Claude Mckay Research Paper

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The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Movement during its time, was a time for the birth of a prideful culture for African Americans. Although the movement took place in the city of Harlem, it’s musical, literary and artistic components were influential to individuals all around the world. African Americans who were previously depicted as uneducated by American Society were seen as a creative with versatile characteristics as a result of the movement. The movement primarily occurred as a result of “ the migration of 6 million African Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North, Midwest and West. This was also known as the Great Migration” (History.com Staff). The Great Migration was the movement of hundreds of …show more content…

Claude Mckay represented the idea of the Harlem Renaissance by “encouraging others to accept themselves and be who you are without shame” (“Claude Mckay”). He too inspiration from painters of the Harlem Renaissance and centered his poetry on creating an accurate image of the African American race. For example, McKay’s novel, Home to Harlem, was about a black soldier and his return to Harlem. The novel gave readers his view on Harlem and its ways. Home to Harlem, and the bulk of McKay’s poetry, created impacting opinions and shifted the way people saw Harlem, and black life. His most famous and influential poem, “If We Must Die”, gained a great deal of attention throughout America and parts of the world. This poem reassured McKay’s impact and influence on the Harlem Renaissance. “If We Must Die” was a strong piece on the way blacks were being treated, calling out white men as dogs. He pushed towards the idea of fighting and standing up for their rights. McKay, living in Harlem at the time, witnessed the brutality in which blacks were subject to at the hands of whites. There was so much bloodshed at the hands of the white people that the time period was coined as the Red Summer of 1919. The "Baptism," "The White House," and "The Lynching," were sonnets which were all inspired by McKay’s anger towards the mistreatment of African

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