The exhibition includes fifty-four photographs, which are incorporated into the display while also organizing the exhibition thematically. The movement brought notice to the great works of African American art, and inspired and influenced future generations of African American artists and intellectuals. In response, these artists created an image of America that recognizes individuals and community and acknowledges the role of art in celebrating the multivalent nature of American society. What united these diverse art forms was their realistic presentation of what it meant to be black in America, what writer Langston Hughes called an “expression of our individual dark-skinned selves,” as well as a new militancy in asserting their civil and political rights. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Cyril Briggs, and Walter Francis White; electrifying performers Josephine Baker and Paul Robeson; writers and poets Zora Neale Hurston, Effie Lee Newsome, Countee Cullen; visual artists Aaron Douglas and Augusta Savage; and an extraordinary list of legendary musicians, including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Eubie Blake, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Ivie Anderson, Josephine Baker, Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton, and countless others. 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Unrest in America has always been a troubling issue, and the ongoing turmoil precipitated by the Black Lives Matter movement has been a major concern — and it has also prompted many to compare it to the demonstrations and protests of ’60s and the Civil Rights Movement. Of course, they have many things in common, but they have to be examined separately for their origins and outcomes, and Black Lives Matter (BLM) is still a work in progress. Josephine Baker, Stanislaus Julian Walery, 1926, Gelatin silver print, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Early in the 20th century, many of Harlem’s theaters and shops including the Apollo Theater were all-white venues. Among the Renaissance’s most significant contributors were intellectuals W.E.B. Systemic racism is a continuing plague in American life, and it can be seen as the motivation for the marches and rallies mobilized by BLM, just as it motivated thousands of people to take to the streets in the past. Alain Locke, a Harvard-educated writer, critic, and teacher who became known as the “dean” of the Harlem Renaissance, described it as a “spiritual coming of age” in which African Americans transformed “social disillusionment to race pride.”. Randolph was a prominent leader in the American labor and socialist political parties who successfully organized the Brotherhood for Sleeping Car Porters in 1937. NPG.67.81, Collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Courtesy of Nell Winston ©The Louis Draper Archive, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift Charles A. Harris & Beatrice Harris ©Carnegie Museum of Art, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Museum of African American History and Culture, The Journey to Emancipation: the Germantown Protest, 1688. James Porter and Alma Thomas explore beauty in the natural world. Aside from the Urban Civil Rights Experience Museum, which will focus on the civil rights movement in the north, the new tower will also be home for … 1400 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20560, Get the latest information about timed passes and tips for planning your visit, Search the collection and explore our exhibitions, centers, and digital initiatives, Online resources for educators, students, and families, Engage with us and support the Museum from wherever you are, Learn more about the Museum and view recent news. The Civil Rights Movement was a very pivotal period in the history of the United States.Harlem had a significant role during the Civil Rights Movement, and on this tour you will walk the streets, visit the sites and learn about individuals who contributed to this cause in Harlem. White lawmakers on state and local levels passed strict racial segregation laws known as “Jim Crow laws” that made African Americans second-class citizens. At the height of the movement, Harlem was the epicenter of American culture. After the various marches and rallies — and particularly the unleashing of dogs in Birmingham and the savage attacks in Selma — many top leaders in the government took notice, expressing their alarm about the intensity of the beatings of peaceful protesters. Rep. John Lewis at BLM Plza in Washington, D.C. in 2020. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. In the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement, we gained the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, to mention a few positive developments. In Harlem, and across the country, African Americans organized and the Civil Rights Movement was born. All public programs are online only, on-site public tours and events are currently suspended. Between the end of World War I and the mid-1930s, they produced one of the most significant eras of cultural expression in the nation’s history—the Harlem Renaissance. All 100 artworks in the exhibition are drawn entirely from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s rich collection of African American art. That has certainly been the case in Portland, Ore., which has become an epicenter of hostility between protesters, police and sometimes federal agents. Another difference between then and now when it comes to the protests is the extent to which such prominent individuals and organizations as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, as well other civic groups and labor, galvanized the movement. These issues, back in the day, did not have the magnitude they have now but were on the agenda in the overall call for societal change. These artists embrace many universal themes and also evoke specific aspects of the African American experience—the African Diaspora, jazz, and the persistent power of religion. African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Art Bridges + Terra Foundation Initiative, Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture, Picturing the American Buffalo: George Catlin and Modern Native American Artists, Sculpture Down to Scale: Models for Public Art at Federal Buildings, 1974–1985, Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery, Using the Nam June Paik Archive - Access and Hours, Highlights from the Nam June Paik Archive, Online Resources for Researching Nam June Paik, Publication Requests for the Nam June Paik Archive. His brutal death roused the nation, but failed to spur a massive outcry of rage or violent confrontations with the police — and that may be a critical distinction. Object Number 2014.315ab. The artists work in styles as varied as documentary realism, abstraction, and postmodern assemblage of found objects to address a diverse array of subjects. Comparing the current surge of activism with the past may not be the best way to gather the fruit of today’s outrage. The neighborhood bustled with African American-owned and run publishing houses and newspapers, music companies, playhouses, nightclubs, and cabarets. African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond presents a selection of paintings, sculpture, prints, and photographs by forty-three black artists who explored the African American experience from the Harlem Renaissance through the Civil Rights era and the decades beyond, which saw tremendous social and political changes. King advocated for integration and equality, while Malcolm X promoted Black Nationalism. Based upon "Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement," what was the difference between the political goals and strategies of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X? Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1945, he quickly became a lightning rod for controversy. Thus far, other than the founding members of BLM, the massive turnouts have not witnessed the emergence of any charismatic leader — no commanding figure to personify the demands. In doing so, it radically redefined how people of other races viewed African Americans and understood the African American experience.