Flashcards: Harlem Renaissance: Culture, Identity, Protest — 20 cards

Harlem Renaissance — origins?

Cultural movement post-Reconstruction celebrating Black identity.

Great Migration — purpose?

Black Americans moved North seeking opportunities and escaping violence.

Harlem as cultural hub — role?

Center for Black arts, institutions, and social activism.

NAACP — founding year?

1909, to fight racial discrimination and lynching.

The Crisis — significance?

Black-owned magazine promoting literature, art, and social issues.

Harlem Renaissance — main goal?

Celebrate Black culture, challenge stereotypes, foster pride.

African roots — symbolized by?

Rivers like Nile and Congo linking Black Americans to Africa.

Langston Hughes — style?

Vernacular, blues/jazz rhythms, focus on Black working class.

Poetry as protest — purpose?

Challenge racial injustice and express Black resilience.

Hughes’s use of 'I' — meaning?

Represents collective Black voice and identity.

Blues and jazz — influence?

Shape rhythm, tone, and improvisation in Hughes’s poetry.

Racial discrimination — themes?

Segregation, lynching, prejudice, and systemic violence.

African heritage — expressed through?

Imagery of rivers, civilizations, water symbolism.

Poetry as social commentary — example?

Hughes’s works critique racism, poverty, and oppression.

American Dream — critique?

Exposed racial inequalities and false promises for Black Americans.

Cultural pride — promoted by?

Harlem Renaissance art, literature, and organizations like Locke.

Poetic techniques — common?

Anaphora, broken rhythms, vernacular language, musicality.

Harlem Renaissance — key organizations?

NAACP, Urban League, *The Crisis* magazine.

Hughes’s influence — significance?

Revolutionized American poetry, centered Black experience.

Water symbolism — meaning?

Rebirth, identity, African roots, fluidity of culture.