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Political Views and Social Activism

McKay joined the Industrial Workers of the World in autumn 1919, whilst working in a factory following his time working as a dining car waiter on the railways. According to McKay's autobiographies A Long Way From Home and My Green Hills of Jamaica, the black intellectual claimed he was drawn to the Communist party because it offered independence. McKay believed that the Communists in the US had other things on their agenda, and the African Americans were not part of that at all. He believed them to be using the Negro race to fight their battles. Because of his thoughts on communism in America, he sought out help from Russia. McKay had seen and heard of the Russians' acceptance toward other communists and individuals, for their goal was to unite non-Europeans and normalize homosexual relationships, and felt a kinship to the movement. He addressed the Communists in Russia with his speech "Report on the Negro Question" and argued that America was not fully accepting of the Negro Communists.

After his speech, he was asked by the Communist Party in Russia to explore this idea more in the form of a book. He wrote Negry v Amerike in 1923. He wrote this in Russian, and it was not translated into English until 1979. Later in life, he came to the conclusion that the Communist Party suppressed the idea of individuality and independent thought. Before coming back to America, he denounced the Communist thoughts, as documented in his autobiography A Long Way From Home. and looked for other areas to meet his needs.

Past McKay's Communist ideologies, he engaged in activism through his literature that reached many countries and territories globally. As a specific example, McKay urged the acceptance of strong African American individuals as well as romantic relationships between homosexual couples within his fictional novel Home to Harlem. The novel is the first in a series that follows the lives and experiences of black men with stable incomes and the courage to stand up for themselves and their beliefs. Through the eyes of one of the main character's those who read Home to Harlem can feel how much animosity McKay feels toward Harlem as the epicenter for African Americans. It is obvious that McKay sees Harlem as too complacent and submissive to the hetero-normative lifestyle and he wished for it to be a place all African American people, no matter the orientation, could live comfortably and happily. When broken down though, McKay worked toward equality and the welcoming of diversity within a population. With the concept of the new negro taking hold within America and beyond in the twenties, McKay wrote poems and prose to strengthen the movement and urge others to regard their race and sexuality as valid.