Banana Bottom

Claude McKay was a writer and poet. Born in Jamaica in 1889 to peasant farmers, he wrote poetry and fiction about Black life in Jamaica and America. His books include Harlem Shadows (1922); Constab Ballads (1912); and Songs of Jamaica (1912), as well as a number of novels and short-story collections. A key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, he was also involved in many social causes, particularly in the fight for racial justice. He died in Chicago in 1948.