Background
During his childhood in the 1910s, author William Attaway traveled with his family from the segregated south of Mississippi to the northern city of Chicago, Illinois; in doing so his family became part of what would be known as the Great Migration. From 1910 to 1930, approximately six million African Americans moved from the rural southern United States to the industrialized north. The northern states of Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, New York and Michigan received the majority of the migrating African Americans. Factors motivating blacks to migrate north included the plentiful job opportunities in Northern industry, and the desire to escape the harsh racial climate of the south. As a result, neighborhoods in Northern cities saw drastic changes in population and an increase in issues concerning housing. Many cultural movements were spawned due to the large influx in black populations in the North, including the Harlem Renaissance and the spread of jazz music.
Read more about this topic: Blood On The Forge
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