The Harlem Renaissance, or New Negro Movement, is known chiefly for its achievements in literature and the visual arts, not for its political aspirations. Yet its creators sought highly political goals. Militant and race conscious, they believed that the movement could open up American society to a revaluation of African Americans and acceptance of them as equals. In what ways are the literature and art of the Harlem Renaissance political? How should we read them as political texts? To what extent can we say that the Harlem Renaissance was part of the civil rights movement?

Leader: Kenneth R. Janken, Professor of African and Afro-American Studies, Director of the Office of Experiential Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; National Humanities Center Fellow