Claude McKay

McKay means that if they fail don't let the white race take control and put them in some terrible place, he wants you to keep on fighting until you die. Furthermore McKay states “though far outnumbered let us show us brave” (McKay). The African Americans are very outnumbered In the United States, they have to show that they will not back down and will keep trying. Lastly, the last line of “If We Must Die” McKay describes exactly how the back minority is…

A famous Harlem Renaissance poet by the name of Claude McKay once described African Americans as “despised, oppressed, enslaved and lynched, denied a human place in the great life line of the Christian West” (McKay). While McKay was correct in saying that African Americans during the post-Reconstruction era of the 1880s to the 1930s experienced discrimination, their social standing still increased significantly. After the abolishment of slavery, African Americans anticipated social growth and a…

of Jazz music, of which became highly regarded, and transcended beyond skin color. Black writers, such as Claude McKay, took to depicting “black problems” and ways of life, which was not part of traditional Anglo literature. It was both a means to reach out and connect as a color-coded brotherhood, and provided insight for all into the life of black America. In his poem Harlem Dancer, McKay used a dualistic point of view narration to allow the reader to view the subject, his dancer, through the…

One of the first writers in the Harlem Renaissance was Claude McKay. McKay channeled his strong feelings of pride and disdain into poetry that stood against racism in America. He was joined by Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, along with Countee Cullen, Alain Locke, and Dorothy West, who all wrote about their…

perfection, and ideals. While the Petrarchan blazon sonnet is focused exclusively on objectifying the female body, modern sonnets such as Alice Notley’s “Sonnet 15” and Claude McKay’s “The Castaways” veer away from that Petrarchan idealism. In “Sonnet 15”, Notley writes of the speaker’s heartbreak from a past relationship. Similarly, McKay chooses a darker topic, as he addresses the issue of homelessness in “The Castaways”. The subject matter of these poems differ greatly from that of the…

talented black people and also to create positivity and creativity in a time of great turmoil. Who was it? There were many people who were part of the Harlem renaissance, however, some who are more known include Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, W.E.B DuBois, Eubie Blake, Duke Ellington, Aaron Douglas, and James Weldon Johnson. Where did it take place?…

towards different races that was omnipresent. African American citizens who were once marginalised began to express their lament through poems and songs such as ‘Let America be America’ again by Langston Hughes written 1936 and ‘America’ written by Claude McKay in 1921. In both poems they state that despite the failed good intentions, the…

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural, social, and an artistic explosion that took place in Harlem, New York. During the time of this event, the movement was known as the "New Negro Movement." This event happened between 1917-1935, this was at the time of the end of World War I. During this period in Harlem black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars were blossoming with creative art. Much of the writings and art was focused on the portrayal of realistic black life.…

Claude McKay’s “If We Must Die” is a bold poem written during an eventful time for civil rights history, the Harlem Renaissance. During the Harlem Renaissance the African American community endured extreme racism and degradation. McKay wrote this poem with the intent to display his feelings as an immigrant who moved to America for a better life but instead was thrown into a situation where he was treated like an animal instead of a person. He chose to write this poem in the form of a…

The tone of the poem is one of aggression and rebellion. McKay used plosive syllables throughout his poem to convey the sounds of violence. These plosive syllables are found in the consonants, p, s, t, and f. The speaker of the poem is tired of being cut off: “your door is shut against my tightened face” (McKay, 1). The “your” that the speaker is referring to is White America. The speaker feels like White America is shutting out Black America. The speaker is not afraid to express their…