Langston Hughes: Leader Of The Harlem Renaissance

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On February 1st 1962 in Joplin, Missouri a social activist, poet, novelist, and playwright was born. Langston Hughes was the leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He was born to Carrie (Caroline) Mercer Langston and James Nathaniel Hughes.Caroline and James divorced shortly after Langstons birth. Hughes was mainly raised by his maternal grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas until her death in his early teens.While his mother traveled seeking employment, his father fled to Cuba and Mexico seeking escape from the the enduring racism in the US. Langstons maternal grandmother instilled a lasting sense of racial pride in him. After his grandmother died Langston went to live with his mother in Lincoln, Illinois. His mother shortly after remarried and they