How did the Harlem Renaissance get its name and Where did the term come from?

Renaissance means “rebirth.”

In the 1920s, black artists flocked to Harlem, a section of New York City that also attracted immigrants from Barbados, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and other Caribbean countries.

Harlem was a black city within a city: exciting, modern, with many nationalities, languages, and cultures. It attracted young black artists and intellectuals from all over the United States and foreign countries.

There they worked among their people and tried to represent their race accurately in all art forms. They stunned and dazzled white and black audiences and critics alike with their work.

They took the pain and suffering of a whole race and turned it into art. Harlem was considered the center of the renaissance.