User:Ckaraluch/Harlem Writers Guild

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Originally established as the Harlem Writer's Club in 1950 by John Oliver Killens, Rosa Guy, John Henrik Clarke, Willard Moore and Walter Christmas. The Harlem Writer's Guild is an organization of African-American writers that seeks to give them a platform to present their art in its entirety without censoring their experience of being Black in the United States of America. In addition to publishing works, the Harlem Writer's Guild also acts as an organization to promote social change and an entity that hosts events to celebrate and promote their members.

History
The Harlem Writer's Guild was originally established as the Harlem Writer's Club in 1950 by John Oliver Killens, Rosa Guy, John Henrik Clarke, Willard Moore and Walter Christmas, the name was changed to Harlem Writer's Guild in 1952. The Harlem Writer's Guild was created to be a platform for African-American writers to present their writing without censoring their experiences of being Black in the United States of America.

In the 1950s, John Oliver Killens had invited several aspiring African American writers to meet at a shop in Harlem in order to hear and review one another's literature. The Harlem Writers Guild thus began expanding with new authors writing and publishing work emphasizing on items such as racism, oppression, and welfare. The Harlem Writers Guild was a tool that was used by African American authors of its presence to uniquely divide their literary work against mainstream literature that neglected Black literature.

Emphasizing on expanding their literary works as well as creating a space for advantageous advertisement of their work, the Harlem Writers Guild used their social circle and their academic voice towards social change. During the 1960s, the group supported Malcolm X, conflicts of independent rights in Angola and Mozambique and organized to dismantle racist policies established in South Africa. The group used their connections to communicate about marches, Freedom Rides, and other progressive organizations.

Events
On March 12th, 1972, the Harlem Writer's Guild hosted a party in celebration of Chester Himes' autobiography "The Quality of Hurt."