Black History in Two Minutes (or so)

Black History in Two Minutes (or so)


The Harlem Renaissance

January 31, 2020
Be Woke Presents Black History in Two Minutes (or so)

With a Jim Crow south alive and well, many black Americans migrated north. This migration resulted in the formation of a creative urban hub in Harlem, New York, and the Harlem Renaissance became a time where black Americans flourished creatively.


From writing to art, blues to jazz, a once suppressed black community greeted this newfound freedom by cultivating artistic expression in ways they were prohibited from doing before. Visionaries like Duke Ellington and Zora Neale Hurston thrived during this cultural revolution, and the Harlem Renaissance symbolized the power of the freed black mind in America.


In this episode of Black History in Two Minutes or So hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. — with additional commentary from Farah Griffin and Brent Hayes Edwards of Columbia University, and author and journalist Isabel Wilkerson — we look at a new generation of black people whose bold commitment to artistic expression will forever live on.


Black History in Two Minutes (or so) is a 4x Webby Award winning series.


If you haven’t already, please review us on Apple Podcasts! It’s a helpful way to for new listeners to discover what we are doing here: Podcast.Apple.com/Black-History-in-Two-Minutes/



Archival Materials Courtesy of:

Alamy Images

Everett Collection, Inc.

Getty Images


Executive Producers:

Robert F. Smith

Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Dyllan McGee

Deon Taylor


Produced by:

William Ventura

Romilla Karnick


Music By:

Oovra Music


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