Alain LeRoy Locke (1886 - 1954)

Names Index:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| Authors Index | Scholars Index |

Alain Locke and Philosophy by Johnny Washington

Washington provides the first systematic critical look at the life and work of Alain Locke, an important American philosopher, in the context of a thoroughgoing analysis of the values, ideals, aspirations, and problems of the Black community. Alain Locke contributed significantly to the twentieth-century dialogue on ethics and society. Drawing particularly on the work of William James and Josiah Royce, Locke was perhaps the first to bring philosophy to bear on the problems of race relations and social justice in a multiracial society. He argued that racial problems in the United States stem from the fact that white Americans hold up their values as the only controlling and only acceptable model, to which other groups are forced to conform. First discussing what is meant by "Black philosophy" and what its concerns include, the author examines Locke's philosophic interpretation of Black America's historical experience, contributions to culture, and struggles for social justice. He provides a critique of Locke's model of the political community, with special reference to the work of Hannah Arendt. Looking at the impact of Locke, DuBois, and others on the Black community, he discusses their relation to the "Black Elite," their encouragement of Black artists and their positions on educational issues such as teaching Black history, parity for Blacks, and school desegregation. Other subjects considered are the "New Negro," the Harlem Renaissance, African art and culture, and Locke's views in light of changes that have occurred since his death in 1954.

Alain LeRoy Locke Society

ALLS was founded in Boston in December 1994 at the eastern region meeting of the American Philosophical Association by a group of academicians at the initiative of Leonard Harris of Purdue University. The Society was expressly organized to create an official forum for discourse,, not only in issues that concern academics in African-American philosophy but also to promote the work of philosopher and educator Alain Leroy Locke (1886-1952). Trained at Harvard, Oxford and Berlin Universities, the first African American Rhodes Scholar, Locke, besides his writings in Philosophy, played a central role in the literary and aesthetic movement, Harlem Renaissance.

Harlem Renaissance - Alain LeRoy Locke

From PAL:  Perspectives in American Literature:  A Research and Reference by Paul Reuben

Excerpt:

With the publication of The New Negro, Locke became the leading theoretician and strategist of the New Negro Movement. Due to the publication of this anthology, critics were forced to take black writing seriously, and it served to unite struggling black authors of that period. Locke was a self-confessed "philosophical midwife" to a generation of black artists and writers. Locke was also a leading figure in the adult education movement of the 1930s...

Alain LeRoy Locke 

Biography by Ken Love

Excerpt:

Alain LeRoy Locke was born on Sept. 13, 1886, in Philadelphia PA. He was an American educator, writer, and philosopher, who is best remembered as a leader and chief interpreter of the Harlem Renaissance.

He graduated from Harvard University (1907) with a degree in philosophy. Locke was the first black Rhodes scholar, studying at Oxford (1907-10) and the University of Berlin (1910-11). He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard (1918). For almost 40 years, until retirement in 1953 as head of the department of philosophy, Locke taught at Howard University, Washington, D.C.. During that time Locke became a distinguished member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc.

Alain Locke

A biographical sketch and annotated bibliography written by Talmadge C. Guy, Assistant Professor of Adult Education at the University of Georgia.

 Excerpt:

Alain Leroy Locke was born in 1886 during the post-reconstruction era and died in 1954, a month before the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. An intellectual steeped in the realities of color in 20th century America, Locke possessed a range of interests that makes chronicling and interpreting his career in adult education challenging. Most widely known for his leadership in the New Negro movement of the 1920s, he also was a leading African American figure in the adult education movement of the 1930s under the sponsorship of the American Association for Adult Education and the Carnegie Corporation. In 1946-47 he served as president of the American Association for Adult Education...

Alain LeRoy Locke

From blackhistory.eb.com 

Excerpt:

Graduated in philosophy from Harvard University (1907), Locke was the first black Rhodes scholar, studying at Oxford (1907-10) and the University of Berlin (1910-11). He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard (1918). For almost 40 years, until retirement in 1953 as head of the department of philosophy, Locke taught at Howard University, Washington, D.C...

Harlem Renaissance

From Jill Diesman, Northern Kentucky University

What was the Harlem Renaissance?

From 1920 until about 1930 an unprecedented outburst of creative activity among African-Americans occurred in all fields of art. Beginning as a series of literary discussions in the lower Manhattan (Greenwich Village) and upper Manhattan (Harlem) sections of New York City, this African-American cultural movement became known as "The New Negro Movement" and later as the Harlem Renaissance. More than a literary movement and more than a social revolt against racism, the Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. African-Americans were encouraged to celebrate their heritage and to become "The New Negro," a term coined in 1925 by sociologist and critic Alain LeRoy Locke...

Names Index:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| Authors Index | Scholars Index |