Langston Hughes Let America Be America Again

America Langston Hughes’ “Let America Be America Again” is the poem that I have chosen to write about. Out of the poems I read it is the one that struck a chord with me on a very deep level. This poem speaks about how to many America is synonymous with freedom, often times forgetting that for some America was never that. I am proud to be an American, but,I often times forget how many people's lives, freedom, and rights were trampled in the making of this great nation. This poems reminds me that though America fought to secure its freedom from England, at the same time America stole freedom from many others. This poem serves as a reminder that on my path to my own personal success I should make the conscious choice to not trample on those around me in pursuit of my own goals.

Hughes was born in Missouri in 1902 and studied in the New York at the University of Columbia and in Pennsylvania at Lincoln University. During his four decade career Langston wrote 16 volumes of poems as well as many other works. He traveled extensively throughout his life and wrote about his travels in two volumes of his autobiography. Hughes is well known for his works that addressed struggles of African American communities throughout the United States, Hughes “believed it was his vocation to ‘explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America’ (DiYanni 993).” Though many of his poems are describing racism in the early to mid 20th century, they are still relatable to many people