Chapter 4: Introducing the Harlem Renaissance, 1920-1929
General Historical Context. The most important historical phenomenon affecting Black life and culture in the 1920s was probably the Great Migration, which was reaching a peak during this period. Millions of African American people in the south had begun moving northward, going back as far as the 1870s and 80s. These internal migrants were moving north in search of economic opportunities but also greater respect and access to civil rights that were generally denied to them in southern states. Black migrants created vibrant neighborhoods in urban centers in cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York, and in many ways this phenomenon would create the conditions for the Harlem Renaissance in literature, art, music, theater, and dance.
Alongside a spirit of optimism and reform, the 1920s was also the period where the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) reached its peak. This is the movement associated with Marcus Garvey that aimed to organize funds for the eventual repatriation of Black folks to Africa. The movement is today also seen by historians as a predecessor for Black nationalist movements that emerged in the 1950s and 60s such as the Nation of Islam.
Alongside positive developments, Black communities continued to experience racialized violence. Most notable might be the Tulsa Race Massacre of May 1921, which led to more than 300 people killed and vast stretches of Black homes and businesses in Tulsa burned to the ground. Another important incident of racialized violence was the Rosewood Massacre in January 1923. With the support of activist groups like the NAACP, the Dyer anti-lynching bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, but frustratingly, was blocked from the Senate, and did not become law.
The Harlem Renaissance.
The 1920s is best known as the era of the Harlem Renaissance, an exciting period where many young writers emerged on the scene and published poetry that took African American literature in some new directions. Poets like Gwendolyn B. Bennett, Jessie Fauset, Helene Johnson, Anne Spencer, Angelina Weld Grimke, and Mae V. Cowdery all emerged, and explored new topics in poetry, helping to invent a transformative aesthetics that embraced Blackness as an affirmative identity. A number of these writers also embraced desire and eroticism in their writings with a forthrightness that was unprecedented.
Alongside the new voices emerging on the scene, veteran figures like Georgia Douglas Johnson and Carrie Clifford published some of their most memorable poetry during this period. Georgia Douglas Johnson’s Bronze (1922) represented a breakthrough for the poet herself but also for the aesthetics of Black poetry, and it was probably the most widely reviewed and cited book of poetry by a Black woman during this period. Alongside Johnson’s book, the 1920s also saw books of poetry by Carrie Williams Clifford, J. Pauline Smith, Sarah Lee Brown Fleming, and Carrie Law Morgan Figgs.
The anthologies of the period were a mixed bag. One hugely influential anthology, Alain Locke’s The New Negro: An Interpretation, was heavily weighted towards male voices. The editor appeared ready to crown three men – Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay – as the most important voices in Black poetry, and relegated women to a somewhat more marginal status. Countee Cullen’s 1927 anthology, Caroling Dusk, featured much better inclusion of women, but its impact may have been somewhat less than The New Negro.
The most exciting medium for new poetry were the magazines. Alongside established magazines like The Crisis, the 1920s saw the emergence of a number of important new magazines focused on African American writing, including Opportunity and The Messenger. There were also a number of experimental literary magazines that emerged, including Fire!!! (1926) and Black Opals (1927-1928). Finally, predominantly white oriented magazines opened their pages for the first time to Black writers, and special issues of magazines like Survey Graphic, Palms, and The Carolina Magazine published a number of important poems by Black writers, helping to make them more visible to mainstream readerships.