AP+Harlem

=**Harlem during the Great Depression**=


 * Aim - Karen Cooper**

The Aim of the Harlem Renaissance was to increase education and employment. Blacks wanted equality and were going to work hard to get it. However, during this time things became harder for them. The poverty and crime rates went up during this time. Blacks created their first middle class including African Americans. "African-American soldiers are chomping at the bit to prove themselves again as good citizens by waiting to fight for the Democracy they share very little in. We are just coming out of the Harlem Renaissance. It's the Harlem of Malcolm X, and of Duke Ellington and Count Basie and all of these giants in music and literature, such as Zora Neale Hurston. Soldiers and sailors walking around in uniform, the Cotton Club going, the Savoy going..." (PBS). This was a leap itself, and one worth leaping. Now blacks are integrated into our society. Blacks are now respected and are not turned down opportunities because of their skin color. Whites and blacks are friends. Blacks have invented magnificient things. One can now look at two children, one black and one white, and expect great things out of both of them. This, this was the goal of the Harlem Renaissance.

__Works Cited:__ "Harlem in the 1940s." //pbs.org//.

"Harlem Renaissance - Black History Milestones on Biography.com." //Biography.com//. A&E Television. Web. 27 Aug. 2011.

Hayden, Palmer. //Midsummer Night in Harlem//. 1938.

The main audience of (or the majority of people affected by living in) Harlem during the Great Depression was African Americans. Most of the people living in this New York neighborhood were African Americans already, but before the Great Depression, there were quite a few affluent white Americans living in that area at the time. Harlem before the Great Depression was described by one Harlem Renaissance writer as such: "Harlem has attracted the Africa, the West Indian, the Negro American" ("Harlem in the 1940s") which truly highlights the number of people who lived in the area. It was a very culturally diverse neighborhood at the time that was thriving with energy and exuberance. However, at the start of the Great Depression, the time period known as the Harlem Renaissance ended, "which brought poverty and violence to Harlem. It was this violence which chased away the affluent whites and white intellectuals to a safer environment on the island paradises of the Caribbean" (Rhodes). Due to the Great Depression, Harlem was affected tragically. The entire United States felt the effects of the stock market crash of 1929 and the other symptoms of the failing economy, but Harlem felt it worse. The poverty and the violence that was sparked by the crash not only had to be dealt with by the African Americans in the community, but according to Rhodes, it drove away the affluent whites. This affected the audience of Harlem at the time because due to the Great Depression, it changed the entire makeup of the people in Harlem at the time, which could be considered the audience.
 * Audience - Lauren Rosen**

Works Cited "Harlem in the 1940s." //pbs.org//. PBS, n.d. Web. 26 August 2011. Rhodes, Henry. "The Social Contributions of the Harlem Renaissance." Yale University, 2011. Web. 26 August 2011.


 * Historical-Jeanne Torres**

During the Great Depression many African Americans were hit hard, they had already struggled for quite a while enduring slavery, and at the time white supremacy was considered normal and legal. Most African Americans moved to the South in the 1890’s and formed their own pride and developed a strong culture ("46e. The Harlem Renaissance"). The Harlem Renaissance was before the Great Depression in Harlem, and it quickly spread to different African American communities, basically it was a development of culture and life in African Americans. The changes in culture that were started then declined during the depression the art kept them going as a culture, things like jazz and art, which depicted the hard life of African Americans ("Harlem In The 1940’s"). One article states, “They celebrated black culture and achievement. Their art and writing focused on the lives of black people. They held up black culture and accomplishment as worthy of admiration” (“Harlem Renaissance (Overview)"). Essentially even thought they were going through rough times having to fight to get rent money they had art to unify them. This culture full of art and jazz is still a big part of how people identify the African American community; it has also shaped culture from then on. The Harlem culture was one of the first big movements I which art was used to portray culture and it was a way for African Americans to make an “accomplishment worthy of admiration” within the constraints of America.

Works Cited "46e. The Harlem Renaissance." //U.S. History//. Independence Hall Association. 2011. Web. 26 August 2011. "Harlem in the 1940s." //pbs.org//. PBS, n.d. Web. 26 August 2011. "Harlem Renaissance (Overview)." //American History//.ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 26 Aug. 2011.


 * Cultural - Kayla Wright**

Harlem went through many changes as it was hit by the Great Depression. "In the 1920s artists, intellectuals and reformers flocked to Harlem seeking an atmosphere that was both socially tolerant and conducive to the creative expression of the black community" ("Harlem in the 1940s). The years directly before the Great Depression people were "flocking" to Harlem. This shows how it once was a place where people wanted to be, where they knew they could make things happen. "However, the energy and exuberance of these and many other Harlem Renaissance artists buckled in the 1930s under the weight of the Great Depression" (Harem in the 1940s). The "buckling" of the energy and exuberance so many had sought in Harlem shows how hard the Great Depression hit it. The place that blacks artists were once able to strive and find a place they felt comfortable was now a place where the unemployment rate was double that of other places in America (Greenburg). Harlem suffered immensely during the Depression, from unemployment rates to the overall atmosphere.

Works Cited "Harlem in the 1940s." [|__pbs.org__] . PBS, n.d. Web. 26 August 2011. Greenberg, Cheryl Lynn. "Answers About Depression-Era Harlem." nytimes,com. NY Times, 18 February 2009. Web. 26 August 2011.