How Did Langston Hughes Use The Imagery Of The Civil Rights Movement?

When you think of America you imagine the “land of the free,” and the “American dream.” This belief is carried on as the country is regarded to be full of opportunity, that anyone can be successful. However, the Civil Rights Movement was created when the black people of America could not ignore their unfair share of freedom and rights compared to white people. The movement was upheld by the abundant number of leaders within the movement campaigning for their Civil rights. John Lewis and Langston Hughes make use of imagery and their shared methods to display the amount of injustice within America during that time period.
To start, John Lewis and Langston Hughes use strong imagery to describe how the lack of freedom affected African-Americans.

Even if he was at risk of being pulled out and brutally beaten, he still considered the law before his life. In the panel, he later states that the two white women in the car had to go, with the black people blankly staring at them. The illustrator drew their faces darker to highlight the horror in their faces, and to show their morality leaving. This is important because it portrays how they were willing to let the women go out of the vehicle to the violent environment so they could drive away. This whole situation of fear and letting others go displays the lack of freedom within society during that time period. The fact that they had no other choice but to abandon them shows how twisted society was then and how the laws heavily affected protesters. In the poem, “Let America Be America Again,” Langston Hughes wrote, “America never was America to me,” (Hughes 1936). He uses the word “me” to speak for all of the black people in America. Instead of the promised “land of the free,” and “liberty,” African-Americans are discriminated against and

For example, in the second book of March, protesters wait in line for a movie that they know does not accept African-American customers. Many white bystanders spit and throw objects at the protesters (Lewis 18). This shows the protesters’ ability to withstand the humiliation faced by activists as they were treated inhumanely. It goes to prove how protesters aren’t treated like humans when conducting a peaceful protest, as it just displays how white people can just crush them down if they wanted to. Connecting to movies, a theater is a place where people can laugh and enjoy a film. But because of this separation, it can show how they could never have this shared experience time where films connect individuals. This deeply connects to the poem by Langston Hughes, where “I, too” states, “I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes, but I laugh and eat well, and grow strong, tomorrow I’ll be at the table (Hughes 1926). Langston Hughes makes use of equality during this poem, as the “darker brother” isn’t allowed to be eating at the same table as others. This promptly talks about segregation then and how it didn’t allow coexistence between colored and uncolored individuals. To connect with coexistence, the table can hold a strong meaning that could allow this to be possible, as it