The literary word is a powerful device; it can change minds, cause, prevent or resolve wars, and bring about revolutions. Hence, the literary word is seen as a threat. The power a word generates is undoubtedly alarming. As Manly Hall has said: “Words are potent weapons for all causes, good or bad.” The beauty in this movement is that it has no end; its realms exist amongst us till today.

The Negritude Movement was a francophone literary movement that took place in the 1930’s in which Black writers living in Paris came together to protest against the French colonial rule, the policy of integration and in order to assert their identity. The movement comprised of the rejection of European colonization, to reinforce pride in being black, and to evoke African values and culture. The movement’s leading figures were Leopold Sedar Senghor, Leon Damas and Aime Cesaire.

The term ‘Negritude’ was coined by Cesaire in his poem ‘Cahier d’un retour au pays natal’ and according to him it means “the simple recognition of the fact that one is black, the acceptance of this fact and of our destiny as blacks, of our history and culture.”

The Negritude movement I believe marks a very important part in history. In sociology we learn how Marx came up with a theory that through a process of alienation the proletariat would realize that they are being exploited by the bourgeois. Similarly, this movement occurred when the black felt alienated from their surroundings and realized that this integration of European culture with theirs would eventually eradicate their culture completely, and make the assumption that Black people have no history, true. Additionally, the realization which occurred after observing history and all the humiliation, torture, oppression and suffering their ancestors had borne could have been another reason for the movement. Furthermore, observing the role black people played in the world wars could’ve upset the black community because these black people weren’t only forced to fight in wars they knew little or had nothing to do with but were treated badly during the wars as well.

Also, I believe the realization that being viewed as an inferior race was having a psychological impact on the black community; this was alarming because this would only serve as a loss to the community as a whole. Thus, a movement took place to stop this from happening. See, once some people figure it all out, they want to extend their knowledge onto the masses of their kind and what better way than to use the literary word?