<P> Other aspects of African - American oral tradition include the dozens, signifying, trash talk, rhyming, semantic inversion and word play, many of which have found their way into mainstream American popular culture and become international phenomena . </P> <P> Spoken word artistry is another example of how the African - American oral tradition has influenced modern popular culture . Spoken word artists employ the same techniques as African - American preachers including movement, rhythm, and audience participation . Rap music from the 1980s and beyond has been seen as an extension of oral culture . </P> <P> The first major public recognition of African - American culture occurred during the Harlem Renaissance pioneered by Alain Locke . In the 1920s and 1930s, African - American music, literature, and art gained wide notice . Authors such as Zora Neale Hurston and Nella Larsen and poets such as Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Countee Cullen wrote works describing the African - American experience . Jazz, swing, blues and other musical forms entered American popular music . African - American artists such as William H. Johnson and Palmer Hayden created unique works of art featuring African Americans . </P> <P> The Harlem Renaissance was also a time of increased political involvement for African Americans . Among the notable African - American political movements founded in the early 20th century are the United Negro Improvement Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People . The Nation of Islam, a notable quasi-Islamic religious movement, also began in the early 1930s . </P>

What was the term given to the period when african american culture became popular