African American Literature: Claude McKay and Gwendolyn Brooks

Comparative literature is a liberating and humanizing force on literature itself by breaking the boundaries and leading ultimately to a realization of the oneness of humanity. Research pertaining to any aspect of the African American society have to be made necessarily with reference to their history, for their life had been uniquely conditioned by the peculiar situation in which they lived. Claude McKay and Gwendolyn Brooks are the two great Black intellectuals, who identify themselves with the suffering Blacks. They utilize the English language as a medium to voice their protests to create Black Consciousness among them with an egalitarian view. McKay’s poems breathed militance, anger and alienation. Brooks, the grand dame of the twentieth century, began writing poems even at the age of seven. Her involvement in the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) paved her way to have interactions with great ambition achievers like Margaret Taylor. Brooks’ poems, meant for Blacks and not against Whites. The marvelous contribution rendered by these poets brought an excellent advancement and upliftment in the life of African Americans.