I decided to research and center my project around Claude McKay because of the eventful and inspiring life he lived. When I started researching the first idea that came to mind was the era of the Harlem Renaissance that I learned about last year in American History class. I started researching the various art forms that were used to unite many people when I found McKay’s poem "If We Must Die". I thought that the poem was very interesting and I quickly wanted to learn more about the author.
To start my research I did a basic search of Claude McKay on several databases such as ABC Clio and Proquest. I learned that he wrote many poems and books in his lifetime but I needed to narrow my search so I limited my topic to his poems. From here I found many primary sources about how African Americans used poetry to help unite the city of Harlem by allowing themselves to channel their frustration in a positive way. I then stumbled on a few articles that mentioned the people that McKay inspired and knew that I should cover this in my project. I was very surprised to see that members of The Black Panthers and Winston Churchill have recited “If We Must Die” in meetings as a way to inspire others. When I found out that McKay and other black artists were a part of the Communist party I was very intrigued and decided to mention this as well. Key sources I used were Proquest and ABC Clio databases.
I chose to create a website because I have always enjoyed working with technology and specifically website platforms. I have made a couple websites before and figured that it would be a good way to convey my thoughts.
Claude McKay’s use of poetry and writing to inspire a whole generation ties to the theme because many barriers stood in his way and every time he somehow managed to break them and continue to inspire those around him. He faced many issues such as poverty, racism, and immigration but instead of letting these problems stand in his way he channeled his frustration into poetry. His poetry became extremely popular because other black people could relate to his writing and emotions. By expressing his frustration in his poetry he fought against racism and inspired a whole generation of people to do the same.