Bill Robinson
Born in Richmond, Bill Robinson first started dancing in locally located saloons at an early age of 6. During his childhood, he was nicknamed "Bojangles," although Robinson was uncertain of the origin of that name.
Robinson's talent gave him a pass into to two similar worlds: white entertainment and black. Altough Robinson was never completely accepted from either one. White audiences adored the films in which he was accompanied by Shirley Temple or Will Rogers, but his commercially successful roles were modeled on racist stereotypes, such as the genial black servant
-Leo G
Robinson's talent gave him a pass into to two similar worlds: white entertainment and black. Altough Robinson was never completely accepted from either one. White audiences adored the films in which he was accompanied by Shirley Temple or Will Rogers, but his commercially successful roles were modeled on racist stereotypes, such as the genial black servant
-Leo G
Adelaide Hall
A unheralded teenager, Adelaide Hall had appeared as just another dancer in the chorus line for the musical Shuffle Along. Suddenly 7 years later, her role in the Broadway revue Blackbirds of 1928 (the most famous of the series of Blackbirds revues mounted during the 1920s and 30s) brought her international fame.
Hall as the newcomer performed alongside a legend, tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson which attracted international media attention. It also launched the song "I Can't Give You Anything But Love"just one of the many loved tunes that the public would come to associate with Adelaide Hall.
-Leo G.
Hall as the newcomer performed alongside a legend, tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson which attracted international media attention. It also launched the song "I Can't Give You Anything But Love"just one of the many loved tunes that the public would come to associate with Adelaide Hall.
-Leo G.
Zora Neale Hurston
Born in Eatonville, Florida, Hurston moved to Harlem in 1925. Hurston's writing explores the courageous struggles of African Americans living in the savage South in the early 1800s. It brings to life the dialects and customs of region.
Her first novel, Jonah's Gourd Vine began set in a small, all-black Florida town and was published to obtain critical success in 1934. Her later novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), describes an independent black woman's search for self-fulfillment but becomes restrained in different ways.
Nearing the end of her life, this successful novelist who became part of the foundation of the Harlem Renaissance was forced to support herself as a maid. But unlike any other throughout her time thick or thin; she never blamed events on the color of her skin. In her 1928 essay "How It Feels to Be Colored Me," Hurston wrote: "I have seen that the world is to the strong regardless of a little pigmentation more or less. No, I do not weep at the world...I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife."
-Leo G.
Her first novel, Jonah's Gourd Vine began set in a small, all-black Florida town and was published to obtain critical success in 1934. Her later novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), describes an independent black woman's search for self-fulfillment but becomes restrained in different ways.
Nearing the end of her life, this successful novelist who became part of the foundation of the Harlem Renaissance was forced to support herself as a maid. But unlike any other throughout her time thick or thin; she never blamed events on the color of her skin. In her 1928 essay "How It Feels to Be Colored Me," Hurston wrote: "I have seen that the world is to the strong regardless of a little pigmentation more or less. No, I do not weep at the world...I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife."
-Leo G.
Alain Locke
The first African American to win a Rhodes Island scholarship, later became a philosophy professor at Howard University in Washington(D.C.). Without his backing, many black artists of the 1920s and 1930s might never have achieved the pillar of success they did. Locke believed that Black art and literature, should not come from the standards dictated by whites; instead, they should come from the reflection of African American life realistically and without outlook.
Locke continued to serve as a "philosophical midwife" (his term) to black artists throughout his life. Not only did he put struggling black talents in touch with one another, he also introduced Hurston, Hughes, Douglas, and many others to wealthy patron Charlotte Mason, who provided generous financial support of the African-American arts. And as an adviser to the Harmon Foundation, Locke coaxed that organization to subsidize African-American artists.
Locke's belief that black dramatists, artists, and writers should look for their African heritage,specifically folklore, spirituals, jazz, and African sculpture as sources of inspiration. Locke found Hurston, an artist whose roots reached deep into the folk heritage. Locke had published Hurston's first short story, "John Redding Goes to Sea," in The Stylus, Howard University's student literary magazine. He also lauded her talents to Charles S. Johnson, who urged Hurston to come to Harlem New York. Alain Locke is engraved in the roots of the Harlem renaissance.
-Leo G.
Locke continued to serve as a "philosophical midwife" (his term) to black artists throughout his life. Not only did he put struggling black talents in touch with one another, he also introduced Hurston, Hughes, Douglas, and many others to wealthy patron Charlotte Mason, who provided generous financial support of the African-American arts. And as an adviser to the Harmon Foundation, Locke coaxed that organization to subsidize African-American artists.
Locke's belief that black dramatists, artists, and writers should look for their African heritage,specifically folklore, spirituals, jazz, and African sculpture as sources of inspiration. Locke found Hurston, an artist whose roots reached deep into the folk heritage. Locke had published Hurston's first short story, "John Redding Goes to Sea," in The Stylus, Howard University's student literary magazine. He also lauded her talents to Charles S. Johnson, who urged Hurston to come to Harlem New York. Alain Locke is engraved in the roots of the Harlem renaissance.
-Leo G.