Artistic vs Entrepreneurial

During the Great Migration many African Americans moved North and West in search of a new start, in search of financial stability and a better way of life. During the start of the Jazz movement which was centered in New Orleans and once Storyville closed many Musicians set out North to Chicago for work in the factories and in search of joining a new band. With that said the difference between Locke’s “New Negro” and Baldwin’s “Chicago New Negro” is the distinctions between the Artistic New Negro (Locke) and the Entrepreneurial New Negro (Baldwin).  With the Press being predominately centered in Harlem Locke focus was on the Artistic side of the New Negro, in such artist as Langston Hughes and Claude McKay. For the first time African Americans were getting the recognition they so deserved and for the first time their struggles and insight was written from their own words and account. However Baldwin opens with Jack Johnson and Madame CJ Walker to show that African Americans or the “New Negro” Can succeed and compete with White Americans. By using CJ Walker for the first time this notion of Black Beauty and self appreciation was addressed in the Black Community. More importantly by using Johnson and Walker this was the first time that African Americans were in many ways on the same page as Whites. They had the money and the means, and in comparison to Johnson to White men he showed that Blacks were not inferior to Whites, and that a Black man can have the same if not more money then a White man and that the luxuries such as cars, women and prestige could be matched by an African American.

In comparison I feel as though Locke and Baldwin’s interpretation of the New Negro when compared gives insight of Black success and that African American where making advancements as Artists as well  as Entrepreneurs.