Harlem Renaissance Influential Figures

Harlem Renaissance Influential Figures

LOUIS ARMSTRONG

• American trumpeter, composer, vocalist, and actor 

• among the most influential figures in jazz

• brought together many black and white audiences to watch him perform

Langston Hughes

• American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist

• Central figure in the Harlem Renaissance

• He sought to honestly portray the joys and hardships of working-class black lives

BESSIE SMITH

• American blues singer 

• Considered one of the best of her time

• Set the blue print for future female R&B singers

CLAUDE MCKAY

• AJamaican writer and poet, and was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance.

• literary voice for social justice

• He worked with the Universal Negro Improvement Association

Open Ended

What do you believe the meaning was behind this Claude McKay poem?