Langston Hughes As A Poet

African Americans began to generate a sense of pride within themselves, and a discovery of their own identity. Blacks and whites began mixing socially; and it was the art of Black America that made this connection between the races possible. The Harlem Renaissance had a big impact on the art world and for African Americans. While the Harlem Renaissance was built on African American traditions and culture, it was also influenced by European and White American artist. Art has always been a form of expression, and for African American it became an outlet for opposing racial inequality and to quote, “primitive/savage” stereotypes placed upon them.

James Weldon Johnson was known mainly for his poetry James John was the first African American in his country. Johnson gave a more in depth view into his life he also focused on African American accomplishment and everything battled through his life he was brought up in a middle class setting. Along this was a way to clear that the autobiography of Ex-Coloured Man was not a record of his life. O black slave singers, gone, forgot, unfamed, You—you alone, of all the long, long line Of those who’ve sung untaught, unknown, unnamed, Have stretched out upward, seeking the divine. This part of the poem was interesting to me because I figured that it refers back to slavery because back in slavery blacks where unknown at this time.

Hughes citied Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman as some of his main inspirations. Today we remember Langston Hughes for his insightful, and his very vivid portrayal and personal views on the black life in America from the 1920’s throughout the 1960’s. He wrote many novels throughout his life along with short stories and plays, as well as poetry. His life work were important in the early shaping of the artistic contributions to follow after him. Some have considered him to be one of the earliest innovators of jazz poetry.

In hindsight he believed his poems helped others realize the injustices that all minorities had to face during this era. Langston Hughes was born February 1st, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. In the roaring 20’s he started writing professionally and was essential in portraying black life in America. Hughes grew up in a time of social injustice involving the treatment of minorities (specifically African Americans). As his career went on the Harlem Renaissance became a major movement in which he was essential to.

Poetry was a major part of the Harlem Renaissance, because it tells different stories of black culture in African American literature. Many poets wrote poetry related to the black movement during a time of ambiguity of our rights as Americans like James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Alain

Blacks have served and died in defense of their adopted homeland. The individuals that make up the whole of the black population, have offered up their talents to forward the cause of peace and prosperity in America. Langston hughes is a famous american poet, who emphasises on the topic of black inequality in most of his works.besides owning the title of a beloved American poet, Hughes considered himself a social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. Hughes innovated the then-new literary art form called jazz

The Black Arts Movement sought to change how blacks were represented and portrayed in literature and the arts. African American literature began to enter the mainstream of publishing, and it also began to be read by both black and white audiences. African American literature began to be defined and analyzed. Toni Morrison is the best known writer of this phase; she is a living proof that black women succeeded in this phase as novelists, poets, writers and

The poem was written in 1935, and is an inspiring narrative voiced by an African American (Langston Hughes: Poems “Let America Be America Again” summary and analysis”). Throughout the poem, the narrator contrasts his hopes for America with the reality of life for those not in the dominant racial, religious, and social groups (Langston Hughes: Poems “Let America Be America Again” summary and analysis”). The purpose of “Let America Be America Again” is to show the issues of racial and social equality ("A Study Guide For Langston Hughes "Let America Be America Again""). Hughes uses imagery to help the reader imagine how great America could be with equality for all, and to allow the reader to feel the oppression of inequality the writer is feeling. Also, sound devices including rhyme and alliteration are found in Hughes’ poem.

One writer of the Harlem Renaissance was Langston Hughes.Hughes cast off the influences of white poets and and used blues and jazz to write his poems. Claude Mckay urged African Americans to stand up for their rights in his work. Jean Toomer wrote plays,short stories, and poems to capture the spirit of his times. Zora Neale Hurston was noticed quickly with her moving novel, “THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD”. In conclusion these were some of the people that changed African American traditions for the better.

Langston Hughes is an African American Poet who is very closely connected to his culture and expresses his feelings very thoroughly through his poetry in a jazz style. Langston Hughes is a modern poet who ignore the classical style of writing poetry and instead, in favor of oral and improve traditions of the Black culture. In majority of Langston’s poetry, many of his audience seems to take away a very strong message that many can apply to themselves or to others or his poems gives you an educational background of what’s going on in the African American community right now. For example, Langston Hughes writes a poetry piece called Afro American Fragment, which gives you a great breakdown of what an everyday African American person goes through considering that their whole history is basically taken away from them. Langston seems to show his audience that in books we never hear much about what contributions a African American person has done except for being brought to America and being a slave.