why is the Harlem renaissance so important for blacks?

Answer 1

Because it is an open and clear manifestation of what kinds and level of art and literature African-Americans can produce. It might not be such a big deal today when hundreds of African-Americans have made it in music, movies, t.v. and sports, but in the 1920s in the era of Jim Crow, this was the first flowering of the arts for African-Americans, the first time they really produced abundant materials, arts, and music.

Answer 2

It provided an opportunity for blacks to express their racial pride through the arts. Langston Hughes (poetry, literature), Duke Ellington (music), just a couple examples.