Table of ContentsIntroductionAn introduction to the Harlem RenaissanceThe brief biography of Claude McKay and his influence on the Harlem Renaissance movementDiscussionConclusionReferencesIntroductionAn introduction to the Harlem RenaissanceThe creative and intellectual life has flourished in African American communities in the Northern and Midwestern regions of the United States in the 1920s, but nowhere more so than in Harlem. The New York City neighborhood, located just three square miles away, is teeming with black artists, scholars, poets, and musicians. Some of the century's most prominent literary and cultural figures moved or entered the "Black Capital of the World," helping to depict a time when African American artists reclaimed their heritage and ethnic pride despite systemic prejudice and discrimination. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The origins of the Harlem Renaissance date back to the Great Migration of the early 20th century, when hundreds of thousands of black people emigrated from the south to dense urban areas offering relatively more economic opportunities and cultural capital. It was, in the words of editor, journalist and critic Alain Locke, "a spiritual coming of age" for African-American artists and thinkers who took advantage of their "first chances for group expression and self-determination." . Harlem Renaissance poets such as Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Georgia Douglas Johnson explored the beauty and pain of black life and sought to define themselves and their community outside of white stereotypes. Harlem Renaissance poetry represented a variety of forms and subjects. Many authors, such as Claude McKay, used historically European forms – the sonnet was one – with a radical message of protest, as in “If We Must Die.” Others, including James Weldon Johnson and Langston Hughes, specifically introduced black cultural innovations into their writing, infusing their poems with the rhythms of ragtime, jazz, and blues. The Brief Biography of Claude McKay and His Influence on the Harlem Renaissance MovementFestus Claudius McKay, or commonly known as Claude McKay, was born in Sunny Ville, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, on September 15, 1889. McKay mixed his African pride with his passion for British literature. He studied literature and philosophy with Walter Jekyll, an Englishman, who inspired the young man to begin producing poetry in his own Jamaican dialect. In 1912, McKay's first novels in verse, "Songs of Jamaica" and "Constab Ballads", were published by the London Publishing House. McKay used funds he obtained from the Jamaica Institute of Arts and Sciences to travel to the United States. For at least two years he studied at Tuskegee Institution (now Tuskegee University) and Kansas State College. He moved to New York in 1914 to live in Harlem. During the Harlem Renaissance, he established himself as a literary advocate for social justice. He is known for his books, essays and poetry, including “If We Must Die” and “Harlem Shadows.” In the 1920s, McKay became interested in communism and traveled to Russia and then to France. In 1934, McKay returned to the United States and lived in Harlem, New York, and in 1940 he completely withdrew from communism and turned his attention to the teachings of various spiritual and political leaders of Harlem. He eventually embraced Catholicism and officially became an American citizen. His experience working with organizationsCatholic Charities in New York inspired a new collection of essays, "Harlem: Negro Metropolis," which presented observations and analyzes of the then-African American community in Harlem. .McKay's views and poetic achievements in the early 20th century set the tone for the Harlem Renaissance and earned the deep respect of young black poets of the era, including Langston.Hugues. McKay died of a heart attack on May 22, 1948, in Chicago, Illinois. In this essay we will know what the poetry is about and what is the black issue based on the poems. Discussion “Enslaved” by Claude McKay describes culture as a tool of oppression and resistance. In this poetry, McKay reveals how they failed to achieve things like equality and tried little by little to end racism. The poem further reveals that the black race is capable of doing things that white people can do and showing that they are human too. The poem “Enslaved” has a broader scope in time; from the time of slavery to the time the poem was composed. This poem begins with McKay's contemplation of the plight of black people in America who have been "despised" and "oppressed" for centuries: Oh, when I think of my race that has long suffered, despised, oppressed for weary centuries, by this McKay wanted to give a brief description of the past of this race, which is unfortunately true. This race was oppressed and enslaved by white men, and at that time they had a little more freedom, but now they had to deal with racism. Enslaved and lynched, deprived of a human place in the great lifeline of the Christian West; In verses three and four, McKay emphasizes that the Western monoculture and ethnocentric party gave no place to blacks. Western culture, presented as a “Christian West”, most likely refers to the religious superiority typical of European colonizers. This verse serves to remind the reader that the racist tradition of the world McKay lived in is not isolated to him. , nor its neighbors, nor its country. This is a long tradition of hatred, oppression and slavery that has lasted for many “weary centuries”. Here we can see how power inequality can be maintained through culture. McKay later argued that Western invaders caused black people to lose their homes: And in the disinherited Black Land, Stolen from the ancient land of his birth, My heart grows sick with hatred, becomes like a leader, For this my race that has no home on earth. McKay's choice of words here is very careful. “The disinherited Black Earth” is an expression that has deep meaning. In particular, the term “disinherited” refers to the injustices of colonial policy. Usually, to disinherit someone from ownership of land, the disheir will personally own the land. Thus, to disinherit the “Black Land”, Western colonialism must claim ownership of it. McKay claims that the home of black people – whether in his native Jamaica, in countries in Africa or wherever they have emigrated to Europe or North America – has been taken away from them and the door locked forever. is now sickened by the weight of intolerable hatred. They are despised, they have developed contempt, and they feel it when they think of the home that was brutally and painfully taken from them. Then, from the dark depths of my soul, I cry out to the avenging angel to completely consume the white man's world of wonder: Let it be swallowed up in the vast belly of the earth, or let it roll upward like sacrificial smoke to free my people from their yoke! At the end of the line "Enslaved", he begins to move from/.