The Harlem Renaissance first occurred during the 1916’s through the 1920’s in Harlem, New York. When African Americans were not able to express themselves as well as not having meaning anything to society they looked to Harlem as a new beginning to a new and better life. The Harlem renaissance was a when the African Americans moved to the north and bought along with them their literary and culture movement. Langston Hughes was one of the most influential voices of the Harlem renaissance. He started writing poetry when he was in 7th grade. Some of his inspirations were Paul Dunbar and Carl Sandburg. Before he went to school he was a busboy poet in order to pay for his dues. Langston Hughes attended Colombia University and later attended Lincoln University publishing his first book. In his poems he would celebrate the nightlife of the Americans and their everyday life’s. He would use direct language and a dialect of blues and jazz that gave off a deeper meaning. Zora Neale Hurston was one leading novelists of the 1930’s. She gathered years of tuition for Harvard university and published her first story in 1921. She was the first African American to graduate from Barnard College. The hilarious stories she collected became material for her fiction. She spoke in dialect and used the words that African American used in her story. The use of her humor went under fire by those who felt she minimized seriousness of racial prejudice. Cab Calloway was one of jazz most distinctive and popular personalities. Famously known for his preforming style and leading one of the most highly regarded bands. He was born on Christmas day in 1907 in Rochester, New York but raised in Baltimore, Maryland. In his days before fame in Baltimore he would sing in the melody boy’s quartet. In 1929 Calloway was invited at the cotton club to fill in for Duke Ellington and became an instant hit. A