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Jazz, Dance and the Harlem Renaissance.

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Blacks in this country haven't always had the easiest time.

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In fact... we're going to go with... they've never had the easiest time.

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However, things are a lot better than they used to be...

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... and one of the things that has really helped to define the community culturally... is music.

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In the 1920's and 30's, they broke through with a new musical style that doesn't have

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quite so many negative connotations.

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We're talking about jazz.

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In fact, we're talking very excitedly about it.

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Guess you could say we're jazzed about jazz.

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The songs themselves, as well as the dances that arose from them...

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...have always been closely associated with black culture.

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Not all jazz musicians were black, but all of the early ones were.

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The genre was kick-started in New Orleans...

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...with all black musicians and audiences...

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...and the music was mostly improvisational.

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What set jazz apart from other musical styles of the period was its syncopated rhythm...

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...the blend of big brass instruments with traditional African music...

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...and the "scatting."

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Scatting is improvisational singing, where you're not necessarily singing real words.

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Something like this: <<DS scats poorly.>> Okay, this is why we leave scatting to the professionals.

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Of course, like just about everything in black history, jazz music was not without controversy.

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Various groups boycotted the music, and some created movements against it...

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...calling it "the devil's music."

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Obviously not true, although it can get hotter than H-E-double hockey sticks in New Orleans.

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When Prohibition started, speakeasies allowed for jazz to be played in places where it was

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otherwise banned.

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These speakeasies were basically bars where blacks and whites were allowed to mix and mingle.

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Pretty enlightened for establishments that were generally quite... poorly lit.

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While blacks were making headway in the South...

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...there was another cultural movement taking place up north in New York...

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the Harlem Renaissance.

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So... just imagine if Michelangelo and Da Vinci worked out of a studio on 126th Street.

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The Harlem Renaissance featured a major emphasis on both art and music.

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The Black Rights advocates of the time went to great lengths to circulate positive ideals

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and views of black Americans.

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They tried to show any doubters that African Americans

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could be just as creative as anyone else.

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This went a long way to accomplishing their goal.

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People like Bing Crosby... white... and Lena Horne... black...

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became famous during the Harlem Renaissance.

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Black literature and poetry from artists such as Langston Hughes were published in black

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journals and magazines...

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...and worked wonders at giving black culture its day in the sun.

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Of course, it wasn't all rainbows and ponies.

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All this new exposure and success for the black community

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angered and outraged some whites...

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...and people rioted and formed lynch mobs.

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A lynching, if you didn't know, is where they hang you from a tree.

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It wasn't an easy road to travel, but it was an important one.

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While the fight is a long way from over...

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... blacks have certainly opened the eyes... and ears...

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of many people who didn't always view them as equals.

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