Harlem Renaissance Literary Movement 
Legacy
Influences
Key Authors
W.E.B. Du Bois' influential novel The Souls of Black Folk (1903)
Jazz
Purpose and Aspirations
Paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement
To redefine what it means to be black in America
To take pride in African American identity and not try to "be white"
To free themselves from white stereotypes
Defined the role of "New Negro"
Outspoken, artistically expressive, and advocate for individual rights; not soft-spoken and submissive like "Old Negro"
Defined by Alain Locke in New Negro: An Interpretation (1925)
Cultural traditions, rich in folk lore
Langston Hughes
Zora Neale Hurston
Jean Toomer
Cane (1923)
Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
Strong and independent African American female character, rich in folk lore
Realistically depicted the struggles of an African American living in America, provided African American voice in the Modernism movement
The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain (1926)
Advocated for African American artists to embrace their heritage in their art and combat the "urge within the race towards whiteness"