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Harlem Stomp!: A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance (National Book Award Finalist)

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Harlem Stomp!: A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance (National Book Award Finalist)

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Overview

This Black History month, celebrate the Harlem Renaissance! This National Book Award Finalist takes a breathtaking, in-depth look at the art, poetry, and fiction that came out of one of America’s most culturally rich periods.

Determined to make a new start for themselves at the dawn of the twentieth century, many African Americans joined the Great Migration and headed North. For those who landed in Harlem, New York, it was a time of blossoming in art, literature, and politics. Influential African American artists and activists took center stage—and captured the attention of the world.

Lavishly designed and illustrated, with photographs, historical documents, and full-color paintings, this book is a time capsule of poetry, prose, and political rhetoric, introducing the amazing lives and work of notable figures such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Sargent Johnson, and Marcus Garvey

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316496339
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	11/10/2020
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	75,600
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Laban Carrick Hill was the author of more than thirty books, including the 2004 National Book Award Finalist Harlem Stomp!, which he researched for nearly a decade, and America Dreaming, which examines the legacy of the 1960s. He taught writing at Columbia University, Baruch College, St. Michael's College and Pine Manor College in Massachusetts. He was also the cofounder and codirector of the Writers Project of Ghana, based in the US and Ghana. He passed away in 2021.

Acclaimed poet, essayist, and lecturer Nikki Giovanni has many published collections of her poetry, including Black Feeling, Black Talk and Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea: Poems and Not-Quite Poems. Her honors include the NAACP Image Award for Literature in 1998, and the Langston Hughes award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters in 1996.

	Foreword	2
1	Song of Smoke: The Smoldering Black Consciousness, 1900-1910	4
2	Moving Out, Fighting Back: The Great Migration, Organizing for Freedom, and World War I, 1911-1920	14
3	Black Metropolis: The Rise of Harlem, 1900-1920	32
4	The Dam Breaking: Jean Toomer, Claude McKay, and Opportunity in the Arts, 1921-1924	44
5	Fire!!: An Explosion of Creativity	54
6	Dark Tower: A Social Breakthrough	74
7	Stompin' at the Savoy: Music and Dance of the Renaissance	90
8	Heritage Unbound: Blacks and the American Theater	102
9	Against All Odds: Visual Artists and Their Struggle for Recognition	114
10	Rage in the Streets: The Waning of the Renaissance and the Beginning of the Harlem Riots	126
	Bibliography	137
	Index	143
	Credits	148
	Biographies	151

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Editorial Reviews

"This energetic, elegantly designed volume documents the artistic, literary and musical surge of black culture in Harlem."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The volume is a visual feast....Together, the words and images bring this extraordinary period to life."—School Library Journal, starred review

"With a beautiful open design, this illustrated history combines the politics of the black metropolis in the roaring 1920s with.... Detailed chapters on the 'blazing creativity' of performers, writers, visual artists, and intellectuals.... Wonderful for browsing."—Booklist, starred review

"This energetic, elegantly designed volume documents the artistic, literary and musical surge of black culture in Harlem."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

From the Publisher

This energetic, elegantly designed volume documents the artistic, literary and musical surge of black culture in Harlem from 1900 to 1924, presenting the events and personalities that led to both its ascension and decline. Hill first introduces the pivotal opposing points of view of the time, that of Booker T. Washington-born into slavery, who "strongly supported the principle of nonconfrontation"-and W.E.B. Du Bois, born free, whose ideas were considered "radical" and who believed that "the Negro race must be made leaders of thought and missionaries of culture among their people." The author then weaves in other voices, solo and in groups, and brief bios of lesser-known heroes (such as Sgt. Henry Johnson, an African-American and the first American soldier-black or white-in WWI to receive the Croix de Guerre; and pioneering editor and educator Charles Spurgeon Johnson). Hill sets the backdrop for the Great Migration of blacks from South to North (illustrated with the first of Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series paintings) and explores the effects of a glut of Harlem housing which led to the settlement of African-Americans there. Sidebars highlight such issues as the "Negro Scare" racket, a real estate strategy that exploited whites' fears of black encroachment into white residential areas. A generous helping of primary source material brings the era to life in the voices of the dynamic people who made it flourish, including the poems of Langston Hughes, sheet music for "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," advertisements and excerpts from news stories. The inviting design makes use of blocks of jazzy colors, mod type and a smattering of period illustrations (by the likes of Aaron Douglas and others). Hill also shines light on everyday rituals, such as the practice of strolling down the Harlem boulevards, the importance of churches and the flourishing of jazz clubs (such as the famous Cotton Club). The book closes with the stock market crash's devastating effects on the Harlem Renaissance; the resulting Great Depression caused five times more unemployment in Harlem than in other parts of the city and led to an exodus of many of its leaders. This compelling history will leave readers familiar or unfamiliar with this high-flying period eager to discover more. Ages 12-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 7 Up-Hill explains the violence, frustration, and dreams of economic opportunity that led to the African-American migration to the North at the beginning of the 20th century. He describes the sense of pride, responsibility, and rights engendered by participation in World War I and the white resentment that resulted in such violence that James Weldon Johnson "dubbed the summer of 1919 the `Red Summer'" in response to the bloodshed. The author discusses why blacks settled in Harlem and how it became the "Mecca of the New Negro," attracting the likes of Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, and Claude McKay. Also highlighted are publications such as the National Urban League's Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, which not only supplied forums for these writers but also attempted to generate income for them and provide a sense of racial identity. Music, theater, and the visual arts are also covered. The book contains aspects of everyday culture, too, such as the role of churches, funeral processions, and rent parties. Numerous quotes from speeches, poems, articles, and other works are included. The volume is a visual feast, packed with contemporary photographs, reproductions, magazine covers, and posters, and enhanced by an interesting graphic design. Together, the words and images bring this extraordinary period to life. Pair it with James Haskins's The Harlem Renaissance (Millbrook, 1996), which remains the more in-depth textual overview.-Joanne K. Cecere, Monroe-Woodbury High School, Central Valley, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

As Nikki Giovanni says in her foreword, the Harlem Renaissance was "an American people redefining this great American nation." The rich cultural life of Harlem in the 1920s included the poetry of Langston Hughes, the photography of James VanDerZee, the painting of Aaron Douglas and William H. Johnson, the vocal performances of Paul Robeson. Harlem was the Jazz Age-Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, the Savoy Ballroom. This volume, clearly a labor of love, is a visual treat, from the cover art by Christopher Myers to the pages chock full of period photographs and artwork of the age. The narrative voice, though, is inconsistent, sometimes affecting the ebullient language of the "hoppin'" nightclubs and the "white hepcat from downtown," at other times sounding dry as an old textbook. The big bibliography doesn't reflect the wealth of resources available for young readers, but the volume offers much for browsers and young researchers. (index, credits) (Nonfiction. 12+)

Kirkus Reviews

"With a beautiful open design, this illustrated history combines the politics of the black metropolis in the roaring 1920s with....detailed chapters on the 'blazing creativity' of performers, writers, visual artists, and intellectuals....wonderful for browsing."

(starred review) - Booklist

Harlem Stomp!: A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance (National Book Award Finalist)

Harlem Stomp!: A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance (National Book Award Finalist)

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