Speaks Of Rivers

Despite the childhood and early life that Langston Hughes faced, he became one of the world’s greatest authors, poets, activists, and Harlem Renaissance leaders. His works reached such a prestige as to give him awards from institutions such as the NAACP for African American Achievements and a doctorate from Howard university. Facing oppression and problems as an early child, Langston Hughes was born into world that was unlikely to set him on the bright path he created for his life. He began his life on a unique path as he was multi racial being composed of African American, Native American, and French. Born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri, Hughes had a rare ethic background living in a time where races were largely composed of one color.

The well known poet Langston Hughes was an inspiring character during the Harlem Renaissance to provide a push for the black communities to fight for the rights they deserved. Hughes wrote his poetry to deliver important messages and provide support to the movements. When he was at a young age a teacher introduced him to poets Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman, and they inspired him to start his own. Being a “darker brother,” as he called blacks, he experienced and wanted his rights, and that inspired him. Although literary critics felt that Langston Hughes portrayed an unattractive view of black life, the poems demonstrate reality. Hughes used the Blues and Jazz to add effect to his work as well as his extravagant word use and literary

Hughes began his life in strife and struggles; soon after he was born his mother and father parted ways leaving him with no father figure (Biography.com 2015). While his mother moved around, Hughes stayed with his grandmother. She died when he was a young teen, causing this young boy more grief but also allowing him to go live with his mother once again (Biography.com 2015). Soon after these trials, he began to discover the art of poetry and started composing some pieces himself. When Langston went to visit his father in Mexico he wrote a very famous poem named “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” which tells of the soul of the African American and the heritage within them (Biography.com 2015). Hughes mentions rivers in Africa, tying this poem deep to the roots and showing the journey from Africa to America. During this poem Hughes mentions how “My soul has grown deep like the rivers,” which was an exact representation of many African Americans downcast thoughts during this time period. (Hughes 2017). This poem expressed the soul and mind of the black community during this post-slave oppression. Many white men still held grudges against the different race and still persecuted them daily. This did not matter to the African American community because they continued to push and rebel against the racial injustice. Langston Hughes used his poetry skills to voice the heart and soul

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 someone who never gave up on his dream. He was an African-American born in Missouri in 1902. He received his education at Columbia University and later went on to go to Lincoln University. Although he is most well known for being a poet, he held a variety of other jobs ranging from a busboy to a columnist in his early years. In the 1920s America entered the Harlem Renaissance, a time of appreciation for black heritage. It was at this point in history that he became an important writer. The reason he was so important to this time in history is because his writing, “offers a transcription of urban life through a portrayals of the speech habits attitudes and feelings of an oppressed people. The poems do more, however, than

Langston hughes is an american poet who was born in 1902 to a country that segregated him and a county he loved, such love comes from his amazing poem I Too.

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural and social movement that occurred due to black migration to the north increasing the social and economic boom. Langston Hughes is one of the influential African Americans that contributed to the Harlem Renaissance, by writing about events and his surroundings, his work was able to help struggling African Americans. Langston Hughes was born in February 1, in 1902 in Missouri. He began writing poetry while living in Lincoln, Illinois and years later he launched his literary career with his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. Most of his writings were influenced by his upbringing in New York City’s Harlem, which was a predominantly black community.

Langston Hughes is an extremely successful and well known black writer who emerged from the Harlem Renaissance (“Langston Hughes” 792). He is recognized for his poetry and like many other writers from the Harlem Renaissance, lived most of his life outside of Harlem (“Langston Hughes” 792). His personal experiences and opinions inspire his writing intricately. Unlike other writers of his time, Hughes expresses his discontent with black oppression and focuses on the hardships of his people. Hughes’ heartfelt concern for his people’s struggle evokes the reader’s emotion. His appreciation for black music and culture is evident in his work as well. Langston Hughes is a complex poet whose profound works provide insight into all aspects of black

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.

“James Mercer Langston Hughes, known as Langston Hughes was born February 2, 1902 in Missouri, to Carrie Hughes and James Hughes.” Years later his parents separated. Langston’s father moved to Mexico and became very successful, as his for mother, she moved frequently to find better jobs. As a child growing up Langston spent most of his childhood living with his grandmother named Mary Langston in Lawrence, Kansas. Mary Langston was a learned women and a participant in the civil rights Movement. When Langston Hughes was 12 years old his grandmother passed away. Langston then moved in with his mother and stepfather Homer Clark. A few months later, Langston’s mother sent him to live with her mother’s friend “Auntie” and Mr. Reed. In 1915

(“PoetryFoundation.org” Biography of Langston Hughes). Langston Hughes reflects cultural movement through his poetry about real life experiences and exemplifies the Harlem Renaissance by giving insight as to how African-American “voice” expanded throughout his time. Furthermore, by accepting criticism and using it to mature expressing his feelings in poetry. Also, using prejudice from others as a baseline to what’s to come throughout the Harlem

James Mercer Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. James Hughes and Carrie Langston are Hughes’ parents. They later divorced when Hughes was young. After his parents divorced he went to live with his grandmother until he turned thirteen years old. At thirteen years old he moved to Lincoln, Illinois. After living in Illinois he later moved to Cleveland, Ohio to live with his mother. When he moved to Cleveland he started writing poetry (“James Mercer…” par. 2). Langston had many influential poets that he looked up too such as Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman (“James Mercer…”par. 2). Langston Hughes, a gifted African-American poet, whose poetry was driven by blues, jazz, and other prominent ideas of the

Langston Hughes’s life contained key influences on his work. As a child, Hughes witnessed a divorce between his parents and the subsequent death of his grandmother, his primary caretaker at the time. Hughes’s childhood was also marked by the constant transition of moving from city to

According to Biography, James Mercer Langston Hughes is considered to be an African American poet who is college educated and comes from a middle-class family (Langston Hughes Biography). He attended college in New York City and became influential during the Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes Biography). Although Hughes was a talented writer, he faced some challenges early on and it was stated that his “early work was roundly criticized by many black intellectuals for portraying what they thought to be an unattractive view of black life” (Langston Hughes. American Poet). They believed that his work helps the spread the stereotypes of African Americans. “Hughes, more than any other black poet or writer, recorded faithfully the nuances of black life and its frustrations” (Langston Hughes. American Poet). Langston Hughes’s poems “The Negro Mother”, “Let America be America Again” and “The Weary Blues” were influenced by his life during the Harlem Renaissance and the racial inequality experienced in the late 1920s through the 1960s.

On February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri, Carrie and James Hughes had a child by the name James Mercer Langston Hughes. Little did Carrie and James know, their baby boy would one day be a famous american poet, author, playwright, and would play a pivotal role in the Harlem Renaissance. He left a huge impact in the world of american literature, more specifically African American literature. By studding Hughes personal experiences and major life events one can see how he incorporated topics, such as racial inequality, and the illegitimate opportunity structure for America's youth, in his works that seemed to be simple stories or poems.