In his discussion Baldwin expands on conversation regarding the Harlem Renaissance to the great migration destination of Chicago. He argues that those who migrated came with a fresh intellectual outlook and perspective, leaving behind their old southern ways. While Locke gives a more general overview of the New Negro, Baldwin gives a voice to the everyday people who experienced the change. However the main difference between Baldwin and Locke is exhibited by Baldwin’s study of popular culture versus Locke’s study of the arts. It is through the arts such as poetry and paintings, that Locke believes the New Negro has spiritually emancipated himself from a subject of study to a self-respecting individual. As Locke examines Harlem and Baldwin examines Chicago they recognize that the motives of those who migrated there may have been different but there reuniting as a masses is what really matters. Artistically as Harlem became their safe haven the New Negro population began to support each other towards a progression of ideologies that exhibited their true self and not their faults. Through their creative expression the New Negro has been successful in the alteration of spirituality towards progression as an African American. Baldwin feels that the progression that the New Negro has made towards autonomy and self-respect was found in Chicago’s marketplace. After WWI the industrial production of cultural entertainments became relatively cheap which created a wider access for those of all socio-economic groups. He reveals how the black entrepreneurs, entertainers, and the black consumer developed a separate economic and institutional world, known as the metropolis as a means to control their security and economic well-being. As the cultural industries became more available, it became a medium for the New Negro his independence and mental liberation.
I like the usage of the term "spiritually emancipated" that you use in Locke's description of The New Negro. I find it to be extremely accurate considering the means by which it was done. I feel like The New Negro according to Locke was about creating a sort of identity and culture that they had so long been forced to repress. So by way of art, music and dance, a spiritual emancipation was taking place. They were able to show who they were as Black folk and claim a new identity apart from that which they left behind. I also find the idea of being "spiritually emancipated" to be interesting because it seems to be very internal, as opposed to your description of the Chicago New Negro that appears to be much more external (i.e. establishments of "economic and institutional worlds"). And though they appear to be different if viewed in that light, I feel what is most important to acknowledge is not the fact that there were different "New Negroes" emerging, but rather that a New Negro was able to emerge at all.
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