Whereas the Harlem Renaissance radically redefined the Black experience and continues to influence future generations of artists, writers, and intellectuals, creating indelible impacts on culture in the United States and the world; Whereas approximately 6,000,000 Black people moved from the American South to Northern, Midwestern, and Western States between the 1910s until the 1970s, a population shift which we know today as The Great Migration , one of the largest movements of people in United States history seeking to escape the radically racist system of Jim Crow segregation policies; Whereas the Great Migration of Blacks from the Southern States and the arrival of African diasporans notably from the Caribbean and Latin America seeking economic opportunities, better housing and education, and social justice and civil rights also served the World War I efforts as patriotic Americans despite segregation and systemic racial discrimination in the Army; Whereas the most celebrated African-American regiment in World War I, the 369th Infantry Regiment, the Harlem Hellfighters (Black Rattlers), mostly New Yorkers (Blacks and Latinos) and residents of Harlem, entered the battlefields on October 15, 1918, fought bravely in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive alongside the French troops, and were awarded the highest honor by the French Government, the Croix de Guerre; Whereas the 369th Infantry Regiment, the Harlem Hellfighters, fought with bravery in battle, under the leadership of Lieutenant James Reese Europe, the 369th Regiment military band also became known for its ragtime music and is credited for introducing American jazz to Europe; Whereas its triumphant return to the United States and parade which drew thousands on February 17, 1919, is considered the start of the Harlem Renaissance era; Whereas Harlem in New York City was one of the most popular destinations for these families, a formerly all-White neighborhood that by the 1920s became home to some 200,000–500,000 African Americans