Negro Expression

What does Zora Neal Hurston identify as the "Characteristics of Negro Expression?" In 1933, Zora Neil Hurston wrote "Characteristics of Negro Expression" to frame the Negro or African-American as she saw him. She saw the results of the Great Migration as terrifying and spasmodic, unbearably inhumane and devastating to those left behind. For Hurston, rural black people were being forgotten; disappearing amidst the heady enthusiasm of the urban New Negro Movement. In Hurston's essay she describes …

…to be original in every form of art. She provides her readers with a true representation of the social characteristics of the African-American culture in the South. Hurston directly puts them in the open for all to critique. Hurston's essay gives the reader a clear picture of African-Americans living in the South during the Harlem Renaissance, as well as, their forgotten identity and connects their traits neatly to many African art genres we see today.