Langston Hughes was born on February 1st, 1902. He was born in Joplin, Missouri. His parents were James and Carrie Langston Hughes. He was raised by his grandmother, Mary Langston, and family friends, James and Mary Reed. Langston Hughes spent most of his childhood in Lawerence, Kansas. Langston attended high school in Cleveland, Ohio in 1915. In high school he wrote verses for his school’s magazine. Langston was a very successful student in high school. He wanted to attend Colombia University in New York City. Hughes wanted to become a poet. After graduating high school Hughes turned to his father for financial help to attend Colombia University. Langston’s father refused to pay for Langston’s tuition unless Langston agreed to study engineering. …show more content…
Hughes often wrote about the common experiences of the Black American. Here he discusses some of the simple things that he can no longer enjoy because of the white man. Hughes also wrote: “Plant your toes in the cool swamp mud./Step and leave no track./Hurry, sweating runner!/The hounds are at your back./No I didn’t touch her! White flesh ain’t for me!/Hurry! Black boy, hurry!/They’ll swing you to a tree!” Langston describes a topic that’s important to him. Racism. Growing up in the South and spending time with members of the NAACP really defined racism for Hughes and affected the way he viewed the world. Hughes was prideful about the color of his skin. Another example by Hughes was “A nigger night/A nigger joy,/A little yellow/Bastard boy./And/The Southern night is full of stars,/Great big yellow stars.” Here Hughes stresses that one will seek whiteness over blackness. Hughes wanted justice and equality, racially and socially for Black Americans. This was often reflected in his