The essay was written in 1926; what literary and cultural movement was this writer a part of? What is he responding to in this essay? According to him, what exactly should “younger Negro artists” be doing? Summarize two major points that he makes in

An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose.

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We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. The tom-tom cries and the tom-tom laughs. If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn’t matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.