The entrepreneur and the artist are both targeting, as Locke says, a “nascent” identity and community of people that thirsts for something to call their own in a country that has told them what they should be. By the nature of the country’s elimination of a documented past or culture, every aspect of both groups was original, having no precedence. This was a monumental creation of a community as a whole, requiring staples of any society, art, language, faith, economy, social norms, etc. The new independence found in Harlem allowed the artists to be more authentic than white artists because they had no previous foundation to build upon or reference. The economic freedom of Chicago allowed Black businesses and a Black middle class to thrive and circulate money through the Black community, allowing the community for the first time to sustain itself socially and financially.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Locke vs Baldwin
Baldwin’s New Negroes of Chicago are most notably members of the community that by living changed the community or embodied the new creation of self that is the New Negro while Locke’s New Negroes that explicitly tried to create a new identity for Black people through writings. All the Chicago entrepreneurs knew the way America worked during the 1920s and 1930s and were aware of the inherent racism they would face in their endeavors. There are those like Thomas Dorsey that by profession, he was a church speech coach and choir leader, created art that was an embodiment of Black life that we now interpret as they New Negro identity. He exemplified the developing Black church that changed the culture and had a significant difference from white establishments of the same purpose, capitalizing on the new Black audience and congregation to make a living. He did not intend to create this New Negro identity. The artists of Locke’s work may write about their church experience or scribe poetry about their relationship with the lord to express the new sense of self that they get from the Black church.
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It is interesting to think that Baldwin and Locke's narratives seem to have conflicting ideas of the New Negro, yet one cannot function without the other. Though Baldwin is discussing the importance of entrepreneurship, their self-expression in that type of profession since whatever you choose to be a part of that job is your own way of expressing yourself. This is similar to Locke's view since the New Negro is going to express themselves maybe through a type of art, but this is a talent that cannot be taken away from the individual and surely it is their own gift in which they do not work for someone besides themselves. But I do not think that the goal was to create this new identity, but what made it so wonderful, is the fact that it was not something planned, but it is narrative that simply appeared. But it takes people like Thomas Dorsey to have a vision and just be passionate in what they are doing and not thinking so much about titles or consequences. This is what I feel contributes to the birth of the New Negro identity since leaders like Thomas Dorsey are not looking for anything, they are just being themselves.
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