Langston Hughes: Life During The Harlem Renaissance

In most every culture literature is revered. It is not an amplification when it is said that the pen is mightier than the sword. Speeches, and their subsequent written counterparts, carry a great deal of power. Consider Martin Luther King Junior, or even Adolph Hitler. Their words sparked movements that sent their societies spinning towards a new progression of life. What about poets? Those who can convey a traditionally mundane life into a flourishing undulation of sentiment. Have you ever considered the activists in the black community who were able to do so in spite of the educational, and societal misfortune they endured?
Langston Hughes was at the forefront of written expression during Harlem Renaissance. It was a time of a proverbial rebirth. The black community was seeing an in fulmination of the fine arts, and with that they had a platform to discuss relevant events in their communities. Langston Hughes rectified the way African Americans were portrayed in literature. Instead of being the token black friend who was less than their white counterpart, the black people in Hughes writings were three dimensional beings. Their ideas were touching; he was able to encapsulate the human experience as felt by an African American person
There weren’t instances of sugar coating, or even of putting things lightly. Life was exceedingly difficult, and Hughes wrote about it unapologetically. The writings seemed nearly tangible, with emotions rippling off the page. The full experiences of the black community were portrayed, even the not so pleasant ones. Although they were not favorable, they were the raw experience. There is something very courageous about a writer who is able to set aside their pride in order to bring to light the atrocities life could throw at them. Hughes challenged the status quo, and in doing so revolutionized African American literature