Friday, March 6, 2009
Alain Locke on The New Negro
In The New Negro, Alain Locke stresses the importance of African American attitudes and self-expression. He states that the day of “aunties”, “uncles”, and “mammies” is gone. Locke means that the Negro is no longer just Southern. Locke wants to alleviate the Southern stereotypes that bound blacks to the notion of slavery. He also talks of the liberation of the Harlem Renaissance: a time of cultural expression and the establishment of African American values. Locke notes that Manhattan has been a place for blacks to dissolve African stereotypes and find different members of their own race, with whom they can interact with and strengthen their community. Before blacks were bound together as a race solely by a “common condition” (slavery), but now since there is a great mixture of African Americans in Manhattan, they can find unity and be bound by “sentiment and experience”.
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The days of the submissive, ashamed, head-down, subservient, etc, Negro is over.
ReplyDeleteLiz
ReplyDeleteI liked the way that you incorporated the use of community in with the New Negro. I also liked the way that the stated that all New Negros could come to together. Well done.
Love the concluding sentence. Also, this is short and to the point. Each sentence is information, not just add ons to make it longer. Impressive!
ReplyDelete"Locke wants to alleviate the Southern stereotypes that bound blacks to the notion of slavery." I really like this statement. I agree that Locke was trying to promote the New Negro, far from the days of servitude and imprisonment.
ReplyDeleteI like how you included Locke's fight against stereotypes. No one else has mentioned that in their answers that I've seen so far. It is very true. And although your answer is quite short, I'd agree it is one of the best out of the ones I have seen, because it hits the point head on. You gave a direct answer and supported it with facts. Good job!
ReplyDeleteTrue Locke wants the stereotypes to be erased but he is mainly pushing that the Negro is not a submissive sub-citizen anymore.
ReplyDeleteVery well written explanation. I can tell that you really read the excerpt and understood the meaning of Locke's message. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteShort but manages to capture everything that was embedded in Locke's message. I like the wording, good work!
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