As James Wheldon Johnson described it in “The Making of Harlem”, Harlem was quite possibly the greatest Negro city in the world for the era of the Harlem Renaissance. It was the ground at which African Americans saw a revival of their culture and made progress like never before. The demographical details of black neighborhoods during this era were described in Kelly Millers “Where is the Negro Heaven”. As Harlem transformed, so did other cities with black populations. Economic and social progress was seen. In the article, Millers writes, “These were days of sudden and swift transformation for black folk. Lucky Negros were translated from the corn field to congress.” The social progress African Americans went through from being slaves to aristocrats was elaborated in “A Biographical Sketch of Archibald H. Grimke” from the Opportunity. This was a short autobiography of an African American man who was born into slavery and made it to several top tier colleges including Harvard. This man was Archibald H. Grimke, and he became a well-known lawyer, diplomat, journalist, and activist. The autobiography was written by Grimke’s own daughter who in the next century was leading a life as a writer. This passage stood out to me because it described the journey of a figure of the Harlem Renaissance as he went from a former slave to a successful aristocrat. It is life stories like this that tell us what the Harlem Renaissance and the impact it has on American society and the way the perceived and felt about African Americans. Archibald H. Grimke and his story is somewhat symbolic the idea of the social progress of African Americans.

Alain Locke, possibly the most well known and most prolific writer of the Harlem Renaissance, annotates and writes about a Belgian artist named August Mambour in the Opportunity. This passage was very thought-provoking because Mambour was an artist that contributed to African American expression. His paintings had African American artistic inspiration and style. Locke acknowledges this art style and speaks on how Mambour making his art was a moral and spiritual penetration into African life. Alain Locke describes Mambour saying, “August Mambour’s grasp upon the Negro subject is deeper than that of a marvelous technical control, and to that extent he, with many others, is a debtor of one whom he owes no direct artistic technical debt or influences”. Locke is complimenting the idea that artists should have a free exchange of ideas. He also says that a white artist like Mambour digging from African American inspiration is how society should function. With there existing acknowledgement of African American creativity and artists of different races not feeling restricted from drawing inspiration from each other’s art.

To conclude, Harlem during this Renaissance was a cultural mecca. These items from the Opportunity hold the experiences and journey of African Americans as they went from (how Millers would call it) the corn field to congress. These items tell us the social progress that was made by these people as well as the progress they had on society.

Citations:

Grimke, Angelina A. February 1925. “A Biographical Sketch of Archibald H. Grimke”. “Opportunity” (pp.44)

Locke, Alain. August 1925. “The Art of August Mambour”. “Opportunity” (pp. 240)

Miller, Kelly. December 1926. “Where is the Negro Heaven”. “Opportunity” (pp. 370)