"If We Must Die" is a poem by Jamaican-American writer Claude McKay (1890–1948) published in the July 1919 issue of The Liberator magazine. McKay wrote the poem in response to mob attacks by white Americans upon African-American communities during the Red Summer. The poem does not specifically reference any group of people, and has been used to represent many groups who are persecuted. It is considered one of McKay's most famous poems and was described by the poet Gwendolyn Brooks as one of the most famous poems of all time. Background During the Red Summer, from late summer to early autumn 1919, there was a wave of anti-black attacksat least twenty-five major "mob actions". In the attacks, hundreds of people were killed and thousands more were injured. James Weldon Johnson coined the term "Red Summer" to refer the period. Claude McKay was born in Jamaica in 1889. He moved to the United States in 1912, and after attending several schools, settled in New York City. He began to publish more poetry pseudonymously (having first published several collections in Jamaica). McKay's poetry was generally well received, particularly "To the White Fiends". Shortly after moving to New York, he met Max Eastman, the publisher of The Liberator magazine, and the two became friends. Writing and publication McKay experienced the Red Summer personally, seeing violent mobs of white people while he worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He wrote "If We Must Die" in response to the events. The sonnet was first published in the July 1919 issue of The Liberator. Frank Harris had sought to convince McKay to publish the poem in his Pearson's Magazine and was angry when it was not, telling McKay: "It belongs to me ... I gave you the inspiration to write that sonnet and I want to have the credit of publishing it." The poem was reprinted in The Messenger and the Workers' Dreadnought (London) later that year. It was widely reprinted in the years that followed. Analysis and reception "If We Must Die" is one of McKay's most famous poems, and poets such as Gwendolyn Brooks have cited it as "one of the most famous poems ever written". According to Jordanian scholar Shadi Neimneh, the poem "arguably marks the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance because it gives expression to a new racial spirit and self-awareness". It has also been described as "the most renowned of the Harlem