Biography
Festus Claudius McKay, also know as Claude McKay, was born on September 15, 1890 in Sunny Ville, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica. He was the son of Thomas Francis McKay and Hannah Ann Elizabeth Edwards, whom were farmers. At a young age, he was sent to live with his brother, a schoolteacher, so that he would be able to have the best education possible. Ever since a young age, he was an avid reader. In 1907, Walter Jekyll, an English gentleman that resided in Jamaica, came into McKay's life and became his mentor. He encouraged McKay to write dialect verse, so he did. In 1912, McKay came to the U.S. He established
himself as a poet, publishing two volumes of dialect verse, Songs of Jamaica
(1912) and Constab Ballards (1912). After living in the U.S. for a little while, he heard of Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee Institute. He decided to enroll at the Tuskegee Institute. Here, he first encountered the harsh realities of American Racism. This experience would later go on to form the basis of many of his later writings. In 1914, Jekyll gave McKay a "financial gift" that allowed him to move to New York, invest in a restaurant and marry his childhood sweetheart, Eulalie Imelda Lewars. Unfortunately, neither of these ventures lasted long. His wife moved back to Jamaica to give birth to their daughter while he took menial jobs while continuing to write. He published "Invocation" and "The Harlem Dancer " under the fake name, Eli Edwards, in 1917. These poems got Claude McKay recognized by Max Eastman, editor of The Liberator. With his socialist beliefs and some time, he eventually became the co-editor of The Liberator. During the period of racial violence against blacks known as the Red Summer of 1919, McKay wrote one of his best-known poems, the sonnet, "If We Must Die," an anthem of resistance. "Baptism," "The White House," and "The Lynching," all sonnets, also exemplify some of McKay's finest protest poetry that he wrote a couple years after the Red Summer. In 1919-1921, McKay lived in England but came back to the U.S. While in England, he was employed by the British Socialist Journal, Workers' Dreadnought, and published a book of verse, Spring in New Hampshire. In 1922, his most important poetry collection, Harlem Shadows, appeared and initiated the new angry and defiant attitude in African American writings toward racial prejudices. Around 1923, he went on a twelve year sojourn throughout Europe, Soviet Union and Africa. For the majority of this trip he had to deal with poverty and illness. While abroad he continued to write, and he actually published his most famous novel, Home to Harlem (1928), which won the Harmon Gold Award for Literature. This novel had a major impact on African Americans in the Caribbean, West Africa and Europe. He also wrote Banjo (1929) and Banana Bottom (1933) during his trip which were also about the treatment of African Americans by other countries. In 1930, he moved to Morocco but his financial issues forced him to move back to the U.S. in 1934. In 1936, he was accepted to the Federal Writers Project and completed his autobiography, A Long Way From Home, in 1937. In 1940, McKay produced the nonfiction work, Harlem: Negro Metropolis (1940), which gained little attention but is a important historical source today. Claude McKay finally became a U.S. citizen in 1940 when he moved to New York. McKay also started to have high blood pressure and heart issues which led to a steady decline in his health. These events caused him to change from Agnosticism and embraced Catholicism. In 1944, he left New York for Chicago, where he would pass away at the age of 58.
Importance
Claude McKay was an important writer because his literary works are said to have made him a great force in bringing about what was called the Negro Literary Renaissance movement. The Harlem Renaissance enabled African American writers, such as Claude Mckay, to get their works published by mainstream houses which increased the chances of their work becoming popular. This helped generate a lot of attention from the nation as a whole which helped African American writers causes. McKay was the first African American writer to really start the culture movement by writing about African American lives and the harassment that African Americans must face. McKay's writings were usually used to help prove black humanity and demand equality. Some of his poems such as "If We Must Die," "Baptism," "The White House," and "The Lynching," were important poems in America because they made African American readers hear their cries of defiance in the face of racism and unequal treatment. These poems would cause Claude McKay to later go on to be a huge inspirational force for other well-known writers such as Langston Hughes and Countée Cullen. McKay did not only influence America but he also influenced parts of Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and Soviet Union through his writings such as Banjo and Banana Bottom. These two works of literature both speak of the treatment that African Americans received in different countries which caused Negro Literary Movements to be born in places such as France, West Africa and the West Indies.
Importance
Claude McKay was an important writer because his literary works are said to have made him a great force in bringing about what was called the Negro Literary Renaissance movement. The Harlem Renaissance enabled African American writers, such as Claude Mckay, to get their works published by mainstream houses which increased the chances of their work becoming popular. This helped generate a lot of attention from the nation as a whole which helped African American writers causes. McKay was the first African American writer to really start the culture movement by writing about African American lives and the harassment that African Americans must face. McKay's writings were usually used to help prove black humanity and demand equality. Some of his poems such as "If We Must Die," "Baptism," "The White House," and "The Lynching," were important poems in America because they made African American readers hear their cries of defiance in the face of racism and unequal treatment. These poems would cause Claude McKay to later go on to be a huge inspirational force for other well-known writers such as Langston Hughes and Countée Cullen. McKay did not only influence America but he also influenced parts of Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and Soviet Union through his writings such as Banjo and Banana Bottom. These two works of literature both speak of the treatment that African Americans received in different countries which caused Negro Literary Movements to be born in places such as France, West Africa and the West Indies.