First National Negro Business League Convention Post-WWI
Poet involved
What happened
The National Negro Business League, founded by Booker T. Washington in 1900, held its annual convention in 1919 in a moment of heightened significance after the mass participation of Black Americans in the First World War. Delegates advocated economic self-determination as a foundation for civil rights, arguing that financial independence was inseparable from dignity and freedom. The League's message echoed through the literature of the Harlem Renaissance, where economic themes ran alongside artistic ones.
Literary impact
The First National Negro Business League Convention in 1919 reinforced themes of economic empowerment and self-reliance in African American poetry. Poets like Langston Hughes began to explore these themes in their works, reflecting the aspirations of the community.
Source: Wikipedia
