Alain L. Locke

The Biography of a Philosopher

Leonard Harris author Charles Molesworth author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:The University of Chicago Press

Published:25th May '10

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Alain L. Locke cover

Alain L. Locke, in his famous 1925 anthology "The New Negro", declared that 'the pulse of the Negro world has begun to beat in Harlem'. The first biography of this extraordinarily gifted philosopher and writer, Alain L. Locke narrates the untold story of his profound impact on twentieth-century America's cultural and intellectual life. The heart of this narrative illuminates Locke's heady years in 1920s New York City and his forty-year career at Howard University, where he helped spearhead the adult education movement of the 1930s and wrote on topics ranging from the philosophy of value to the theory of democracy.

"The current neglect of Alain Locke should not make us skeptical of the claim made by [Harris and Molesworth], who call him 'the most influential African American intellectual born between W. E. B. Du Bois and Martin Luther King, Jr.' They are right." - New Republic "This is the definitive biography of the towering cultural critic and pioneering Afro-American philosopher Alain Locke. The intellectual subtlety and meticulous work of Leonard Harris and Charles Molesworth forever puts Locke on our academic radar screen!" - Cornel West "A superb, eye-opening biography.... Why has it taken so long for a definitive biography of Locke to appear, when works on comparable black intellectuals abound? It's a backstory that sheds light on a practical truth: Fascinating subjects for biographies can be the most difficult to take on." - Carlin Romano, "Philadelphia Inquirer"

ISBN: 9780226317779

Dimensions: 23mm x 16mm x 3mm

Weight: 680g

448 pages