Why did the Harlem renaissance happen and what was it?

The Harlem Renaissance was a blossoming of African American intellectual life in the 1920s and 1930s centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. The movement resulted in an explosion of African American art, music, and literature and included such names as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurtson, Jean Toomer, James Weldon Johnson, Aaron Douglas, Billie Holliday, and many, many others.

Two primary factors facilitated the Harlem Renaissance: the Great Migration and World War I. The Great Migration involved thousands of African Americans moving to northern cities and concentrating themselves in communities where they could support one another. After World War I, industrialization provided greater job opportunities and more prosperity to support cultural and artistic endeavors.