The New Negro according to Locke and Baldwin

Both Alain Locke and Davarian Baldwin's conceptualizations of the New Negro share the same basic themes, despite both scholars looking to different sections of the Black community as those who embody the New Negro spirit and ideology. Alain and Locke both viewed the cultural revolution taking place within the Black community as one of activism and self-determination, a movement that that was fueled entirely by African-Americans and helped to define a unique Black cultural and social identity as a source of pride among the Black community. The single biggest key in both their interpretations is that African-Americans were now actively controlling their own destiny and acting on their own, rather than being acted upon by the white hegemonic institutions of control.

However, the two differ in their emphasis on who in the Black community was leading this cultural revolution. On one hand, Locke had seen the Black intellectual and artistic community as the ones who would uplift the African-American race through their art and intellectual endeavors. Locke believed that poetry, music, art and other creative mediums would be the keys to bringing about respect and credibility to downtrodden Black communities.

In contrast, Baldwin saw Black entrepreneurs and businessmen as those who would be the ones to foster this revolutions. He believed in the consumer marketplace that was blossoming within Black Chicago as a source of empowerment. Baldwin argued that Locke's emphasis on artists and intellectuals ignored that contributions of the common man and woman and the contributions they make to Black culture and thought, and that the Black businessmen, entrepreneurs and workers are the ones fueling the awakening of Black self-conciousness that was occurring at that time.

Despite the differences, the spirit of both Baldwin and Locke's New Negro remain the same. Baldwin's entrepreneurial and Locke's intellectual New Negro were both actively defying white institutions of control and social oppression and developing a sense of pride among the Black community.