^Alain Locke, father of the Harlem Renaissance
( Bahai.us/Flickr )
He was born September 13th, 1885, in Philadelphia, PA
He died June 9th, 1954, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY.
He is known as the “Father of the Harlem renaissance” as he was essentially the one who dubbed the Harlem Renaissance the New Negro movement (which is what the Harlem renaissance was then called). He was a well-educated man who graduated from oxford university and went on to become a renowned author and philosopher which was an amazing accomplishment especially at that time for a black man. He later became the chairman of the Philosophy department at Howard University, he stayed in that position until his retirement in 1953. He was mainly against the most elite behaviours although he firmly believed in W.E.B DuBois‘ Talented Tenth philosophy. He liked to challenge African American Artists to incorporate their culture into their art and to push the social boundaries.