Langston Hughes '' Advertisement For The Waldorf-Astoria'

     People always listen to music, watch movies or plays, and even read poetry without once even thinking what is could be that helps and artist eventually create a masterpiece. Often times, it is assumed that artists just have a “gift”, and people just do not consider the circumstances and situations that gradually mold a dormant idea into a polished reality. This seems to be the case with nearly every famous actor, writer, painter, or musician; including the ever-famous Langston Hughes.

Langston Hughes, in “When the Negro Was in Vogue,” writes about the time when whites started to enter the city of Harlem. The once traditionally African American clubs became over run by those of the opposite race. Since this was during the time of the Jim Crow, African Americans were no longer allowed in their former clubs; the only exception was for celebrities. Even though they wanted to return the hostility, the African Americans did no such thing. However, this caused whites to believe that the African Americans had no qualms with their city being ran over. This lead to an influx in clubs banning African Americans from their club; this was an error, for the whites only came to watch the African Americans “amuse themselves.” Artist such as Gladys Bentley were also hired to bring in crowds. Since then, the author believes Harlem has

While waiting for the book’s publication, Hughes was working as a busboy at Washington’s Ward man Park Hotel, where, while serving the poet Vachel Lindsay and his wife at dinner, he left several of his own poems on the table. Lindsay read them that evening to a large audience at his poetry reading, and the story of his “discovery” (he was unaware that Hughes had already published widely in magazines and had a book in press, although he accepted the discovery of these

Langston Hughes’ poetry frequently cites the “American Dream” from the perspective of those who were disenfranchised in American, such as the Native Americans, African Americans, poor farmers, and oppressed immigrants. The American Dream was defined by James Truslow Adams as, “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” (Langston Hughes). Hughes’ poetry portrays the glories of equality, liberty, and the “American Dream” as the disenfranchised were trapped beneath oppression, poverty, and prejudice. Whose dreams are smothered and buried in a life characterized by the anguish of survival.

Nearly every dictionary defines compassion as a sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others; but this locution goes deeper than a monotonous and heartless rendition. In Langston Hughes's prominent short story, ¨Thank You Ma'am¨, the newly formed relationship between a skinny and ragged boy named Roger, and a large, strong woman by the name of Mrs. Jones, begins to unfold. On the way from work, Mrs. Jones feels a wrench on her purse, and sees a teenage boy-Roger. At this point, the strap was beginning to snap from the boy´s weight, sending him to the ground. Within a matter of seconds, Mrs. Jones commences on gripping Roger by the front of his shirt, dragging him behind her, ignoring his cries to be released.

Though never an official member of the Communist Party, Hughes, supported communism and defended the USSR through the 1940s. Hughes focused much of his effort into describing the life and experience of the black masses. He believed that social and racial problems were closely related to class conflicts, and that racial prejudice was only a manifestation of capitalism. In the early 1930s, a radical tone was pervasive in many of his works, especially in his volume of poetry entitled A New Song. One of the poems in the collection, for example, called for workers to rally in revolution with the words (1986): "Better that my blood makes one with the blood / Of all the struggling workers of the world - / Until the Red Armies of the International Proletariat / Their faces, black, white, olive, yellow, brown, / Unite to raise the blood-red flag that / Never will come down!" Because of many his views, and his impact on the black community, the white society of America at the time of the Harlem Renaissance and even years after labeled him as a radical. Interestingly enough, Hughes with his lifelong commitment to racial integration was rejected by 1960s radicals who considered him to be a part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.

James Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was very small, and his father (who found American racism made his desires to be a lawyer impossible) left the family and emigrated to Mexico. Hughes' mother moved with her child to Lawrence, Kansas, so she and he could live with his grandmother, Mary Langston.

and that he believes them. The poem also translates into how living in the city is toilsome and that the city is unrelenting. On the other hand it shows how the city can be prosperous and happy with the city’s disadvantages. in the second half of the poem it’s telling how nomatter what is wrong with the city, the people are still proud of who they are.

The use of symbolism and imagery is beautifully orchestrated in a magnificent dance of emotion that is resonated throughout the poem. The two main ideas that are keen to resurface are that of personal growth and freedom. Furthermore, at first glimpse this can be seen as a simple poem about a women’s struggle with her counterpart. However, this meaning can be interpreted more profoundly than just the causality of a bad relationship.

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).

Langston Hughes was born on February 2, 1902 in Joplin Missouri, and died on May 22, 1967 in New York, New York. Hughes' African American themes helped to contribute to the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, where he was a leader. He attended Columbia University and Lincoln University, published his first poem in 1921 and his first book in 1926. Hughes was a poet, playwright, novelist, and more.

Langston Hughes once said, “Negroes - Sweet and docile, Meek, humble, and kind: Beware the day - They change their mind.” Poetry has had a profound impact on the society and culture of the American people, changing styles throughout the decades, but remaining steady in

As time has passed humanity still tends to separate each other based on our racial being rather than seeing each other as one human race. Langston Hughes’s, “A New Song,” published in 1938 introduces the idea of a new vision of social relations in American society. Hughes’s original version of this poem written in 1933, does not encompass his growing anger on this subject that is dwelled upon in his published version. However, with Hughes’s powerful tone and word choice throughout his 1938 rendition, his reader is able to understand his urge to transform America into an interracial culture. (Central Idea) His poem voices the importance of transforming society into a multiethnic unity and working-class established through cultural ties between whites and blacks. (Thesis) Hughes voices this crucial need to change through his emphasis on African American’s past struggles as opposed to the new dream, his militant tone, and through expressing the role that the establishment of cultural ties plays in society.

The Harlem Renaissance sought to revitalize African American culture with a focus on arts and literature and creating socioeconomic opportunities (Harlem Renaissance). This temporal setting, predominantly the influence of the Harlem Renaissance, of Hughes’s life explains the purpose of Hughes’s writing: to express the oppression of African Americans and the imperfections of Hughes’s America and to heighten African American morale during his life through his writing.

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement and the enlightenment of black minds as a whole. This movement sparked the minds of many leaders such as Marcus Garvey, W.E.B Dubois, and Langston Hughes, these men would also come to be known as the earliest Civil Rights activists. While Garvey and Dubois expressed their views in speeches and rallies Hughes had a different approach and chose to articulate his thoughts and views through literature more specifically poetry. Through his poetry, Hughes became a world renown poet for such works as “Let America Be America Again”, “Harlem” and “I Too” taken from his first book “The Weary Blues.” These poems while written and inspired by the everyday struggles of being an African-American were arguably targeted at white Americans. Hughes wrote a majority of his work during the Harlem Renaissance and as a result focused on “injustice” and “change” in the hopes that society would recognize their mistake and reconcile, but in order for this to happen he would have to target the right audience.