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Harlem Renaissance  The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that started around the 1920’s. It was also known as the New Negro Movement which got its named from the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke. It was centered in Harlem, New York but it influences many other black people around the world. This became mainstream when the big migration of African American people took place. This was also a period where many African Americans had an influence on politics, literature, music, culture and society.  Music and poetry played a big part in the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Stride style was created during the Harlem Renaissance and it was the new way to play the piano. The basic jazz bands were made up of mostly bass instrument and were considered a symbol for the south, and the piano became the symbol for the wealthy blacks. Some of the big time jazz players were Fats Walker, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, and Willie “The Lion” Smith. They basically laid the foundation for the jazz genre for future jazz musicians. During this time, many whites started to like the music style of blacks. Some of the composers started to use African American poems in their songs. Roland Hayes was the first black male artist to gain wide recognition as a concert artist.  Claude McKay, in the 1920’s, was the first African American author to achieve national acclaim with a reputable publisher with his book of poetry “Harlem Shadows.” Langston Hughes was also a very famous poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest inventors of the new literary art form of jazz poetry. Hughes signature poem which was posted in a magazine called The Crisis was “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” It was collected in his later book of poetry called “The Weary Blues.” In 1926, Carl Van Vechten, who is a white novelist, published a book on Harlem life called “Nigger Heaven” that offended many black people. Although it was offensive it influenced a wider interest in black literature among black and whites.