Harlem Renaissance in Denver

What is the Harlem Renaissance and when did this explosion of African American social, political, literary and artistic creativity occur? Known as the “New Negro Movement, the New Negro Renaissance, and the Negro Renaissance,” the Harlem Renaissance flourished during the 1920s and 1930s, but “had no clearly defined beginning or end.” ¹ As some have asserted, the term “New Negro Renaissance” more aptly described the “literary and artistic activity in African American communities throughout the United States” because many of its contributors lived and worked outside of Harlem. ² For instance, writer Anita Scott Coleman, born in Mexico and raised in New Mexico, was a major contributor to black publications but is little known today. Black writers, artists and activists in Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle, Helena, Phoenix, Denver, and many other communities sometimes still receive little recognition. By default, Harlem has become the symbolic location for the period.