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Directions: Using the facts that you gathered for homework, answer the following questions. Include one image/piece of expression from the historical figure.

Who was he?

Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri in 1902 and was raised by his grandmother until the age of thirteen, due to the divorce of his parents. He attended Columbia University for one year but could not afford the tuition rates, though he works various odd jobs. Having a strained relationship with his father, who separated himself from other African-Americans, Hughes' tuition fees were unmanaged by James Nathaniel Hughes as consequence for pursuing an English major. Langston Hughes died of complications from prostate cancer on May 22, 1967, in New York City.

What/how did he contribute to the Harlem Renaissance?

Langston Hughes was one of the most important writers in the Harlem Renaissance. He had strong political views that transferred into his poetry. Having a strong sense of racial pride he wrote poetry, novels, plays, essays, and children's books that often addressed the audience. Through that art Hughes promoted equality, condemned racism and injustice, and celebrated African American Culture.

Why was he important?

Langston Hughes literary work helped shape American literature and politics. Through work such as in Mother to Son, in which he encouraged African Americans to work past limitations to obtain a brighter future, he inspired countless artists. His work often featured themes revolving around dreams and directly addressed the audience.

Mother to Son

Well, son, I'll tell you:Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.It's had tacks in it,And splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no carpet on the floor Bare.But all the timeI'se been a-climbin' on,And reachin' landin's,And turnin' corners,And sometimes goin' in the darkWhere there ain't been no light.So, boy, don't you turn back.Don't you set down on the steps.'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.Don't you fall now”For I'se still goin', honey,I'se still climbin',And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

—Langston Hughes

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Directions: Using the facts that you gathered for homework, answer the following questions. Include one image/piece of expression from the historical figure.

Who was he?

McKay was born September 15, 1889, in Clarendon, Jamaica, and died May 22,1948, in Chicago, IL. He came to America to attend the Tuskegee University in Alabama. He was there for only a few months, when he left to study agriculture at Kansas State University. After getting his education he published two sonatas and later used that same form to write about the social and political concerns from his point of view as a black man living in the United States. His work inspired younger generations of black poets, one of them being Longston Hughes.

What/How did he contribute to the Harlem Renaissance?
He was a prominent literary figure in the Harlem Renaissance. His poems were centered around his life an experiences, from peasant life in Jamaica to the life of a black man in Harlem challenging the white authority. His work, which was published influenced younger black poets of this time, such as Langston Hughes.

If We Must Die

Claude McKay
"If we must die, let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursèd lot.

If we must die, O let us nobly die,

So that our precious blood may not be shed

In vain; then even the monsters we defy

Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!

O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!

Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,

And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!

What though before us lies the open grave?

Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!"

Why was he important?
Along with other writers of the Harlem Renaissance, he was a voice for the African- American community facing the systematic racism and oppression in America at this time. WIth his poems, His novel Home to Harlem is considered one of the first commercially successful novel by a black author. Overall, McKay broke new ground for not only black poets and writers, but the black community as a whole.

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Directions: Using the facts that you gathered for homework, answer the following questions. Include one image/piece of expression from the historical figure.

Who is she?

Born on Janaury 7, 1891 in Alabama, U.S

Died on Janaury 28, 1960 in Florida, U.S

She was Folklorist, anthropologist, novelist, Short story writer.

Published more than 50 short stories and 4 novels.

She studied at Howard University and Columbia University.

“ Their Eyes Were Watching God” published on 1937 consider as one of her best work.

What/How did she contribute to the Harlem Renaissance?

Wrote 4 novels and 50+ essays, plays, and short stories, the most famous of which was the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" (1937). It followed the early 20th century life story of Janie Crawford, an African American woman whose Grandmother was a slave in Florida. The story accurately portrayed the struggles of being African American in the 1900s south, whilst simultaneously showing that people are capable of overcoming such obstacles. It was initially seen as controversial, as it showed a more realistic perspective of Black people, unlike the stereotypical one whites were used to.

Why is she important?

-She helped to tell the stories of the African American.

-She as well helped to develop the common identity for the African American.

- helped to protect rights of African Americans.

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Directions: Using the facts that you gathered for homework, answer the following questions. Include one image/piece of expression from the historical figure.

Who was he?

Louis Armstrong was an American Jazz musician and one of the most influential figures in Jazz music.

Born August 4, 1901

Died July 6, 1971

Louis Armstrong recorded 60 of the most influential jazz records in history in 3 years.

He was the first African American jazz musician to write an autobiography.

What/how did he contribute to the Harlem Renaissance?

Louis Armstrong contributed to the Harlem Renaissance by playing the coronet (a smaller trumpet) for nightclubs, like the Cotton Club, for mainly white audiences.

Louis Armstrong took a well known stance on the Little Rock Crisis in which nine African American students were prevented from attending a segregated school, but ultimately were allowed to attend it after president Dwight Eisenhower intervened.

Why is he important?

Louis is one of the most popular African- American Jazz musician who introduced the world to jazz music. He inspired many people with his music. He created jazz music in his own style and that changed the course of traditional Jazz and people loved his creativity. he was one of the first musicians who's skin color came second to his music

By playing in front of white audiences he made the White Americans realize that Black Americans can contribute to society and music culture just as good as they can.

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Directions: Using the facts that you gathered for homework, answer the following questions. Include one image/piece of expression from the historical figure.

Who was he?

Alain Locke was An African-American Philosopher

Born September 13,1885 in Philadelphia

He died on June 9, 1954 in New York City.

Locke was a member of the Bahá'í Faith (a monotheistic Persian religion).

First African-American Rhodes Scholar

What/How did he contribute to the Harlem Renaissance?

Locke was an author and editor for many books and magazines. His most famous work, the "New Negro" (a collection of stories written by African Americans), was about the potential for black equality. He also wrote that blacks should no longer compromise their equality in society; they should demand equal rights.

His main role in the Harlem Renaissance was to educate others about the movement for social equality.

His work was too complex and philosophical to appeal to the general public so he wasn't widely known, but it did inspire other leaders like Zora Hurston and later Martin Luther King, who were able to make a greater impact on the movement for racial equality.

"The pulse of the Negro world has begun to beat in Harlem"--Locke

Why was he important?

Alain Locke was important to the Harlem Renaissance because his philosophies and literary pieces, such as the influential “The New Negro” encouraged african americans to be proud of their race and to no longer tolerate being treated as a lower class in society.

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Directions: Using the facts that you gathered for homework, answer the following questions. Include one image/piece of expression from the historical figure.

Who was he?

Aaron Douglas was an African American Painter and Illustrator. He was born in Topeka Kansas, 1898, and came to Harlem in 1925. Many of his paintings represented Black Americans in the form of silhouettes. During his time in Harlem, he was able to contribute artistically to several different African magazines, such as Opportunity, The Crisis, and The New Negro.

What/How did he contribute to the Harlem Renaissance?

He is known for his superb murals that graced the walls of nightclubs and cultural institutions in Harlem. His most famous series of murals,  Aspects of Negro Life, can be found at the library of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Douglas created powerful images of African-American life and struggles, and won awards for the work he created for black writers, magazines, etc.

Why was he important?

Aaron Douglas was important because he created powerful images of African American life and struggles,Aaron Douglas was an inspiration to the black community during the Harlem Renaissance.