12 Immigrants Who Made American Arts Great

12 Immigrants Who Made American Arts Great — page 3
2 Claude McKay’s Poetry Sparks an Arts Movement played an important part in the Harlem Renaissance McKay was born in Jamaica in 1889 His parents raised him to be proud of their African heritage McKay’s older brother taught him English poetry Soon McKay started to write poems In 1912 his poetry books Songs of Jamaica and Constab Ballads were published McKay won an award for his poetry He used the money to immigrate to the United States for college In 1914 McKay moved to Harlem He worked and wrote there for several years In 1919 his poem If We Must Die was published in the magazine Liberator The poem protested mob violence against black Americans The poem was included in McKay’s 1922 book Harlem Shadows It has since inspired people around the world The Harlem Renaissance was a golden age in black American culture Harlem is a neighborhood in New York City During the 1920s many black artists and intellectuals moved there Claude McKay 6