Radical socialist activist and writer who was associated with the twentieth-century New Negro movement. He established the movement's primary publication, The Voice, and later edited The Negro World.
He was born in the West Indies, and he immigrated to the United States when he was seventeen years old.
He was an organizer for the Socialist Party of America.
He married Irene Louise Horton in 1909. The couple had five children.
He was inspired by W.E.B. DuBois.