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GALLERY

1890 GREAT MIGRATION BEGINS

The Jim Crow laws and disenfranchisement of many African Americans led them to move up North where they could create a new life away from the horrors of past slavery. Harlem was one of the primary urban slums where many of the best African American writers, musicians, and artists settled, creating a newfound culture that is still remembered today (Grossman 1).

Events

Aug

1929

Duke Ellington's, Black Beauty is performed.

Location: Cotton Club

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1925 ALAIN LOCKE'S, THE NEW NEGRO

Alain Locke's, The New Negro was published which included works from many prominent writers in the Harlem Renaissance such as Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay. The work was centered around the creation of a new self-identity and to disembark from previous negative depictions of African Americans. He insists that the age of racial degradation has passed, and African Americans should create their own distinct culture from that of whites. By uniting African Americans with a unique cultural revival, they would be able to advance politically and socially (Stickney 1).

FEBRUARY 12, 1909 NAACP FORMED

The NAACP was formed in response to lynchings, race riots, and disenfranchisement of African Americans. Many activists such as William Walling, W.E.B Du Bois, and Ida Wells came together to discuss racial justice and ensure that the Constitutional rights given to African Americans were upheld. This organization is a Civil Rights Group still active today. Their effors have helped African Americans become equal under the law (Rolinson).