KyleOlani
"A Victorious Migration"
COLLECTION 3
introduction
The Great Migration was the movement of about six million African Americans from the rural south to the North between 1916 and 1970. At the beginning of the 20th century, 90 percent of black Americans lived in the South. By 1970 nearly half of all African Americans lived in Northern cities. Many African Americans in the South found themselves trapped with no hope of improvement in their circumstances. Jim Crow laws kept them in an inferior position relative to white people, and they were denied political rights. though racism was rampant IN THE NORTH, racial segregation was not mandated there. They embarked on the Great Migration, seeking economic and social opportunity.
The greater economic and educational opportunities led to an explosion of artistic expression in music and literature famously known as the Harlem Renaissance. The Renaissance was a turning point in Black cultural history. It helped African American writers and artists gain more control over the representation of Black culture and experience in the us. The Harlem Renaissance also laid the groundwork for all later African American literature, and it had an enormous impact on Black consciousness worldwide.
while experiencing this collection, i ask you to think of THE MOMENT IN HISTORY WE ARE IN TODAY. WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF ANOTHER RENAISSANCE AND ONCE YOU SEE IT, YOU CAN'T UNSEE IT. when the covid-19 pandemic first REACHED america, many creatives like myself were forced to go "underground" to craft new ideas and experiences based on our position in society. in my first collection, created IN 2020 during the heights of the pandemic, i alluded to many emotions i experienced including serenity, melancholy, revolt, hope and aspiration. i followed this in the spring of 2021 with my second collection TITLED: "unapologetically free", alluding to the idea that all people should strive for mental, physical, emotional and spiritual freedom.
consider this collection a continuation of my previous works and a prelude to a much larger movement I APSIRE TO SPARK. i ask you to view this with an open mind. experience with the intent of immersing yourself in this retrospective of the migration towards a new consciousness, a victorious one. without the great migration, african americans would not have been able to make as big of an impact AS they accomplished with the harlem renaissance. in this victorious migration, i ask that you view yourself, your history and your future with victory rather than subjugation and spark a new wave a consciousness in your communities. whether it be in business, media, sports, OR ART,
be the renaissance.