Color Runs Deep

Langston Hughes was one of the great writers of his time. He was named the “most renowned African American poet of the 20th century” (McLaren). Through his writing he made many contributions to following generations by writing about African American issues in creative ways including the use of blues and jazz. Langston Hughes captured the scene of Harlem life in the early 20th century significantly influencing American Literature. He once explained that his writing was an attempt to “explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America” (Daniel 760). To fulfill this task, he wrote 15 volumes of poetry, six novels, three books, 11 plays, and a variety of non-fiction work (Daniel 760). He also edited over 50 books in his time (McKay).

Hughes states “By what sends the white kids, I ain’t sent: I know I can’t be president” (Lines 1-5). He is referring to the fact that he is not like many other kids due to his skin color and he knows he will not have a future because of it. In the lines three through six of the poem, he explains that the white kids are unaware of the things that bother him because they don’t bother the white kids, “when don’t bug kid’s sure bugs me” (Lines 6-7). He knows his life is much more difficult than white’s person life. Hughes writes about liberty and justice and how, even if it was promised, it was not given at all, “We Know everybody ain’t free” (Lines 9-10). Hughes makes fun of the idea that colored people are free, “Liberty and Justice, Huh! For all?” (Lines 14-15).

Foremost, Langston Hughes was born on February 1st, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri to two black parents. They later divorced which caused Hughes to move around a lot and be raised by his grandmother. Through his friends and schoolmates, Hughes was “introduced to leftist literature and ideology” (Gale Group), as they associated with socialism. This marked the beginning of Hughes avid love of reading and literature. He was influenced by The Souls of Black Folk which which was a classic novel about racism that inspired his writing and poems about the “experiences, attitudes, and language of everyday black Americans” (Gale Group). Hughes experienced racism first hand through his father, as he considered all other races inferior to whites, further alienating Hughes from him. At 17, he wrote “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” which celebrated the voice and soul of the black community in a time of great hatred, helping to unite and inspire blacks during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a time of cultural rebirth and a movement during the 1920s and 1930s in America in which black artists, activists, musicians, and writers “found new ways to explore and celebrate the black experience” (Gale Group) in the midst of white oppression. Hughes’ poetry gave a voice and inspiration for many black people across America as he detailed their struggles and pain related to the racial prejudice shown against them. The way Hughes wrote, threading in “structures and rhythms of jazz music” (Gale Group), his

Langston Hughes was an African American poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright. His works are still studies, read, and, in terms of his poems and plays, performed. He is best known for being a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Within his works, he depicted black America in manners that told the truth about the culture, music, and language of his people. Besides his many notable poems, plays, and novels, Hughes also wrote essays such as The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain which Hughes gives insight into the minds of middle-class and upper-class Negroes. Prior to reading this essay, I never heard of, nor did I know, Langston Hughes composed essays, much less an essay that outwardly depicts aspects of life that most are accustomed to and see nothing wrong with. The Negro and the Racial Mountain formulated this view that Langston Hughes was more than a poet who wrote about jazz music as he is depicted within grade school textbooks, but instead, a man who had a great passion for the African American race to develop a love for themselves and for non-African American audiences to begin to understand how the African American race can be strong and creative despite struggles that may be occur. There is a possibility that this essay, The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain, is not more commonly known because it has the ability to make the reader uncomfortable, no matter if he is an African American or white. For the African American, one can find himself reflecting back

Langston Hughes is one the most renowned and respected authors of twentieth century America not simply one of the most respected African-American authors, though he is certainly this as well, but one of the most respected authors of the period overall. A large part of the respect and admiration that the man and his work have garnered is due to the richness an complexity of Hughes' writing, both his poetry and his prose and even his non-fictions. In almost all of his texts, Hughes manages at once to develop and explore the many intricacies and interactions of the human condition and specifically of the experience growing up and living as a black individual in a white-dominated and explicitly anti-Black society while at the same time, while at the same time rendering his human characters and their emotions in a simple, straightforward, and immensely accessible fashion. Reading the complexity behind the surface simplicity of his works is at once enjoyable and edifying.

A poem by Hughes that really stands out to me is Let America Be America Again. He attacks the notion that America is “for the free”, but does so through powerful, metaphoric language. “I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart; I am the negro bearing slavery’s scars; I am the red man driven from the land…” I find this specific passage stands out to me because Hughes takes an opportunity in his poem to expose how life was for others during the early 1900s beyond just the blacks in America. I found Hughes opens my mind to the idea that not only were blacks being extremely mistreated, but so were the poor whites, and Native Americans at this time as well were STILL being taken advantage of. I believe when most people think of the slavery era, we tend to forget that the true enemy of this time were rich whites (not all, but the general idea). Even looking at this piece by Hughes as a whole, I find that he writes his poetry by what he has felt himself and his own personal experiences. Hughes writes with the sole purpose of sharing his experiences with others, and for the generations that will

Travel back in time several centuries ago to the 1900’s and imagine how different life would be – oil lamps/candles, outhouses or one toilet shared between several people, movies known as “flickers” and lasting no longer than 10 minutes, no television, ice boxes as opposed to refrigerators, baseball being the main sport that people followed as opposed to football, and unless you were a White male, your lifestyle was not filled with many opportunities or rights. With slavery being abolished not too long ago, discrimination and segregation was still widely accepted and practiced. Life was much different back then. Although people were heavily being judged for the color of their skin, a movement called the Harlem Renaissance had a major influence on people’s views on African-Americans across the United States. The Harlem Renaissance created a new Black cultural identity through literature, music, theater, art, and politics. One of the leading voices was Langston Hughes, a writer whom wrote realistic portrayals, both suffering and victories of African-American lifestyles through poetry, short stories, novels, and plays. Through short, effective, and expressive words, Langston Hughes’s poetry promoted African-American culture and also addressed the oppression and injustice of African-Americans.

Langston Hughes recognizes in the poem that it is not right for the people who live and work in and love America to be enslaved by social injustice. During Hughes' time during the early 20th century, the country

This is poem is basically showing the injustice in America against blacks/ Negros. In Hughes’ biography he mentions that he is involved in the fight for equality for all working class people no matter what race. This is still a problem today; with police men using excessive force with black males and killing them without going through will proper procedures. A black man walks the streets and is perceived as a

You're probably wondering who built the Great Pyramids? According to Harvard Semitic museum associate Mark Lehner, he found the city of the pyramid builders. The Supreme Council of antiques has been excavating a worker's sanctuary. Those who built the pyramids were risking their lives. If you were a child, you were building these pyramids too. Some popular pieces of history said that foreigners or even slaves were forced into labor. Some of the skeletons were excavated and that shows us that some of the worker were native Egyptians labors that worked during the flood of the Nile.

The Egyptians began building pyramids as tombs for the pharaohs and queens. They were believed to be between human and god, so their body would need to be protected and recognizable by its spirit. Many of their tombs have been robbed. There are over 100 known pyramids in Egypt today. The pyramids of Giza are the three largest pyramids in Egypt. The biggest of the pyramids, the ‘Great Pyramid’ was built for the pharaoh Khufu and took 23 years

    Let’s start by answering the question, “Who built the pyramids?” At first it seemed like only slaves would spend so much time building something that seemed so inessential, but that’s not the case. Most people voluntarily helped with the building of

One theory “Probing Question: How Were the Egyptian pyramids built?” by Marissa McCauley takes a plausible approach to how the pyramids were built. In the article it states “But the process of building pyramids, while complicated, was not as colossal an undertaking as many of us believe, Redford says. Estimates suggest that between 20,000 and 30,000 laborers were needed to build the Great Pyramid at Giza in less than 23 years.” This shows how the construction of the Egyptians was very difficult, but still manageable

Throughout many movies they show that the Great Pyramids were built by slaves but that was not the case at all in fact they were assembled by waged laborers. As a man it was considered part of your duty and was expected from you to work on the pyramids in your lifetime. Some of the jobs included masons, surveyors, and of course laborers. The quarries was where the stone for many things including the pyramid was created. They were located across the Nile in Tura, Maasara and Aswan where quality stone was produced for the construction of the pyramids. Once created these stones were marked with red ink for placement purposes and floated across the Nile during flood season. The stones were pulled across the desert floor for placement. The location

I feel that way because when your reading this poem, as you begin to break it down and realize the true meaning behind it, its saying that though times have been difficult, people have strived and suffered for a better day. They’ve accomplished so much in the course of history. Langston wrote this poem in June 1920, way before major accomplishments by later activist. So one could say this poem was a vision for a brighter day ahead of us. Lines 9-10, “…. went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.” (9-10) describes the turn of events and how it overcame. Though in this case Hughes was referring to slavery, that metaphor could be applied to any obstacle you have overcome in