Langston Hughes, Prolific Writer Of Black Pride During The Harlem Renaissance

Meanwhile, throughout “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” Hughes does the complete opposite: he uses a unique, powerful form of freestyle to express not only his own different qualities from other poets but also describe his views of the merits and power of the black race. The utter clash between Cullen and Hughes’ poems are a representation of the variety of perspectives black poets from the Harlem Renaissance era portrayed, despite all living through a similar

Both Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes were great writers but their attitudes towards their personal experience as an African American differed in many ways. These differences can be attributed to various reasons that range from gender to life experience but even though they had different perceptions regarding the African American experience, they both shared one common goal, racial equality through art. To accurately delve into the minds of the writers’ one must first consider authors background such as their childhood experience, education, as well their early adulthood to truly understand how it affected their writing in terms the similarities and

The Harlem Renaissance was an evolutionary period in terms of African-American cultural expression; in fact, the movement changed the way that black musicians, poets, authors, and even ordinary people perceived themselves. One of the most influential poets of the time was Langston Hughes. Hughes’ works display a pride in being black that most African-Americans are too afraid to show, even today. Moreover, he adamantly refused to submit to the sentiment that he should be ashamed of his heritage, instead believing that “no great poet has ever been afraid of being himself.”(p1990 From the Negro Artist). In the article “‘Don’t Turn Back’: Langston Hughes, Barack Obama, and Martin Luther King, Jr.” by Jason Miller, Miller analyzes how Hughes’ poetry has been used by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Barack Obama and how the House of Un-american Activities Committee affected that use.

Langston Hughes was an influential leader toward many African American men, woman, and children in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Langston Hughes may not be as well-known for the civil rights movement as Martin Luther King Jr. was, but Hughes was capable of placing an everlasting impact on black culture during this period of civil rights unrest in the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. was an advocate for allowing the rights of African American people

During the 1920s, black literature and culture exploded in a movement known as the Harlem Renaissance, which at its forefront directly challenged white stereotypes that ‘defined’ black perception in society. Thus, one major focus during this movement was to recreate and define a new identity for black Americans through the lens of art. Two poets attempted such a feat and, in their works, argued for an identity centered on the authentic roots and customs of African-American culture. As evidenced by “I, too,” “Theme for English B,” and “The Melting Pot,” Hughes and Randall assert that black racial identity should not be sequestered, but instead should be embraced in society.

In the other hand, we see Langston Hughes looks at the new movement in negative perspective because the African American aren’t getting the same equal right like whites. He believed that the movement at Harlem is segregated African American where Jim Crow made to keep them at the same place as they were before. His argument was people need to accept the reality of the blacks living during that time, because people acting as if the movement gave black people freedom, but in fact it didn’t. The black people

In his essay “The Negro Artists and the Racial Mountain,” Langston Hughes shared his thoughts with the readers regarding racial identity. He believed that every individual should be proud of who they are and stand by their race. The idea of passing would be considered extremely offensive and even an action of betrayal by him. Instead of following the steps of the socially superior group—whites in this case, Hughes suggested that the minority groups need to stay true to them selves and their culture, and they need to united and fight for their rights. It is only through doing so that the minority groups can rise up to the equal of the superior group, not by submitting to it.

Langston Hughes was a Harlem renaissance poet. During the time he wrote the poem “Harlem (A dream deferred)” blacks faced prejudice and segregation. Their dream was to have equal rights in their constitutional right to peruse happiness. Langston

The poet in Hughes’ essay says that he only wants to be a poet. He did not want to be associated with race. Hughes took that as meaning that he did not want to be a negro poet. Hughes associated this need with the fact that he was of a middle-class family and taught to act white. This essentially disconnected the poet from his blackness and his purpose for creating high quality black art. “One sees immediately how difficult it would be for an artist born in such a home to interest himself in interpreting the beauty of his own people. He is never taught to see that beauty. He is taught rather not to see it, or if he does, to be ashamed of it when it is not according to Caucasian patterns” (1311). Once a person chooses to dissociate themselves from their heritage, it becomes almost impossible to create art meaningful for that race. Because Hughes had his own personal vindications with race and class systems, Pardlo believes this is why he was quick to condemn others who openly voiced differing opinions; however, Hughes played a vital role in the advancement of black Americans during the Harlem Renaissance for this very reason. Hughes, for the sake of the advancement of blacks, critiqued artists for their positions and involvement, or lack thereof, in the Harlem Renaissance.

Although Langston Hughes’ stories and essays were written almost 100 years ago, their messages are still relevant today. In his short pieces, “Who’s Passing for Who?” and “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” he describes the social and economic disconnect between white and black Americans that he observed and experienced throughout his life. Both essays highlight the strong feeling of “otherness” that black culture felt—there is a clear divide between black and white cultures. “Who’s Passing for Who?” tells the story of a white couple who are pretending to be part black in an attempt to experience an authentic night out in Harlem. “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” illuminates the internalized racism black people experience as a result of their pressure to conform to the standards of a white-driven culture. Both “Who’s Passing for Who?” and “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” reflect white culture’s continuous appropriation of black culture and the effects this has on the black community.

The practice of racial segregation was common during the early 20th century African American faced discrimination every day. They were forced to work, eat, live, and travel separate from the whites. African Americans deserved the same fair treatment of American freedom. In this poem Hughes knew that by labor he’s an American citizen; but as a black man in the pre-Civil rights movement, he wasn’t being treated like one. This poem identifies the struggles of a working minority black man. Freedom and equality are two concepts that good citizens should demonstrate. The speaker is envisioning a world in which he’ll be just as welcomed as all the free people in the country. I argue that even though African Americans were racially sketched they still had hope that the future would be brighter.

Hughes expresses this thought in his essay “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain.” In it, he recounts the story of a young black poet approaching him and saying that “’I want to be a poet-not a Negro poet.’” Hughes explains that this sentiment is a reflection of many middle class black people’s desire to be as white as possible. He laments that the young poet may never turn out to be great because he is afraid of who he is. This part of “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” shows Hughes’ desire to not pretend to be colorblind.

When it comes to the topic African-American poetry, most of us will readily agree that observed quality and success rate based on the capitalistic values is a complicated topic. In our class discussion, many Tualatin students said that Langston Hughes wrote for minorities, while others argued that it was a universal topic. Critic J.A. Rogers reminds us of the complicated nature of the problem, stating American success rate is dependant on white consumption; however, every piece that you write should reflect your values, not what is profitable at the time. According to Rogers, “ [Langston Hughes] designed [his poetry] for whites with preconceived notions about Negroes”.

Mr. Hughes, an African American poet, played an important role during the early twenties and thirties due to segregation. As his poetry portrayed the lifestyles of African men and women he eventually promoted the ideal message that African Americans were just the same as the whites that deserved to live the American Dream just as everyone else. In addition to this, Mr. Hughes’s poems represent the idealistic thoughts about these African Americans versus the actual situations they have to face to be realistic in order to reach what is to believe the “American Dream.” Regarding that the whites would immediately judge others by the color of their race rejecting the rights they wanted from the whites when all along African Americans were just as similar to the whites and strived for the same goal as everyone else not caring what race they were from. With that being said, Hughes made a huge impact towards the movement in his writings creating conflict and true experiences in his life he had to face that can relate to every African American born into the segregation era.

The “Civil Rights Movement“ urged the abolition of the “Separate-but-Equal“ doctrine that formed the basis for social, economical and political discrimination of black Americans. This concern as well as the demand for complying the promises made in the “Emancipation Proclamation“ are to been seen in Hughes's late works, depicting the sociopolitical incidents of that time. In contradistinction to his early works in the 1920s,when Hughes merely sparked hopes of a better future, he now wants the black population to do their utmost to realise the African-American dream, if necessary even by force.