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The Harlem Renaissance : The New Negro

The Harlem Renaissance was a transformative period of African American cultural, artistic, and intellectual expression that flourished during the 1920s and 1930s.

The New Negro

A defining concept of Harlem Renaissance era was the New Negro, a term that implied a more outspoken advocacy for dignity and a refusal to submit quietly to the systemic oppression of Jim Crow laws. Popularized by Alain LeRoy Locke in his 1925 anthology The New Negro, this idea represented a break from past narratives of Black subjugation. 

Locke described this transformation, writing, “The Old Negro had long become more of a myth than a man. The New Negro, at least in the form of the thinking and the speaking minority, is refusing to be sobered into submission.” This shift in consciousness emphasized self-expression, artistic excellence, and cultural empowerment.

This intellectual and artistic resurgence was fueled by the Great Migration, as Black Americans left the racially oppressive South for greater opportunities in northern and midwestern cities. While Harlem was the movement’s epicenter, its influence extended beyond the United States, inspiring francophone Black writers from Africa and the Caribbean, particularly those based in Paris.

Rise of the New Negro: Identity and Resistance After the Red Summer | Great Migrations

In this clip from PBS's Great Migrations, hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., explore the emergence of the "New Negro" identity following the racial violence of the Red Summer. The concept, popularized by philosopher Alain Locke in his 1925 anthology, represented a new cultural, social, and political identity defined by self-determination, resistance, and pride. This identity was shaped by young Black individuals determined to assert their dignity and redefine their place in society. With each wave of migration from the rural South to urban centers, the "New Negro" became a symbol of a broader movement—a deliberate shift from the constraints of the past to the possibilities of modern America.

The New Negro | Episode 1 | Harlem Is Everywhere

What was the Harlem Renaissance? During the Great Migration, major cities across America proved fertile ground for artists and intellectuals fleeing the Jim Crow South. In this episode we hear about Alain Locke’s famous anthology The New Negro: An Interpretation, which gathered some of the best of fiction, poetry, and essays on the art and literature emerging from these communities. Locke’s anthology demonstrated the diverse approaches to portraying modern Black life that came to characterize the “New Negro”—and embodied some of the highest ideals of the era.