Originally published in 1925, ‘The New Negro’ is an anthology by Alain Locke. Recognized as a foundational text of the Harlem Renaissance, the collection is organized around Locke’s writing on the function of art in reorganizing the conception of African American life and culture. Through self-understanding, creation, and independence, Locke’s work came to represent a break from an inhumane past, a means toward meaningful change for a people held down for far too long.
Identifying the representation of black Americans in the national imaginary as oppressive in nature, Locke suggests a way forward through his theory, who “wishes to be known for what he is, even in his faults and shortcomings, and scorns a craven and precarious survival at the price of seeming to be what he is not.” Throughout the book, leading artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance offer their unique visions of who and what they are; voicing their concerns, portraying injustice, and illuminating the black experience, they provide a holistic vision of self-expression in all of its colors and forms.
