New Negro

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 "e;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."e; 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.