This is an accepted version of this page Frank Marshall Davis (December 31, 1905 – July 26, 1987) was an American journalist, poet, political and labor movement activist, and businessman.
During this time Davis began to write poetry seriously, including his first long poem, entitled Chicago's Congo, Sonata for an Orchestra.
[citation needed] In 1935, Davis returned to Chicago to take the position of managing editor of the Associated Negro Press (ANP),[11] a news service founded in 1919 for black newspapers.
[citation needed] While in Chicago, Davis also started a photography club, worked for numerous political parties, and participated in the League of American Writers.
[12] Davis wrote that his photography consisted in large part of nudes because "the female body fascinates me, both aesthetically and emotionally.
[13] Davis, Richard Wright, Margaret Walker, and others were part of the South Side Writers Group, which met regularly beginning in 1936 to critique each other's work.
Davis also worked as a sports reporter, in particular covering the rivalry between African-American boxer Joe Louis and the German Max Schmeling.
[17] He began to work on community organizing, starting a Chicago labor newspaper, The Star, toward the end of World War II.
The paper's goal was to "promote a policy of cooperation and unity between Russia and the United States"[18] seeking to "[avoid] the red-baiting tendencies of the mainstream press.
"[19] In 1947, the Spokane Daily Chronicle of Washington state described the paper as "a red weekly", saying that it "has most of the markings of a Communist front publication.
"[20] After World War II, Americans became suspicious of the Soviet Union, a former ally, after it extended its control over Eastern Europe, and fears were raised about the influence of Communism in the US.
[22] Davis had been a strong supporter of the work of Richard Wright, describing his Uncle Tom's Children as "the most absorbing fiction penned by a Negro since George Schuyler's Black No More" (1931).
In his memoir Livin' the Blues (1992), Davis described Wright's essays on this theme as "an act of treason in the fight for our rights and aided only the racists who were constantly seeking any means to destroy cooperation between Reds and blacks.
"[19] Davis promoted the ideal of a "raceless" society, based on his belief that race as a biological or social construct was illogical and a fallacy.
[28] In Hawaii, Davis wrote a weekly column, called "Frank-ly Speaking," for the Honolulu Record, a labor paper published by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).
His work began to be published in anthologies as there was a revival of interest in black writers due to the civil rights movement and increasing activism.
"[5] Richard Guzman highlights Davis' poetry for its "social engagement, especially in the fight against racism" as well as its "fluent language and stunning imagery.
He stood by his principle that the only way to achieve social equality was to acknowledge and discuss publicly the racial and ethnic dynamics in all their complexity situated in an unjust society.
[36] Through exposure provided by Randall, Stephen Henderson and Margaret Taylor Goss Burroughs, Davis influenced the Black Arts Movement.
Davis described the way Kansas race relations were back then, including Jim Crow restrictions, and his belief that there had been little progress since then.
One day Obama visited areas where Davis had lived, writing, "I imagined Frank in a baggy suit and wide lapels, standing in front of the old Regal Theatre, waiting to see Duke or Ella emerge from a gig.