After the American civil war, liberated African-Americans searched for a safe place to explore their new identities as free men and women. They found it in Harlem. In this issue we went to Harlem to find out how this New York neighborhood became home to some of the best and brightest minds of the 20th century, gave birth to a cultural revolution, and earned its status as "The Capital of Black America"
TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT WERE SEEING!
THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
At the start of the descade, the burgeoning African-American middle class began pushing a new political agenda that advocated racial equality. The epicenter of this movement was in New York, where three of the largest civil rights groups established their headquarters. This new agenda gave birth to the (BACK TO AFRICA MOVEMENT). Which help put black communities together with what we saw as amazing music, dance, writing and much more.
There was so much of the Harlem Renaissance that we couldn't fit it all on one page so we'll talk of the most influential and controversal topic JAZZ MUSIC .
One of the best speakeasies we saw in Harlem was the Cotton Club, a place that intended to have the look and feel of a luxurious Southern plantation. To complete the theme, only African-American entertainers could perform there, while only white clientele (with few exceptions) were allowed to patronize the establishment. This attracted high-powered celebrity visitors such as Cole Porter, Bing Crosby and Doris Duke to see the most talented black entertainers of the day. Some of the most famous jazz performers we saw were - singer Lena Horne, composer and musician Duke Ellington, and singer Cab Calloway - graced the Cotton Club stage.
IN REVIEW
We loved visiting Harlem, it was like something we never seen before!
The Harlem Renaissance reclaims lost African American culture and shows us and the rest of the US how important the civil rights movement really was.