Essay Claude McKay & Jean Toomer

The Harlem Renaissance was “variously known as the New Negro movement, the New Negro Renaissance, and the Negro Renaissance, the movement emerged toward the end of World War I in 1918, blossomed in the mid- to late 1920s, and then withered in the mid-1930s. The Harlem Renaissance marked the first time mainstream publishers, critics took African American literature seriously, and that African American literature and arts attracted significant attention from the nation as a whole (1).”

Claude McKay was a black man born in Jamaica, he choose literature very on in life and kept with it. He moved to the United States at age twenty three to study at Tuskegee Institute and was immediately shocked by the blatant racism prevalent in Charleston, South Carolina. He moved to New York and shortly after became co-editor of The Liberator, a famous abolitionist newspaper, he wrote some of his most revered poems while working there. He was part of the Harlem Renaissance a movement that was a reawakening of artistic and cultural talents of African American people in the United States and helped to reinvigorate their pride in being black.

Jean Toomer was an African American writer. He was known as the leading American writer of the 1920s after he established his book "Cane" which inspired authors of the Harlem Renaissance.

The Harlem Renaissance acted as the crossroads for black to interact with others and expand their contacts, even internationally. Also, African Americans began to change their image from rural to urban. In other words, they were transforming themselves from peasants to sophisticates. The Harlem Renaissance allowed for African Americans to be a force in America even if they couldn’t be employed and seen as equals to whites. It was so influential that African Americans began to gain power in northern cities such as Chicago and Philadelphia. The Harlem Renaissance phenomenon sparked the idea of “New Negro” and led to the drive for change, giving a sense of Black Nationalism and the ability to express their ideas and concerns in ways they were

Claude McKay’s poems reflect on American culture during a specific time in history, known as Harlem Renaissance. A time where racism was predominately a way of living for many, this was a beneficial time in history for African Americans. Bringing blacks together in a new movement that had not been present in America. Development in which blacks emphasized themselves by taking on their racial identity. It was a time period in which the black community helped each other to be able to express themselves as who they truly are, creating a true African American visual doing so

Born on December 26 1894, Jean Toomer was an accomplished poet, and novelist during the time of the harlem renaissance. His first book was published in 1923, titled Cane. Throughout the course of his life, he wrote a total of 21 poems, and 6 books. HIs full name was actually Nathan Pinchback Toomer, after his father, who decamped after his birth. Toomer was then raised by his mother, with some support from his grandparents. Nathan’s grandfather, Pinckney Pinchback referred to him as “Eugine“ instead of his father’s name as a way of showing disrespect to him for abandoning his family. Toomer’s family also had a European lineage, so growing up he moved between all-white and all-black schools. When he became an adult, he wasn’t very open about his

     It was then that he began to pursue a writing career. At the time he got his first typewriter, he was also introduced to the blues and the black rights movement, of which both had great influences on his writing. Also during that time, he dropped his birth father’s name. Though he was unable to succeed in poetry, he was able to transition himself into a successful playwright. After visiting a friend in St. Paul, Minnesota, he decided to stay. At the urging of his friend, he wrote his first play, Jitney, set in a gypsy-cab station, and another following that, Fullerton Street. Only afterwards was he able to concentrate solely on composing, eventually producing Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, his breakthrough product, which was based on a blues singer Gertrude “Ma” Rainey. Then he wrote Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, and Fences, which was based on his stepfather who could not gain a football scholarship because of his ethnicity.

African Americans who move to the north no longer have to live the lives of poor agriculturalist, but can now move up in social stature. The concept of moving up in social ranks amongst black people introduces the statuses of the folk, the bourgeois, and the proletarians, to African American society and literature. The writers of the Harlem Renaissance produce work that focuses on ideas like race, class, marriage, and identity. African American writers who migrated now have something more to write about than just the “poor Negro.” These writers are now able to add depth to their characters and give them the opportunity to achieve the stereotypical American dream. Zora Neale Hurston is famously recognized as one of the original writers of this time to do so. Hurston spent her childhood in the first fully functional all negro city of Eatonville, Florida. She lived with her mother and father and was child six out of eight. Hurston’s ideas differed from her family’s traditionalist ideals. She did not want to conform to society’s standards of what a woman should be. Despite her father’s wishes, she wanted to be a writer. Hurston grew up to do just

The Kansas City Call summed up the general mentality of African Americans during the 1920s with the statement “The New Negro does not fear the face of day.” (pg 118) Unlike the old days of slavery, African Americans had become more radical towards their oppressor and were beginning to organize as a people. Harlem Renaissance poet Claude Mckay embraced the “New Negro” archetype in his work by stating “If we must die, let it not be like hogs/ Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot….. Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack/ Pressed

Born on December 26, 1894 in Washington, D.C., Jean Toomer- who began writing in 1918-made short stories, plays and poems. His modernist novel Cane (1923) is considered a masterpiece about African-American life; however, he tried not to be seen as an African-American writer. As an adult, Toomer generally would not

A group of people who had at one point held no power and position in society were now thriving in the nation, as they spread their culture and ideas. It was the start of an era known as the Harlem Renaissance. This was a more than a literary movement, it was a cultural movement based on pride in the Africa-American life. They were demanded civil and political rights (Stewart). The Harlem Renaissance changed the way African Americans were viewed by society. It, “changes the image of the African-American from rural, undereducated peasants to one of urban, cosmopolitan sophistication”. This era expanded from the early 1920s to the mid 1930s (Wikipedia). It generated great pride in the people

During the 1920’s a new movement began to arise. This movement known as the Harlem Renaissance expressed the new African American culture. The new African American culture was expressed through the writing of books, poetry, essays, the playing of music, and through sculptures and paintings. Three poems and their poets express the new African American culture with ease. (Jordan 848-891) The poems also express the position of themselves and other African Americans during this time. “You and Your Whole Race”, “Yet Do I Marvel”, and “The Lynching” are the three poems whose themes are the same. The poets of these poems are, as in order, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude Mckay.

Claude McKay was a Jamaican poet who brought hopefulness to the oppressed during the Harlem Renaissance in his poem, “If We Must Die”. McKay experienced the hardships that colored people were going through because of their race and nationality. He believed that the people should fight for what they believe in, even if it seems like a hopeless cause. McKay uses the concept of dying with dignity to persuade his fellow African-Americans that are being oppressed to fight for what they believe in.

     A few of the notable writers and poets were Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, and Zora Neale Hurston. Langston Hughes was the most popular and gifted of all poets during this movement. Many of his poems described the different everyday lives of working class African Americans by adapting the rhythms of their music to his poetry. Some of the poems moved to the tempo of jazz and the blues. Another major figure was poet Claude McKay, a Jamaican immigrant whose militant verses urged African Americans to resist prejudice and discrimination. His poems also expressed the pain of life in the black ghettos of the 1920's, and the strain of being black in a world dominated by whites.

Claude McKay was one of these artists who used poetry to express his viewpoints of the Harlem Renaissance. McKay was born in Jamaica in 1889, raised in a colored society where being Black was the norm. Arriving in the United States in 1912 he became aware of the vile racism, finding himself battling for their rights.