Hello my lovely readers!
Well this book took me literally, TWO MONTHS to read....but I finished it! As you already know, I love the Harlem Renaissance. I love all of the work that came out of it, it's players, it's supporters...if there's anything that's tied to the Harlem Renaissance, sign me up!
When I saw this book at The Strand in New York City, I HAD to get it. I had already read The New Negro before I got this book. I wasn't too thrilled with the book, but I think I'm going to read it again now that I'm older and just finished this biography. Let's get into it!
SUMMARY
A tiny, well-dressed, Black Victorian from Philadelphia would go on to be the "father" of the Harlem Renaissance, mentoring a generation of young artists, including Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. He called them the "New Negro"--the creative African Americans whose art, literature, music, and drama would inspire Black people to greatness.
In The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke by Jeffrey C. Stewart, Stewart offers the definitive biography of Locke from his childhood, to becoming the first African American Rhodes Scholar and earning a PhD in philosophy at Harvard University to his long career as a professor at Howard University.
We learn about his promotion of the literary and artistic work of African Americans as the quintessential creations of American modernism as well as his private life, especially his lifelong search for love as a closeted homosexual man in the 1920s.
Stewart's thought-provoking biography recreates the worlds of this illustrious, enigmatic man who, in promoting the cultural heritage of Black people, became -- in the process -- a New Negro himself.
MY THOUGHTSWell this book took me literally, TWO MONTHS to read....but I finished it! As you already know, I love the Harlem Renaissance. I love all of the work that came out of it, it's players, it's supporters...if there's anything that's tied to the Harlem Renaissance, sign me up!
When I saw this book at The Strand in New York City, I HAD to get it. I had already read The New Negro before I got this book. I wasn't too thrilled with the book, but I think I'm going to read it again now that I'm older and just finished this biography. Let's get into it!
SUMMARY
A tiny, well-dressed, Black Victorian from Philadelphia would go on to be the "father" of the Harlem Renaissance, mentoring a generation of young artists, including Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. He called them the "New Negro"--the creative African Americans whose art, literature, music, and drama would inspire Black people to greatness.
In The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke by Jeffrey C. Stewart, Stewart offers the definitive biography of Locke from his childhood, to becoming the first African American Rhodes Scholar and earning a PhD in philosophy at Harvard University to his long career as a professor at Howard University.
We learn about his promotion of the literary and artistic work of African Americans as the quintessential creations of American modernism as well as his private life, especially his lifelong search for love as a closeted homosexual man in the 1920s.
Stewart's thought-provoking biography recreates the worlds of this illustrious, enigmatic man who, in promoting the cultural heritage of Black people, became -- in the process -- a New Negro himself.
This was an absolute EXHAUSTIVE biography of Alain Locke.
Jeffrey C. Stewart really put his foot in this book. There were some parts that were repetitive because it is a 800+ page biography, but it was a really detailed read.
As for Alain Locke? Blech. I really didn't know much about him going into this biography, but goodness, this man came off as an elitist snob with a predilection for teenage boys.
He did great things to advance the race, but I did not care for this man. I will still keep this book on my shelf though as part of my Harlem Renaissance collection.
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