Quotessence
Home / Topics / Harlem Renaissance Quotes

Harlem Renaissance Quotes

Browse 37 quotes about Harlem Renaissance.

Harlem Renaissance Quotes

“It [the Harlem Renaissance] was a time of black individualism, a time marked by a vast array of characters whose uniqueness challenged the traditional inability of white Americans to differentiate between blacks.”

IndividualityAmerican HistoryCharactersDemographicsAfrican American HistoryHarlem RenaissanceRacial IdentityJazz Age StoriesCharacters In BooksHarlem New YorkAmerican Jazz Age
Book:Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
Create image

“Notwithstanding the memories of slavery, and in the face poverty, ignorance, terrorism, and subjugation still deeply woven into their lives, the embittered past of blacks was taken onto a much higher plane of intellectual and artistic consideration during the Renaissance.”

PovertySlaveryTerrorismOppressionAfrican American AuthorsCreative GeniusIntellectualsAfrican LiteratureHarlem RenaissanceAfrican American MusicHarlem Renaissance HistoriansAfrican American ArtistsDemograghic ShiftsMoral Victories
Book:Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
Create image

“History, too, has a penchant for giving birth to itself over and over again, and those whom it appoints agents of change and progress do not always accept their destinies willingly.”

Life LessonsChangeLeadershipDestinyHistoryFateAcceptanceWisdom QuotesWillWillpowerGiving BirthBlack History MonthHistoriansMaking HistoryHarlem RenaissanceWriting HistoryAcceptance Of Oneself And OthersPostered Poetics By AberjhaniNational History DayHistoricityIntellectual HistoryLiving HistoryLessons From HistoryHistory MakersWomen S History MonthHispanic HistoryAgents Of ChangeBirth And RebirthHistoricizationChange AdvocatesContemporary HistoriansCurrent HistoryHistorian AberjhaniModern HistoriansOutstanding People In HistoryPhilosophy Of ChangeReluctant Advocates
Book:Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays
Create image

“The city of Paris, France, became a place of refuge for biracial Americans during slavery and at the time of the Harlem Renaissance for black musicians, fine artists, writers and others seeking opportunities to practice their craft free from American racism.”

DiversityRacismSlaveryHumanismFranceParisMulticulturalismRefugeesBiracialMigrantsHuman Rights DayAntiracismHarlem RenaissanceMulticulturalismoParis AttacksDay To End RacismHuman Migrations
Book:Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
Create image

“We are drawn to the Renaissance because of the hope for black uplift and interracial empathy that it embodied and because there is a certain element of romanticism associated with the era’s creativity, its seemingly larger than life heroes and heroines, and its most brilliantly lit terrain, Harlem, USA.”

DiversityAmerican HistoryAfrican AmericansMulticulturalismHarlem RenaissanceJazz AgeGreat MigrationCultural ArtsLiterary MovementsRoaring 20sHarlem New York
Book:Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
Create image

“Whether we consider hip-hop as an evolved manifestation of the Harlem Renaissance or something completely new under the sun, it clearly has moved beyond the stage of just entertaining lives to that of informing and empowering lives.”

SocietyInformationEmpowermentHip HopEntertainmentMulticulturalismEntertainment IndustryInformation AgeBlack History MonthCreative ArtistsCreative GeniusHarlem RenaissanceCreativesThe SunHip Hop PhilosophyHistorical PerspectiveNational History DayManifestationsCultural ArtsHarlem Renaissance HistoriansContemporary CultureCultural MovementsHip Hop StyleAfrican American Music MonthBlack Music MonthContemporary HistoryCulture Of Hip HopHarlem Renaissance CentennialHip HoppersHistorical Influences
Book:Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry
Create image

“The leaders and followers of the Harlem Renaissance were every bit as intent on using Black culture to help make the United States a more functional democracy as they were on employing Black culture to 'vindicate' Black people.”

LeadershipEducationPatriotismLeadersFollowersUnited States Of AmericaCivil DisobedienceBlack History MonthLeadership StylesVindicationAfrican American HistoryDemocracy In AmericaBlack CultureHarlem RenaissanceFollowershipRace Relations In AmericaPostered Poetics By AberjhaniNational History DayBlack LeadersHarlem Renaissance HistoriansLeadership StrategiesHistoricizationAfrican American IntellectualsAfrican American LeadersBest Leadership PracticesFaith In The American PeopleHeroes Of The Harlem RenaissanceHistorical AccountabilityHistory Of DemocracyTeaching The Harlem RenaissanceWeb Du Bois
Book:Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
Create image

“Sandra L. West and Aberjhani have compiled an encyclopedia that makes an important contribution to our need to know more about one of modern America’s truly significant artistic and cultural movements. It helps us to acknowledge the complexity of African American life at a time when the nation’s culture was taking on a recognizable shape, when race was becoming less of a crushing burden and more of a challenge to progressive people and their ideals, and when cities and their inhabitants symbolized the end of the past and the seductiveness of the new.”

African AmericansAuthorsRace RelationsUs HistoryDemographicsBlack History MonthAfrican American HistoryHistoriansHarlem RenaissanceGreat MigrationAberjhaniEncyclopediasHarlem Renaissance HistoriansCultural MovementsBooks On The Harlem RenaissanceClement Alexander PriceNewark HistorianSandra L West
Book:Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
Create image

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”

IfsLoveInspirationalDreamLife IsPoetryDiesChangeFreedomBusinessKnowledgePositive ThinkingInspirational LifeBrokenBirdWingsEducationalAfrican AmericanNovelistsYour DreamsBroken HeartDreamerAmerican DreamFulfillingFollow Your DreamsBlack HistoryChase Your DreamsDreams Do Come TrueHopes And DreamsI Had A DreamDreams And RealityEssayistsJust A DreamDreams You HaveHold FastColumnistsBlack History MonthDare To DreamSmall DreamsDreams And GoalsBroken DreamsFollowing DreamsAchieving DreamsBlack History Month InspirationalLife DreamDream RealityFollowing My DreamsAfrican American HistoryAchieving Your DreamsInspirational DreamLife Is A DreamDreams And AspirationsHopes DreamsBlack History InspirationalLife And DreamsHarlem RenaissanceFulfilling DreamsAfrican American InspirationalDreaming About YouNever Stop DreamingBroken WingsBird FlyingCute DreamDreams And PassionHopes In LifeDream ChasingFulfilling Your Dreams
Author:Langston Hughes
Create image

“Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.”

LoveLifeInspirationalSoulLove IsMarriageLove YouPositiveYour SoulNovelistsCrushHidingValentineOur LoveBlack WomenValentine's DayI Love YouBlack HistoryBeing LovedFamous LoveCrawlingI Loved YouThose We LoveBeen In LoveWhat Is LoveBlack History MonthHiding PlaceSpiritual LoveShort LoveValentines Day LoveBlack History Month InspirationalRomantic Valentines DayRomantic Love YouSt ValentineHappy ValentinesFound LoveHappy Valentines DayValentine PhrasesInspirational RomanceValentines Day CardsSweet ValentineBlack History InspirationalLoving LoveValentines Day SpecialAfrican American LoveTrue Love Never EndsHarlem RenaissanceI Love You LikeI Fell In Love With YouHiding SomethingSouls In LoveFebruary LoveClassic LoveShort Inspirational LoveRomantic InspirationalHiding OutHiding ThingsHide Love
Author:Zora Neale Hurston
Create image

“Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me.”

FeelsDoeSometimesHappinessSuccessFearPleasureInspiringCompanyAngryPerseveranceDenyDiscriminationAfrican AmericanHarlemMake Me AngryHarlem Renaissance
Book:I Love Myself when I Am Laughing ... and Then Again when I Am Looking Mean and Impressive: A Zora Neale Hurston Reader
Create image

“From the small clubs of the Harlem Renaissance where he began playing saxophone to world tours for the biggest of the big bands, Benny Carter redefined American jazz. From the start, his fellow musicians said the way he played the sax was amazing. They say that about me, too. (Laughter.) But I don't think they mean it in quite the same way.”

ThinkingWorldWayMeanSaidBigsBandMusicianLaughterFellowsJazzClubsRenaissanceCarterSaxophoneHarlemHarlem Renaissance
Author:William J. Clinton
Create image

“When reading about what may be described as the lesser celebrated heroic figures of the Harlem Renaissance, we rarely get a definitive look at just how complicated and sometimes dangerous their everyday lives were. In fact, until the past ten years, many defined the period primarily by its well-known literary, musical, and artistic elements while overlooking the fact there was any political component to it at all.”

YearsWellsLooksMaySometimesFactsPastPoliticalReadingLiteratureKnownDangerousFiguresPeriodsTenElementsEverydayMusicalComplicatedDefinedArtisticHeroicEveryday LifeWell KnownComponentsRenaissanceHarlemOverlookingHarlem Renaissance
Author:Aberjhani
Create image

“When I was 17, I worked in a mentoring program in Harlem designed to improve the community. That's when I first gained an appreciation of the Harlem Renaissance, a time when African-Americans rose to prominence in American culture. For the first time, they were taken seriously as artists, musicians, writers, athletes, and as political thinkers.”

FirstsPoliticalArtistCultureCommunityTakenMusicianFirst TimeProgramRoseAthleteAppreciationAfrican AmericanThinkerAmerican CultureRenaissanceMentoringHarlemProminenceHarlem Renaissance
Author:Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Create image