The great migration of African Americans from the south was an act of defying the unsatisfactory and almost inhuman economic hardships and harsh segregation laws. The relocation was aimed to tap the industrial potential of the north. There were many jobs that paid better in the north and segregation was not legal in the north unlike in the south. Having moved to Chicago from southern Mexico, the reasons couldn’t be far compared to the African American of the great migration. My family had for a long time applied for a green card hoping to go to the greener pastures of America. Though it happened at different times, our immigration to the United States was partly similar to the reasons that caused the Great Migration. My family’s immigration was purely economic; we were trying to find a better life than we had back home.
Given the fact that most of the immigrants of the Great Migration had settled in Chicago made my assimilation to the American society easy. Chicago shared some common history that made integration of outsiders into the society easy. At the time of settling in Chicago, there was no racial segregation and people related to each other in cordial ways without caring whether one was new, black or white. The oneness of the society made my assimilation into American society easy.
The Negro movement later known as the Harlem Renaissance that developed during the Great Migration gave freedom to immigrants like me. The movement had an enormous cultural impact; it collectively urged the blacks to fight for their rights and end segregation. It is as a result of the movement’s activities that the Great Migrants found shelter the same way I did. It is also because of the movement that I live in an environment free of racial discrimination and prejudice