During the 1920’ African American writers began to make significant contributions to American literature, especially during the Harlem Renaissance. I will discuss three poems or short stories from this literary movement.
The Harlem Renaissance is the term given to the blossoming of the creative arts amongst African Americans, centered on Harlem in the 1920s, and embodying the cultural awakening and recognition of African American writing, painting and sculpture, in the same decade that saw jazz and blues reach a wider audience. Terms like the Harlem Renaissance can be useful to signal a historic movement, but the terms can be dangerous if ...