FUNDAMENTALISM and the scopes trial
Fundamentalists protesting evolution's place in the high school.
A picture taken during the Scopes Trial.
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement consisting of the rebirth of black culture that graced the 1920s. Often referred to as a ‘Negro renaissance’ by contemporaries, the Harlem Renaissance’s roots came from New York City, the center of the movement, and the rest of the United States. Multiple factors contributed to the birth of this cultural movement; black self-awareness was growing stronger, and improving life for blacks in terms of literacy, education and economics also contributed. However, Harlem was the center and symbolic capital of the movement. Harlem consisted of “a complex and culturally productive concentration of peoples of African descent: recent migrants from the rural South, immigrants from the Caribbean and Latin America, native New Yorkers, and a burgeoning black professional class hailing from all sections of the United States,” (Hutchinson). Moreover, black Harlem, a new community filled with energy, pain, optimism, and hope, came to characterize much of the artwork and embody the concept of the "New Negro." Furthermore, the Harlem Renaissance resulted in the development of many different variations of art forms throughout the time period, including distinct forms of music, literature, and visual arts. These different art forms emphasized and celebrated the fullness of African American culture. For example, jazz music developed as a demonstration of African American culture’s breadth and richness. Likewise, Jean Toomer, author of Cane (1923), and other early writers established the celebratory tone for the Harlem Renaissance.