The Harlem Renaissance was an arts movement of the early 20th century that sought to challenge and reconceptualize white stereotypes of African Americans that had influenced Black peoplesā relationship to their heritage and to each other. The artists and intellectuals of the movement also sought to break free of Victorian moral values and bourgeois shame about aspects of their lives that might, as seen by white people, reinforce racist beliefs. The renaissance was not dominated by a particular school of thought but rather characterized by intense debate. It laid the groundwork for all later African American literature and had an enormous impact on subsequent Black literature and consciousness worldwide.
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