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New Negro

Despite their rhetorical and ideological differences, these three leaders were speaking up during the 1890s, the decade described by African American historian Rayford Logan as the "nadir" of African American history and marked by nearly 2,000 documented lynchings.[8] 

Home of Harlem and other works

In 1943, before his death, one year before his conversion into Catholicism, McKay started "Cycle Manuscript", it was a collection of 44 poems,most of it being sonnets. In addition, McKay wrote a letter to Max Eastman, editor of the socialist journal The Liberator, Harlem Renaissance leader, and McKay's close friend, asking Eastman "to look through" all the poems and to make any needed "revisions". Despite Eastman's revisions, McKay's collection would never be published. The "Cycle Manuscript" remains to be a typescript at the Beinecke Library at Yale University, as the "Cycle Manuscript" is an important document that illustrates the reflections of a emotional poet who was seeking self actualization at his point of his life.

http://0-search.proquest.com.library.4cd.edu/pqrl/docview/203694025/394A5308295E4AD7PQ/3?accountid=38376 

Religion

Toward the end of McKay's life, McKay embraced Catholicism, retreating from Communism entirely. His sudden conversion into Catholicism puzzled many for over half a century.[18] When McKay converted into Catholicism in his final years, he was perceived to be suffering from poverty, health problems, and political and social exclusion by his own beloved Harlem. Before his actual conversion, he wrote to long-time friend and mentor, Max Eastman, about "doing a lot of reading and research, especially on Catholic work among Negroes----Because if and when I take the step I want to be intellectually honest and sincere about it".(McKay to Eastman, June 1,1944). Five months later, when McKay was baptized into the Holy Roman Catholic Church, he wrote to Eastman to assure him that "I am not less the fighter" for doing so (McKay to Eastman, October 16,1944, Rpt. in Passion 305)". [19]  

Early Life (Polished)

At the age of four, he went to school at Mt. Zion Church. At the age of seven, he was sent to live with his oldest brother, Uriah Theodore, a teacher, to be given the best education available. While living with this brother, McKay became an avid reader of classical and British literature, as well as philosophy, science and theology. At the age of 10, McKay started writing poetry.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/american-literature-biographies/claude-mckay

In 1906, McKay became apprenticed to a carriage and cabinet maker known as Old Brenga, maintaining his apprenticeship for about two years. During that time, in 1907, McKay met a man named Walter Jekyll, who became a mentor and an inspiration for him, who also encouraged him to concentrate on his writing. Jekyll convinced McKay to write in his native dialect and then set some of McKay's verses to music. Jekyll helped McKay publish his first book of poems, Songs of Jamaica, in 1912. These were the first poems published in Jamaican Patois (dialect of mainly English words and African structure). McKay's next volume, Constab Ballads (1912), was based on his experiences of joining the constabulary for a brief period in 1911. 

In London (Polished/revised and cited plagiarism)

McKay arrived in London in autumn 1919. He used to frequent a soldier's club in Drury Lane and the International Socialist Club in Shoreditch. 

In 1919 McKay arrived in London, where he would frequently visit two clubs, one in Drury Lane, a soldier's club and the other in Shoreditch, the International Socialist Club. [1]