Who Is Langston Hughes: A Black Poet

A Black Poet Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri in 1902 (Arnold Rampersad 11). When Hughes was a child his mother and father separated. Most of his young childhood was spent with his grandmother. She raised him to know his self-worth and the importance of know where he came from. He had a lonely childhood. His grandmother encouraged him to read all sorts of literature. At the age of 13 he wrote his first poem in honor of graduation in Lincoln, Illinois where he attended elementary school (John Wiley & Sons 97). During the 1920’s artistic growth was on the rise. This brought on the movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was important to Hughes ' development as a poet because he spoke to other African American or “common people” alike, letting them know there self-worth and to truth to the inequality practiced in America.

Hughes ' development as a poet during the Harlem
Renaissance was intense to people of all ethnicities. Music played an important role in the African American culture as well as Hughes literature. People speak of Hughes as the father of the Harlem Renaissance. Af-Americans congregated in Harlem where jazz, blues and literature were awakened. This gives

understanding to the word “Renaissance”. He influenced many people with his talent as a writer. Artists of all races were inspired to follow his work. He spoke in his poems what he had experienced in his life and what other African American’s had endured. Whether they be African American or “common people” they could relate. During the time of the Harlem Renaissance, culture played an important role in Hughes’ poetry. In the poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, he writes this as a reminder to the African American people of their history. He speaks of bathing in the Euphrates, building a hut near the Congo and building pyramids in the Nile. All have been presumed as part of the history of African Americans in regards to slavery. He speaks of the Great Abraham Lincoln floating down the Mississippi during the time of slavery. This poem along with many others have been published all around the world.

Hughes speaks through his poetry with dignity and pride for the African American race.
In the essay “To Negro Writer” He spoke to the Negro population in regards to exposing what was really going on in those times. He speaks to Negro writers, saying to “seek to unite”, with the “white masses” to make peace. His message was to the “Negro masses”. He wants to inspire confidence in his reader. Letting the Negro masses know their lives are just as important as the next. Hughes speaks of exposing war. They considered it to be a privilege for the Negro masses to join the American League and fight for the “Nobel Red, White and Blue”. Although at that time they Americans did not practice equality for one and all. He saluted the white man, referring to him as being “ignorant/nigger”, for constantly creating propaganda. Referring to the white man as being simple minded. Only writing “about the moon”, or as in an earlier reading “roses”. Lloyd Brown argues that Langston Hughes ' poetry deals with an
all-encompassing

notion of the American Dream. Rather than focus merely on the "contradiction between the American promise of 'liberty and justice, '" and "the political and socio-economic disadvantages of the Black American" in Hughes poetry. (Bloom 37)

Hughes poems are collectively a famous library of work enjoyed by everyone. Hughes ' speaks of those that suffered from the unjust of inequality all around the world. I enjoyed learning about the history of African Americans as it relates to my topic. A lot of his work speaks directly about or to African Americans. With the daily struggles in those times he seen through the hate and encourage positive literature. Educating his people along with others.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold, ed. Bloom Literary Theme: The American Dream. Infobased, 2009. Print.
Haskins, James. Black Stars of the Harlem Renaissance. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2002. ebook file. 97.
Hughes, Langston. "I Wonder as I Wander." Preface. Autobiography. I Wonder as I Wander. Ed. Arnold Rampersad. Columbia: U of Missouri P, 2003. ebook file. 11.
Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Literature: Reading,Reacting, Writing. Ed. Karen Mauk. 8th ed. Boston: Micheal Rosenberg, 2013. Print.

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