Saturday, December 7, 2013

Explain why Harlem was the perfect spot for an African-American "Renaissance" to begin in America?

Harlem was a fast-growing, cosmopolitan, and affluent Black neighborhood in the early twentieth century. It attracted many African-Americans from the South who wished to flee the abuses of the South's Jim Crow system. It was also the destination for many Afro-Caribbean immigrants, who brought with them a different sense of identity. In short, it became a destination for educated African-American men and women who sought freedom and community. By no means the only Black community in the North (or even, for that matter, the South) Harlem was also in New York City, which had established itself as the cultural center of the United States. So the art, music, and literature that flowed from this community had a sort of national stage. They could attract the interest of the publishing houses, recording labels, and other mass media outlets that existed in New York. So Harlem was in many ways an ideal epicenter for a "Renaissance" in African-American culture. 

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