The Black Arts Movement in Cleveland

Despite its history of black political and cultural production and the existence of such institutions as Karamu House, Free Lance, and Vibration, Cleveland never rose to the same level in the other Black Arts movement as other Midwestern cities.  This seems to be because much of the early scene was characterized by disunity and the inability to build independent Black Arts institutions.[1]  The institutions in Cleveland created prior to the 1960s did not suffice because of their integrated nature, this seems especially true for Karamu House and Free Lance.

Individuals and organizations based in Cleveland have been predecessors to those most identified with the Black Arts Movement.  Without individuals such as Langston Hughes and Charles Gilpin, and organizations such as Karamu House, Black self-consciousness in the performing arts would be drastically different.  Men such as Norman Jordan, Russell Atkins, and Donald Freeman would not have had as strong a social base for their writing without their predecessors.

[1] Smethurst, 221.