During the 1920, a reform took place in Harlem. Afro Americans owned 60% of the businesses, jazz music was a new and popular genre of music, and it was a time of national innovation. This period was called the Harlem Renaissance. Harlem was and still is the city with the most concentrated population of black people. The 1930s was not as prosperous as the roaring 20s. The Great Depression hit the nation, but in particular, the already poorly funded black community of Harlem. Entertainment became more scarcely afforded, but became an underground outlet for some. Many of the greatest writers of the time period were somewhere on the homosexual spectrum. The 1930s was a time of unity and black nationalism as well …show more content…
Many of the new immigrants in the northern part of the United States were African American due the past racial prejudice that they faced in the south where it was common to be spiteful of the now free lower class Afro Americans. Racial tensions in the South and the employment boom after World War I caused a mass diaspora; over 750,000 black Americans left the South for Northern urban centers. Between 1910 and 1930, 1.6 million people moved from the rural south to northern industrial cities. (Goggin) Factory jobs were readily available to those seeking work though many blacks were turned away due to the “Last Hired First Fired” mentality of the Great Depression. So significant was this shift in population that it is now referred to as the "Great Migration." Black communities developed in Chicago, Detroit, and Buffalo, but the largest and most spectacular was Harlem, which became the mecca for Afro-Americans from all over the world. (Garber) Over 175,000 Afro Americans lived in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance, making it the neighborhood with the largest concentration of black people in America. (Goggin) Black leaders such as Marcus Garvey started a movement called the New Negro Movement. The New Negro movement created a new kind of art. Harlem, as the New Negro Capital, became a worldwide center for Afro-American jazz, literature, and the fine arts. (Garber) There was now a new sense of hope for the black community. The Black teachers, entrepreneurs, and even billionaires flourished and it became a commonality for Afro Americans to be successful. Harlem, as the New Negro Capital, became a mecca for Afro-American jazz, literature, and the fine arts. Many black musicians, artists, writers, and entertainers were drawn to the vibrant black uptown neighborhood. This time period of black nationalism was called the Harlem Renaissance.The Harlem Renaissance had a profound