HOW DID THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE START?

The Harlem Renaissance

was born out of necessity, circumstance, and creativity. As one of the most influential movements in African-American history, The Harlem Renaissance strengthened the foundation of what we have come to know as “the culture.” It became a blueprint from which today’s Black creatives, knowingly or not, build on. In short: your favorite artist’s, favorite artist was likely inspired by a creative whose work contributed to The Harlem Renaissance and the defining of OUR culture.

The Harlem Renaissance was bigger than the Harlem district in New York City. A lot happened between the years of 1918 and 1937, and for every inch gained in Harlem, a mile was being traveled by Black people elsewhere in America to escape disenfranchisement and Jim Crow laws. The Great Migration of an estimated six million African-American’s from the rural South to cities in the North and West brought about a cross fertilization of Black people, Black arts, and the American dream.

A Black Upper Class emerged and with it came a mission to document the experience of African-American’s like never before, and provide space for the work of a Black creative Class—this was especially true in Harlem.

Real estate owners such as Hannah Elias and Philip A. Payton, who chartered the Afro-American Realty Company, opened the door for Black rentership in the neighborhood and subsequently placed Black artists in close proximity of one another. The Shuffle Along opened at the 63rd Street Musical Hall bringing Black people and jazz to Broadway. Edwin Alexander Smalls founded Smalls’ Paradise, a cabaret that cemented Harlem nightlife. W.E.B. Du Bois, who was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and a member of the board of directors, also founded and edited The Crisis, the organization’s monthly magazine that became an important medium for young Black writers. Charles S. Johnson, the first editor-in-chief of the National Urban Leagues’ academic journal, captured Black culture and provided opportunities for new artists. Alain LeRoy Locke and The New Negro anthologized African and African-American art and literature, while simultaneously providing a manifesto for the New Negro Movement (also known as The Harlem Renaissance). 

These figures, and many others like them, attended affluent universities such as Columbia, Harvard, and Yale. They pursued educational and employment opportunities that advanced the state of African-American’s and amplified our collective protest of society via artistic expression. Garveyism gained significant traction during this time and the civil rights movement would soon rise on the heels of The Harlem Renaissance.

But a paradigm shift—be it a movement or a systematic change—requires allyship and funding. Hannah Elias’ wealth was acquired by way of a relationship with an elderly wealthy white man; the NAACP was founded by a group comprised primarily of liberal white men and women, including Arthur Spingarn, a Jewish Manhattan civil rights lawyer who went on to be elected as an honorary president for life; and The New Negro was funded by a white woman who insisted upon being called “Godmother” and greatly influenced editorial and business decisions. These figures were both benevolent and problematic. Their money and commitment to equality fueled a renaissance, but their power also complicated it. This is a fine line that Black artists, the Black upper class, and white allies continue to walk and navigate in present day.

So, what do the artists who became architects of The Harlem Renaissance have to offer the Black creative class of today? In its most simplistic form, their experiences have shown us that to define and refine our culture, and sustain ourselves, we must:

• possess a collective ideology and purpose
• understand that high-level technical skills are just as important with grassroots connections
• be intentional in creating spaces that place us in proximity to other Black creatives who are like-minded and proficient
• establish pipelines and channels of creativity that are strengthened and reinforced with credibility
• be mindful to not let funding strip us of ownership 

We are responsible for building upon the Harlem Renaissance, Remastered Inkind.