharan (East and West) Africa. ... Jazz dancing became the new thing and Jazz dancing schools began to open up. They first opened up in Harlem and then downtown to teach people that didn't know how to dance. ...

• Word Count: 1283
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

CHANGES FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE 1920"S In the 1920's, African Americans were going through many changes and were doing many new things that they hadn't even thought about doing before that. ... Not only did African Americans start jazz, but some of the best jazz musicians were African American. ... This is when African American literature, art, music, dance, and social commentary began to flourish in Harlem, which is an area of New York City. ... It was a celebration of the unique culture of African Americans, and gave the world a new view of African American expressio...

• Word Count: 840
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Fads of the Roaring Twenties included Flagpole sitting, the dance marathon, and a Chinese game, Mah-jongg. ... Dance floors shook all over the country with various dances that accompanied the music. ... The Roaring Twenties marked a new generation of American Literature and the recognition of African American writers. ... The Harlem Renaissance, the rebirth of African American culture, was a huge part of the Roaring Twenties. ... Black writers wrote about the experiences of African Americans, the lynchings and other violence that they had to survive after WWI. ...

• Word Count: 909
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The Harlem Renaissance showed the unique culture of African Americans and redefined African American expression. It began in the early 1920's where African American literature, art, music, and dance began to flourish in Harlem, a neighboorhood in New York City. ... For African Americans, writing was an escape. ... Then let's sing it, dance it, write it, paint it. ... Countee Cullen used both African and European images to explore the African roots of black American life. ...

• Word Count: 1369
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Jazz music was a blend of West African and Latin rhythms, African American spirituals and blues, and European harmonies. ... As this happened, white musicians began incorporating jazz into their music, while big bands, both black and white popularized it for dancing. Quite possibly the greatest cultural changes came about with the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement in Harlem, New York, of African American actors, artists, writers, and musicians. ... The Harlem Renaissance was above all a literary movement, when famous novelists such as Claude McKay, and Langston Hughes produced work ...

• Word Count: 335
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

These events help to show the slow acceptance and influence of African American culture on white America. ... Many large groups of jazz musicians began to play together, after the model of society dance bands. ... Started by African-American intellectuals like Alain Locke, W.E.B. ... Countee Cullen used both African and European images to explore the African roots of black American life. ... Writers McKay, Hughes, and Cullen, actor and musician Paul Robeson, dancer Josephine Baker, and others traveled to Europe and attained a popularity abroad that rivaled or surpassed what they achieved in...

• Word Count: 1092
• Approx Pages: 4

More than a literary movement and more than a social revolt against racism, the Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African Americans and redefined African American expression. ... The sights and sounds of Harlem, its music and dance and intellectual life, inspired Langston more than his classes in mining engineering, and eventually he quit school. ... Having difficulty finding work, Hughes, twenty-one years old, joined the crew of a ship sailing for Africa. ... He painted many different series of works depicting the lives of many different African Americans. ... During the Harl...

• Word Count: 1300
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

In the early 1900s, particularly in the 1920s, African-American literature, art, music, dance, and social commentary began to flourish in Harlem, a section of New York City. ... More than a literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. ... African-Americans was encouraged to celebrate their heritage. ... Thematic content included Africa as a source of inspiration, African-American history, folk idioms, including music and religion of the South, and social injustice. ... Never before had so many Americans rea...

• Word Count: 783
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In the early 1900s, particularly in the 1920s, African-American literature, art, music, dance, and social commentary began to flourish in Harlem, a section of New York City. ... More than a literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance elevated the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. African-Americans were encouraged to celebrate their heritage. ... It was an African-American company, but it only performed plays written by whites because plays written by African-Americans were not yet allowed. It was a unique experience for African-Americans to see Africa...

• Word Count: 824
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

His father was not happy with the way African Americans were being treated so he moved to Mexico. ... He was elected in his class because there was only one other African American and she was was a girl. The class like most of America thought that most African Americans can sing and dance so they thought that Langston would have rhythm. ... Woodson, who worked with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. ... Langston was always trying to help African Americans learn to love White Americans. ...

• Word Count: 1086
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

""(93) and this new man was going to show the world that African Americans had meaning and were not just slaves and good singers. ... He watched the rise and fall of African Americans in the 1920's. ... He says that Shuffle Along , " gave just the proper push to that Negro vogue of the 20's, that spread to books, African sculpture, music and dancing."" (100) This was all when the Negro was in vogue. ... Yes, African Americans did rise but they were still too weak minded to stay on top. ... After African Americans made it too the top they still allowed the whites to bring them ...

• Word Count: 1250
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The mistreatment of Blacks in the south sparked the big exodus of African Americans to the North, which eventually led to the Harlem Renaissance. ... He explained that after War World 1 in 1918, African Americans were faced with one of the lowest points in history since the end of slavery. ... The fear of race riots in the South caused large number of African Americans to move North. The Harlem Renaissance was a time for African Americans to show and reflect their talents throughout society. ... Blacks took over an area that was basically just another New York City neighborh...

• Word Count: 2437
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

For six months the ship Hughes was on made its way up and down the western coast of Africa. His time in Africa was inspirational, resulting in several poems condemning white colonialism or celebrating black unity and beauty. After leaving Africa, Hughes headed for Paris. ... The one person who was able to penetrate Hughes remoteness was a beautiful Chinese ballet-dancer named Si-Lan Chen, whom he met in 1933 while staying in Moscow. ...

• Word Count: 1295
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Harlem became the most well known African Americans city, as it represented a kind of Eden, a cultural capital where literature and art symbolized their way of life. Harlem was giving a hope of resurrection to all African Americans in the United States lay awakening the artistic and sociocultural of their community. The Harlem Renaissance was provoked by different movements such as literature, with Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen or Zora Neale Hurston, music, dance, painting, church, even the Harlem population itself directed its way of life and way of thinking to progress in the American soci...

• Word Count: 1971
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

Ellington came from a middle class African-American family who made sure that he had everything he wanted. ... It was the springboard to fame for many singers, dancers, and performers and was indeed the board Ellington jumped from. ... Ellington remarks about the setting of the club: "During one period at the Cotton Club, much attention was paid to acts with an African setting, and to accompany these we developed what was termed a "jungle style" jazz" (Collier, 93). ...

• Word Count: 2286
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

Zora Neale Hurston was an excellent writer African-American literature and a playwright. ... The play was directed by Kyle Donnelly, and the 37 musical pieces within the play are directed by Stephen Wade, of the long-running show "Banjo Dancing." ...

• Word Count: 998
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School