The Harlem Renaissance was an explosion of cultural, social, and artistic expression by African Americans in the 1920s. The era began in the Harlem district of New York City, fueled by the Great Migration, a period in the early 20th century when many Black Americans fled north—to escape racism and oppression in the South and to pursue better job opportunities or creative exploits. The increase in migration occurred just after the Red Summer of 1919, following World War I, which was an outbreak of racial violence orchestrated by whites, including massacres, lynchings, and arson. Following the Great Migration, Harlem became the hub of a thriving Black arts scene, ushering in the cultural production of the Jazz Age during what would become known as the Roaring Twenties.

Through music, art, literature, and other creative avenues, the Black artists of the Harlem Renaissance emphasized the importance of freedom—whether political, economic, social, or artistic. Contributing to this ethos were the experiences of Black soldiers in World War I (1914-1918); after being treated much more equally by white Europeans, they returned to the United States with a reinvigorated demand for civil rights. The Harlem Renaissance ended with the Great Depression of the early 1930s.