Associated with Léopold Senghor, poet and first president of Senegal; a central point is that the African aesthetic is different from the relatively cerebral, analytical European mindset, and is every bit as valid. It encouraged a wary eye towards Eurocentric culture (Senghor and his peers had been educated in Europe), and was a necessary bit of consciousness-raising for a continent on the cusp of independence. It influenced intellectuals of the African diaspora, with mixed results.