THE NEGRO RENAISSANCE FROM AMERICA BACK TO AFRICA: A STUDY OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE AS A BLACK AND AFRICAN MOVEMENT (AFRICAN LITERATURE, PAN-AFRICANISM)

THE NEGRO RENAISSANCE FROM AMERICA BACK TO AFRICA: A STUDY OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE AS A BLACK AND AFRICAN MOVEMENT (AFRICAN LITERATURE, PAN-AFRICANISM)

CODJO ACHODE

January 1, 1986

“The Negro Renaissance (1920-1930) also known as the Harlem Renaissance was a notable historical phase and a cultural and political development of great significance in the making and maturation of a Black Personality in the United States. Worthy of a genuine renaissance as the name implied, the movement in spite of some weaknesses, laid the foundations for what is known as black culture, or precisely Negro culture, in the United States. Synchronically and diachronically it marked one of the highest points, and perhaps an unsurpassed apex of Negro American nationalism since the Emancipation of the African slaves”

The Harlem Renaissance was a magnificent moment in black history, as the idea of black culture and art was building, and blacks were not looked upon as slaves anymore, but as equal members of society and innovators. For women like Nettie, this was something they would have never dreamed they would see, as in the South (where she grew up), blacks are still not treated quite fairly, and some of the pre-civil war ideas were still present.

The article goes on to describe how New York, and specifically Harlem, benefited from the spur of African American culture, and how New York, even today, is massively shaped by these events. People like Nettie (missionaries) were very heavy in the area, and were not an anomaly at the time. Much of the renaissance, while full of art, was also what would be considered ‘sinful’- aka, place like the Cotton Club (black bar/ club that a woman like Shug would frequent) would be prime for missionaries like Nettie to frequent.

Brooke Angel

ACHODE, C. (1986). THE NEGRO RENAISSANCE FROM AMERICA BACK TO AFRICA: A STUDY OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE AS A BLACK AND AFRICAN MOVEMENT (AFRICAN LITERATURE, PAN-AFRICANISM). Philadelphia: University Pennsylvania Press.

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