Alain LeRoy Locke (1885–1954) was a philosopher, educator, writer, and cultural critic whose work helped shape the intellectual and artistic movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. He was the first African American to receive a Rhodes Scholarship and later taught philosophy at Howard University for many years. Locke championed Black artists, writers, musicians, and thinkers and argued that cultural expression was central to the development of Black identity and self-determination. Through his teaching, criticism, editing, and advocacy, he helped bring Black artistic achievement into broader American and international conversations.