During the Harlem Renaissance a new feeling of racial pride emerged in the Black Intelligencia. The Black Intelligencia consisted of African-American writers, poets, philosophers, historians, and artists whose expertise conveyed five central themes according to Sterling Brown, a writer of that time: “1) Africa as a source of race pride, 2) Black American heroes 3) racial political propaganda, 4) the “Black folk” tradition, and 5) candid self-revelation.” Two of the main people responsible for this new consciousness were W.E.B. Du Bois and Alain Locke. Du Bois laid a foundation for this dawn of racial pride in his essays. Locke took Du Bois’ initial idea one step further with his writings and aiding younger writers and artists that appeared during the Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes was one of the writers that Locke mentored. Hughes was a devote believer of exhibiting pride in the Black race; this theme was often exhibited in his writing. These three men have each contributed and advanced the sentiment of racial pride in their own unique way during the Harlem Renaissance.
In order to fully understand the contributions of W.E.B. Du Bois, Alain Locke, and Langston Hughes it is imperative to know their backgrounds. W
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Hughes returned in 1925 and enrolled at Lincoln University. Locke agreed with Du Bois’ ideas about education and racial pride and reapplied them to African-American artists in his book The New Negro. These writers spoke about the grim realities of racism and poverty that Black people faced daily and encouraged their audiences to take pride and empower themselves. These thoughts were understandable considering that these middle-to-upper class parents instilled these beliefs in these children since birth; Hughes writes, “…this urge within the race toward whiteness, the desire as much American as possible. Crossing the Danger Water: Three Hundred Years of African-
American Writing. ” This ‘new Negro’ was educated and communicated the idea of race pride and high self-esteem through their art. They had two children together: a son named Burghardt Gomer, who died when he was two years old, and a daughter, NinaYolande. He did not want this realization to come from faults of other races: “We wish our race pride to be a healthier, more positive achievement than a feeling based upon a realization of the shortcomings of others. He edited a number of volumes including Four Negro Poets (1927), Plays of Negro Life (1927), Negro Art: Past and Present (1936), and The Negro and His Music (1936).
Approximate Word count =
2642
Approximate Pages =
11 (250 words per page double spaced)
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