The Great Migration involved primarily African Americans who moved from the rural Southern United States to urban areas in the North, Midwest, and West, beginning around 1915 and continuing through the mid-20th century. This migration was driven by the desire to escape oppressive Jim Crow laws, racial violence, and economic hardship in the South, and to seek better job opportunities and living conditions in Northern cities like Chicago, Detroit, and New York. During this period, around six million Black Americans relocated to these urban centers, forming vibrant communities and significantly reshaping American social and cultural life. Key groups involved were African American families and individuals from Southern states such as Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Georgia. These migrants often found work in industrial jobs, including steel mills, meatpacking, and factories, as well as in service roles. The migration also included notable figures such as musicians, writers, and athletes who emerged from these vibrant communities. Meanwhile, Southern white elites and industrialists had mixed reactions, initially indifferent or positive but later increasingly concerned about labor shortages due to this population shift.
There is also a completely different concept called the Migration Period (Early Middle Ages) involving Germanic tribes like the Goths, Vandals, Franks, and Lombards migrating across Europe and contributing to the fall of the Western Roman Empire, but this is unrelated to the Great Migration of African Americans.
In summary, the Great Migration primarily involved African Americans fleeing the racial and economic conditions of the South to seek new opportunities in Northern and Midwestern urban centers of the U.S. from roughly 1915 to the 1970s.