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 (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

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

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...

, 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 predated ...

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

References

1933 deaths 1933 murders in the United States African-American Christian clergy American Christian clergy Kidnapped American people Male murder victims Murdered African-American people Deaths by firearm in New York (state) People murdered in New York (state) Year of birth missing {{US-reli-bio-stub