When President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation of proclamation in 1863, it brought with it the hopes of freedom, and rights for the numerous suffering at the whims and mercy of the white Americans. Although it banned slavery, it had barely touched upon the greater meaning of freedom. The face of a black man still garnered resentment and lack of humanity in the minds of many white Americans as they sought to dehumanize the African Americans. The lives of many people of color were far from suitable in the American South, despite housing ninety percent of the African American population. The lack of rights and an overwhelming slew of violent incidents drove many African Americans from their homes and sent them clamoring for a glimpse of freedom in the north.
Between 1910 and 1930, the black population of New York City experienced a significant boom as the pollution grew from around 91,000 to and overwhelming 327,000, making NYC the world’s largest black urban center. For the many black southerners searching for a new life without racial discrimination and poverty, Harlem became the epicenter of opportunity. It garnered the attention of many immigrants of color, seeking opportunities and a new chance at life. As W.E.B Du Bois dubbed Harlem the gathering point for the “Talented Tenth,” a generation of educated, self-educated and fiercely ambitious black men and women bent on making a better life for themselves. Harlem boasted many writers, artists and performers who sought to rebrand the image of black Americans to a “New Negro,” an independent and proud set of people, willing to fight against racism. This resurgence of a new fervor against racial discrimination gave way to the creation of new associations such as Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and W.E.B Du Bois’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). While both Du Bois and Garvey sought to end racial discrimination and violence against African Americans, they held completely opposing views as to how they may bring about the needed change.
Marcus Garvey was a Jamaican printer who settled in Harlem in 1916 after living in South and Central America and London. He had dedicated his life to improving condition for the African Americans. His goal was to unite “all the Negro peoples of the world into one great body to establish a country and Government absolutely their own” (Jaffe 162). Being a compelling speaker, Garvey was able to establish the UNIA and in 1921, 121 of his key supporters signed a “Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World,” declaring their reclaiming of the continent of Africa and appointing Marcus Garvey the “Provisional President of Africa.” Garvey’s true vision of freedom was for every African American to go back to Africa and live without the rule of the white man. He demanded that African Americans should “‘give up the vain desire of having a seat in the White House’ in exchange for governing ‘a country of our own’” (Jaffe 163). In order to gain funds for such a mass exodus, the UNIA decided to create their own shipping fleet, the Black Star Line. According to Garvey, the fleet would carry passengers and cargo in order to attain funds necessary for the departure back to Africa. Additionally, Garvey had become convinced of the notion that the Republic of Liberia in West Africa would be ideal for his African homeland. As WWI ended near the closer of the 1920, many of Garvey’s followers eagerly awaited the exodus after getting laid off their jobs and being desperately in need for help. However, their wait turned into a permeant stay as Garvey lost sight of his goals amidst rising rumors challenging his leadership and his movement. In 1922, Garvey met with Edward Clarke, a leader of the KKK and declared that America “is a white man’s country” (Jaffe 171). This enraged many of his followers as they lost faith in Garvey’s passion for change. Many viewed him too willing to accept segregation and injustice. Further adding to his diminishing popularity with his followers, Garvey was convicted and imprisoned for mail fraud in 1925. Although Garvey’s image faded from the minds of many of his followers, his message still resonated in the minds of many such as Malcolm X and several Black Power militants who garnered attention in the 1960s and 70s.
The NAACP became the symbol for opposition for the UNIA, led by W.E.B Du Bois, The NAACP’s publicity and research director, considered to the nation’s leading black intellectual. While Garvey had preached for separation from the white society and pushed for self-reliance, Du Bois urged African Americans to fight for the right that were due to them as citizens. Although NAACP consisted mostly of black Americans, it also boasted several white abolitionists and gained financial help from The American Fund for Public Service, established by a wealthy white leftist by the name of Charles Garland. The organization demanded very specific changes such as, “abolition of lunching… the Negro’s untrammeled right to the ballot… the abolishment of ‘Jim-Crow’ [railroad and street] cars; equal educational and industrial opportunities; and the abolition of all forms of enforced segregation” (Jaffe 168). Additionally, in contrast to Garvey’s agenda, NAACP used the legal system in order to get rid of racism. For example, in 1917, NAACP lawyers garnered a major victory as they gained the agreement of the US Supreme Court in the case of Buchanan v. Warley, establishing that that several laws across the country violated the 14th amendment by barring black people from buying property in supposedly white neighborhoods. In 1913, NYS passed a law to end racial discrimination in “all public resorts, places of amusement, and public accommodations.” While many businesses refused to abide by the law, the NAACP fought back with lawsuits, forcing businesses to obey the law and end racial discrimination. As the UNIA had sunk along with Garvey, the NAACP had become the hope for many people of color across the nation. The Fifth Avenue headquarters of the NAACP became the hub for many black activists as they garnered the force for lawsuits and legal defenses to fight racial injustice.
One of the biggest influences of change during the Harlem Renaissance was NAACP’s publication The Crisis, edited and led by W.E.B Du Bois. Du Bois was the first African American PhD from Harvard University and served as the editor for The Crisis for nearly 25 year, giving him the opportunity to create a movement to end racial discrimination and bring an end to lynching. In order to bolster the notion of white supremacy in the American South, lynching had become the normal way to instill fear in the hearts of the black community. As Nicholas Lampert stated, “The Tuskegee Institute estimated that 4,742 people were lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968” (122). This horrifically high number barely serves to scratch the surface of the numerous injustices committed against African Americans. Du Bois had sought to change the people’s acceptance and government’s willingness to turn a blind eye towards the inhumane crimes committed against African Americans. He stated, “From first to last I thought strongly, and I still think rightly, to make the opinion expressed in The Crisis a personal opinion” (Lampert 123). Du Bois established the publication as a platform for him to bring attention to the real issues and plight of African Americans.
While in 1910 the first issue sold 1,000 copies, in 1919, the circulation reached its peak at around 100,000 copies sold, garnering interest in the NAACP while bringing attention to the injustices plaguing the people of color. Du Bois used graphic images in order to help bring his point across. For example, he used a postcard with a photograph of lynch mob with a murdered African American, meant for inciting fear in the hearts of the black community, in order to bring to light the criminals and their horrific crimes. In defense of his aggressive and explicit message, he stated, “Can the nation otherwise awaken to the enormity of this beastly crime of crimes, this rape of law and decency?” (126). Readers of the publication were forced to think past the gruesome and aggressive nature of the photographs in order to move toward anger and collective action. Du Bois wanted to provoke the government into taking a serious action towards protecting all citizens, not on the whites. In 1916, Du Bois published an issue called “The Waco Horror” in response to the lynching of Jesse Washington, a seventeen- year- old mentally handicapped teenager who was killed in front of a crowd of 15,000 at City Hall Square in Waco, Texas. The issue outlines the horrific process of lynching as it contained seven images, chronologically leading the viewers through the graphically brutal murder of a young boy. The increasingly graphic nature of Du Bois’s issues in the publication garnered attention far and wide, awakening the nation towards the brutal murders of African Americans. In addition to his explicit and unapologetic issues in The Crisis, Du Bois had also started the tradition of unfurling of a black flag that read “a man was lynched yesterday” outside the NAACP offices’ window on Fifth Avenue. This forced the New York City public to accept the dire nature of racial injustices and the need for change.
In addition to abolitionist such as W.E.B Du Bois, many writers, poets and artists of different backgrounds used their platforms to preach the need to end racial discrimination. For example, Langston Hughes a black poet known for his colorful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties, wrote the poem “Christ In Alabama”. The poem brought attention to the senseless and needless murders of African Americans across the nation, simply based on the color of their skin. He juxtaposed blacks with Jesus as he claimed that blacks were being murdered the way Jesus was persecuted for simply being different. Additionally, the famous jazz star Billie Holiday sang the song “Strange Fruit” in order to bring attention senseless lynching of black in the American South. These artists differed from the normal way of bringing attention to important topics. However, the used their platforms and the tools they hand in order to play their part towards bringing a necessary change for the African Americans.
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