http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20221
Claude McKay (1889 - 1948) (pictured) emigrated to America from Jamaica in 1912. He briefly attended Tuskegee Institute before switching to Kansas State University (Go 'Cats!). He was a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Coincidentally, he is one of the poets featured in the MOOC in which I am enrolled, Modern & Contemporary American Poetry. A more detailed biography may be found here:
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/25?utm_source=PAD%3A+America+by+Claude+McKay&utm_campaign=poemaday_101313&utm_medium=email
Mr. McKay was known for using the Shakespearean sonnet and high poetic language in his poetry. The themes he chose were often calls for resistance to or protests against racism. "America" features all of these elements, but the protest is softened somewhat by his admission of love for his adopted country despite its many injustices.
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