Langston Hughes: An American Poet

Langston Hughes is a well known as an American poet. Langston Hughes was born James Mercer Langston Hughes on February 1, 1902, and died 65 years later May 22, 1967. Langston Hughes made his mark in literature during the Harlem Renaissance as more than just a poet. Langston Hughes was a novelist, playwright, and social activist. Through his works he spoke out on racism, inequality all while still celebrating Black Culture.

Langston Hughes was born in Joplin Missouri to Carrie Langston Hughes and James N. Hughes. His mother and father both had lifestyles that did not allow them to raise their child. His mother was looking for a career on stage and his father went to México as a businessman. This resulted in Hughes living with his grandmother,

In April of 1925 Langston Hughes’ poem “The Weary Blues” won him his first prize for poetry. It was from The Opportunity magazine’s literary contest. Langston decides to go back to university at the HBCU Lincoln University in Pennsylvania where he later graduated from in 1929. With the help of his sponsor, Charlotte Manson, Langston Hughes goes to Cuba where he sparks Nicolás Guillén to introduce Negro Poems to Cuba. Without the support of his sponsor, Langston Hughes returns back to the states and takes up playwriting at Hedgerow Theater. Langston Hughes novel Not Without Laughter is published and has great reviews. Langston Hughes goes on to win the Harmon Foundation Medal and $400. 1935 Langston Hughes finds his play Mulatto is about to open on Broadway. Even with his protest the play the play becomes the longest running play on Broadway by a black playwright until 1958. During WWII 1942, Langston Hughes wrote columns for The Chicago Defender and introduced the character, Jesse B Semple. This comedic character served as a way for Langston Hughes to address racism, inequality, and other social issues for the next 20

Segregation and inequality of People of Colour play a big role in the poems that I will be addressing in this Essay. As a Black American he uses his experience and the experiences of People of Colour in America to create his works and connect us in the struggle against racial injustice. Langston Hughes used these poems to express what People of Colour were going through and how we felt in that time.

“Let America be America Again” was a criticism of the treat of black people and other poc in America. The poem speaks to America or rather white America who have created a false sense of freedom on stolen land. At the beginning of the poem Hughes is asking for America to be America again and in parenthesis saids “(America was never America to me)” like he was saying it under his breath. America wasn’t the land of the free for black once they arrived it never had the same opportunities as it offered to White Americans. Black people had to fight to even be considered a whole human. “(It was never America to