Alain LeRoy Locke was a longtime Howard University professor, art critic, writer and philosopher.

However, Locke gave expression to the movement he called “the New Negro” which we now know as the Harlem Renaissance.

According to Dr. Jacoby Adeshei Carter, an associate professor of philosophy at Howard University and chair of the university’s philosophy department, a position that Locke also held while there, Locke was temporarily away from Howard University in 1924.

Locke expanded the issue to create a collection of writings from African Americans titled The New Negro, which is now credited as the “first national book” of African America.

Widely regarded as the originator of the New Negro Movement and the Harlem Renaissance, Locke’s main contribution to both movements was the promotion and emphasis on values, diversity, and race relations.