Historical+Overview

=Historical Overview=

After WWI black writers and poets began to focus heavily on the situations of blacks in America. They also wrote about the struggle for racial equality. In the early years of the 1920's, Claude McKay published his work of poetry. It was significant because it was the first work written by a black to be published by a mainstream publisher. Jean Toomer also published an interesting piece of literature. It was a mix of prose and poetry and was about the life and struggles of blacks in America. By this time, many harlem renaissance writers surfaced. The concept of a "Harlem Rennaisance" was later propagated by Survey Graphic and Carl Van Vechten's novel __**//Nigger Heaven//**__ which exposed the upper and lower class lifestyle in Harlem. The black renaissance had the impact of helping to create a black identity.

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