“If we must die, let it not be like hogs,

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.”

If We Must Die (1918)

Claude McKay (1890-1948) boasts the titles of poet, novellist, journalist and defender of Negro rights. Born in Sunny Ville, Clarendon, he was the youngest of 11 children, and sent to live with his oldest brother. Owing to the fact that his brother was a schoolteacher and possessed a library of English novels, poetry, and scientific texts, McKay embarked on his poetic journey.

His passion for poetry blossomed at a tender age, as he began writing at age 10. His first publication came with Songs of Jamaica and Constab Ballads (1912) when he was just 22 years old.

By this time, he had immigrated to the United States and enrolled in the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Having thought that life would be better in the ‘Land of Opportunities’, he was introduced to the merciless onslaught of American racism. Although this threatened to overpower him, and succeeded in throwing him in the hands of poverty and hard life, he managed to brush off the dusts of heartaches, frustration and doubt.

He instead converted these into determination and creativity, and used his struggles as stepping-stones to better not only his life, but also the lives of others who shared his shade of complexion. He proved that he was just as good as any white writer, with Spring in New Hampshire, he thwarted the attempts made at stiffing his words with Harlem Shadows, and provided an anthem of resistance with If We Must Die.