Marcus Garvey The New Negro Analysis
Negro World in it’s Discursive Context: Exploring the Role of the New Negro Woman
During the Harlem Renaissance writer Alain Locke launched a philosophical movement when he published a collection of essays entitled The New Negro in 1924. The movement sought to re-define Black identity in light of major cultural and societal shifts. It centered around black equality, political awareness, self-confidence, and racial pride. This movement espouse messages that developed black women’s roles and identity in relation to racial uplift.
Simultaneously, the Black Nationalism movement lead by Marcus Garvey also promoted racial pride and uplift. As Garvey’s second wife, Amy Jacques Garvey was a central figure of the movement and served as editor for the
Universal Negro Improvement Association’s newspaper Negro World. Her women’s page, “Our Women and What They Think” advocated new roles for women. While both of these movements sought to critically re-defined black women’s identity and place within society, they also were centrally located in Harlem, New York and were large cultural conversations during the Harlem Renaissance.
Despite these correlations, current scholarship has yet to examine the women’s page using the concept of the New Negro Woman. While recent scholarship has identified A. Jacques Garvey as an early Black Feminist, the concept of the New Negro Woman is entirely ignored (passive voice) (Adler 1992, Taylor 2002, Cockrell 2003). I argue that many of the messages targeted at African American women in the column correlate to the concept of New Negro Woman. In order to support this assertion, Locke’s concept of the New Negro will provide a theoretical framework to conduct a rhetorical analysis of her column to examine the discursive messages sent to African-Americans about Black female identity.
My Findings point to rhetorical similarities between both text’s articulations of New Negro Womanhood and firmly places Garvey within that discursive context. This research garners significance by adding another textual perspective, connecting other movements and intellectuals, and providing a framework for alternative constructions of New Negro femininity.
During the Harlem Renaissance writer Alain Locke launched a philosophical movement when he published a collection of essays entitled The New Negro in 1924. The movement sought to re-define Black identity in light of major cultural and societal shifts. It centered around black equality, political awareness, self-confidence, and racial pride. This movement espouse messages that developed black women’s roles and identity in relation to racial uplift.
Simultaneously, the Black Nationalism movement lead by Marcus Garvey also promoted racial pride and uplift. As Garvey’s second wife, Amy Jacques Garvey was a central figure of the movement and served as editor for the
Universal Negro Improvement Association’s newspaper Negro World. Her women’s page, “Our Women and What They Think” advocated new roles for women. While both of these movements sought to critically re-defined black women’s identity and place within society, they also were centrally located in Harlem, New York and were large cultural conversations during the Harlem Renaissance.
Despite these correlations, current scholarship has yet to examine the women’s page using the concept of the New Negro Woman. While recent scholarship has identified A. Jacques Garvey as an early Black Feminist, the concept of the New Negro Woman is entirely ignored (passive voice) (Adler 1992, Taylor 2002, Cockrell 2003). I argue that many of the messages targeted at African American women in the column correlate to the concept of New Negro Woman. In order to support this assertion, Locke’s concept of the New Negro will provide a theoretical framework to conduct a rhetorical analysis of her column to examine the discursive messages sent to African-Americans about Black female identity.
My Findings point to rhetorical similarities between both text’s articulations of New Negro Womanhood and firmly places Garvey within that discursive context. This research garners significance by adding another textual perspective, connecting other movements and intellectuals, and providing a framework for alternative constructions of New Negro femininity.