Black Caribbeans in the Harlem Renaissance
February is Black History Month in the United States and a huge focus of this month in high school and college classrooms is the Harlem Renaissance. Did you know that a significant number of influential people within this movement had Afro-Caribbean roots? For an overview, JSTOR has an article entitled, “Black Caribbeans in the Harlem Renaissance.” Below you will find some highlighted individuals.
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Gladys Bentley, an unapologetically queer blues artist of Trinidadian descent
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Claude McKay, Jamaican-American author and poet
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Arturo Schomburg, Puerto Rican writer, activist, and historian
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Wilfred A. Domingo, Jamaican activist and journalist
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Hermina Huiswoud, Guyanese activist and revolutionary
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Otto Huiswoud, Surinamese activist and revolutionary (husband of Hermina)
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Maymie de Mena, UNIA organizer of Martiniquan and French Guianese descent