Ward was invited by the New York Times to write an opinion piece for its Sunday edition on the state of black theatre.

The concept of a true ensemble company (a nucleus of actors performing a roster of plays back-to-back within each season) was uncommon in American theatre.

The name was intended as a tribute to the Harlem Renaissance and the legacy of its artists (Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Hurston, Countee Cullen, Jessie Fauset, Claude McKay, Ethel Waters, etc.

The term, "New Negro", made popular by philosopher and journalist Alain Locke, was used during the Harlem Renaissance to invoke an outspoken advocacy of dignity and a refusal to submit to the practices and laws of Jim Crow.

Soon afterward, the NEC production of Song of the Lusitanian Bogey in London created further controversy, where the company was heckled by right-wing protesters who resented the play's anti-imperialist message.

The company's nurturing of black playwrights (such as Lonne Elder III with Ceremonies in Dark Old Men and Charles Fuller with Zooman and The Sign) over four decades contributed to the body of plays and performance literature that form the backbone of the African-American theatrical canon.

A poetic play set in Harlem during the turbulent racial redefining of the 1970s, the work depicts the struggles of a proud black family divided between the past and the future.

This was the first NEC production to transfer to Broadway, where it ran for nine months, won a Tony Award for Best Play, and embarked on a national tour.

The original cast included Adolph Caesar, Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Brent Jennings, Steven Anthony Jones, Charles Brown, Larry Riley, Peter Friedman, Cotter Smith, James Pickens Jr., Eugene Lee, and Stephen Zettler.

In 1984, it was made into a movie, featuring several original cast members and NEC alumni (notably Adolph Caesar, Denzel Washington, and David Alan Grier).