George Wilson Becton was the "first of the colorful cult leaders in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

." He began charismatic preaching in about 1930, after the decline of

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) (commonly known a ...

, and continued until he was mysteriously murdered in 1933. Becton's sermons were formal and presented in a dignified setting, with orchestral music and liveried pages. He was kidnapped and shot to death on May 25, 1933. He died without describing his attackers or explaining why anybody might have wanted him killed."Four Men of Harlem -- The Movers and the Shakers," in ''Harlem, U.S.A.,'' John Henrik Clarke, 1971 edition, p.253

Claude McKay Festus Claudius "Claude" McKay OJ (September 15, 1890See Wayne F. Cooper, ''Claude McKay, Rebel Sojourner In The Harlem Renaissance'' (New York, Schocken, 1987) p. 377 n. 19. As Cooper's authoritative biography explains, McKay's family predate ...

wrote about Becton in his book ''Harlem, Negro Metropolis.''

References

1933 deaths People murdered in 1933 African-American Christian clergy American Christian clergy Kidnapped American people Murdered African-American people Deaths by firearm in New York (state) People murdered in New York City Year of birth missing {{US-reli-bio-stub