<P> "If We Must Die" is a 1919 poem by Claude McKay published in the July issue of The Liberator . McKay wrote the poem as a response to mob attacks by white Americans upon African - American communities during Red Summer . The poem was later reprinted in The Messenger of the same year . The poem would also be read in Congress by Republican Senator from Massachusetts Henry Cabot Lodge . </P>

Who wrote the poem if we must die