Impact of The Harlem Renaissance

As a writer from The Harlem Renaissance, I feel it is my inherent duty to share my beliefs onto the subject of why students in the present should continue to read works of literature that were produced during The Harlem Renaissance. Also, I feel the necessity to explain how The Harlem Renaissance continues to impact the 21st century.

The Harlem Renaissance has impacted the 21st century greatly. Without the Harlem Renaissance there would not have been such a drastic change in our literature and music. The Harlem Renaissance played a great role in the ending of racial discrimination later in history. This was the start of the development of African-American literature. The Harlem Renaissance movement ended in the late 1930's because of the Great Depression, but The Harlem Renaissance continues to be an inspiration to many. Although the racial discrimination was not lessened after this crucial movement, our community received a rhetorical background to build on. It paved the way for progress and development for the coming generations. It conveyed to our community and the world during that period that we were not inferior to White-Americans. The Harlem Renaissance helped create equality for all people later in history. The success of African-Americans today would not have been possible if not for The Harlem Renaissance.

The literary works during this period was primitive to all African-Americans, thus it is important to study those works which helped build the African-American community into what we are today. The determination that our community possessed during The Harlem Renaissance is commonly referred to as the backbone of our African-American community.

By reading African-American literature from this period, students can be informed of the unique culture of our community. We were treated as inferiors during that period. Therefore, people can discover the elements of hardwork, determination and our views regarding our ill-treatment. Our voice could be heard through our work which was not possible before this period. The works of literature produced by us during this period rival some of the greatest literary works of all time. We were able to open up our feelings through our work, thus providing our work a uniqueness. Due to this uniqueness, students should read our literary works to fully understand the condition of our community during The Harlem Renaissance. Students of the 21st century continue to read literature from The Harlem Renaissance because the literary works produced from our time period are unique and can never be reproduced. The culture that is embedded into our literary works is unparalleled. I even incorporated the fever of jazz that was sweeping the nation during The Harlem Renaissance into my various works of poetry. Thus, to experience an unprecedented amount of passion and culture, students must read works of literature produced during The Harlem Renaissance.

-Langston Hughes