Great Migration of African Americans
Poets involved
What happened
Around six million African Americans left the rural southern United States for cities in the North, Midwest and West. They sought industrial employment and escape from racial terror, disenfranchisement and segregation. New communities in Chicago, Detroit, New York and elsewhere transformed American urban culture.
Literary impact
The migration helped create the Harlem Renaissance and reshaped modern American poetry. Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Sterling Brown and Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about movement, crowded cities, racism and the search for freer lives.
Source: Wikipedia
