A review by greenej
Harlem Shadows: Poems by Claude McKay

5.0

Fascinating to read this book of poetry by Claude McKay that helped kick off the Harlem Renaissance. In addition to the several famous ones, there are many that evoke the time and are quite powerful. The best known is "If We Must Die," and it is useful to see that classic poem alongside the others. But most of these were written during the "red summer" of 1919, with its race riots, racism, but also the degree of fighting back against oppression by African Americans, and many of the poems capture that spirit.