Constab Ballads: Including the Poem 'If We Must Die'

by Claude McKay

First published in 1912, "Constab Ballads" is a classic poetry collection with the main focus based on the police force of McKay's time, including his famous poem "If We Must Die". Festus Claudius "Claude" McKay OJ (1890–1948) was a Jamaican-born American poet and writer famous for his central role in the Harlem Renaissance. After travelling to America to attend college, he came across W. E. B. Du Bois's "The Souls of Black Folk", which inspired in him an interest in politics. In 1914 he moved to New York City and five years later wrote his most famous work, "If We Must Die", a sonnet dealing with the spate of white-on-black race riots and lynchings that succeeded the First World War. McKay's political and literary endeavours eventually took him to Russia, where he collaborated on "The Negroes of America" (1923) and "Trial by Lynching" (1925), which explored American black-white racism from a Marxist class-conflict perspective. After coming to terms with the Authoritarianism of the Soviet Union, McKay left for Western Europe in 1923. Highly recommended for those interested in American history and global politics during the twentieth century. Contents "De Route March", "Flat-Foot Drill", "Bennie's Departure", "Consolation", "Fire Practice", "Second-Class Constable Alston", "Last Words of the Dying Recruit", "Bound Fe Duty", etc. Ragged Hand is proudly republishing this collection of classic poetry, complete with an introductory excerpt by the author.

97 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

Jamaican-born American writer Claude McKay figured prominently in the Harlem renaissance of the 1920s; his works include collections of poetry, such as Constab Ballads (1912), and novels, including Home to Harlem (1928).

Home to Harlem, a best-seller, won Festus Claudius McKay, a poet and a seminal figure, the Harmon gold award for literature.
He also wrote novels Banjo and Banana Bottom . People not yet published his manuscript, called Amiable with Big Teeth: A Novel of the Love Affair between the Communists and the Poor Black Sheep of Harlem , of 1941.
McKay also authored collections of poetry, a collection of short stories, Gingertown . He authored two autobiographical books, A Long Way from Home and My Green Hills of Jamaica , published posthumously. He entitled a non-fiction, socio-historical treatise Harlem: Negro Metropolis . People published his poetry collection, Harlem Shadows , in 1922 among the first books during the Harlem renaissance. Survivors published his Selected Poems posthumously in 1953.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Claude McKay's "If We Must Die" is an important poem that deals with the experiences of Black Americans confronting racism and violence. Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer (murdered by Israel in 2023) famously adapted it into a poem about Palestinian struggles against racism and violence at the hands of their Zionist oppressors. As when reading the works of George Jackson and the Black Panthers, it is clear that there is much overlap between the struggles of the Palestinians in historic Palestine and the Black person in the Americas, especially the United States.

This is what drew me to McKay, and this poem is very moving. The other poems in this collection fail to move me in the same way. There are some wonderful lines here and there, but neither the style nor substance speak to me. Perhaps added to this is the challenge of reading through the Jamaican dialect (McKay was Jamaican-American; born in Jamaica, died in Chicago and an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance). More interesting from a historical or sociological perspective than a literary one, it may benefit me to explore more of McKay's prose and less of his poetry.