Comment 559 of 797, added on January 22nd, 2009 at 11:09 AM.
(February 1, 1902 - May 22, 1967)
Born in Joplin, Missouri, James Langston Hughes was a member of an
abolitionist family. He was the great-great-grandson of Charles Henry
Langston, brother of John Mercer Langston, who was the first Black American
to be elected to public office, in 1855. Hughes attended Central High
School in Cleveland, Ohio, but began writing poetry in the eighth grade,
and was selected as Class Poet. His father didn't think he would be able to
make a living at writing, and encouraged him to pursue a more practical
career. He paid his son's tuition to Columbia University on the grounds he
study engineering. After a short time, Langston dropped out of the program
with a B+ average; all the while he continued writing poetry. His first
published poem was also one of his most famous, "The Negro Speaks of
Rivers", and it appeared in Brownie's Book. Later, his poems, short plays,
essays and short stories appeared in the NAACP publication Crisis Magazine
and in Opportunity Magazine and other publications.
One of Hughes' finest essays appeared in the Nation in 1926, entitled "The
Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain". It spoke of Black writers and poets,
"who would surrender racial pride in the name of a false integration,"
where a talented Black writer would prefer to be considered a poet, not a
Black poet, which to Hughes meant he subconsciously wanted to write like a
white poet. Hughes argued, "no great poet has ever been afraid of being
himself." He wrote in this essay, "We younger Negro artists now intend to
express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white
people are pleased we are glad. If they aren't, it doesn't matter. We know
we are beautiful. And ugly too... If colored people are pleased we are
glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn't matter either. We build
our temples for tomorrow, as strong as we know how and we stand on the top
of the mountain, free within ourselves."
In 1923, Hughes traveled abroad on a freighter to the Senegal, Nigeria, the
Cameroons, Belgium Congo, Angola, and Guinea in Africa, and later to Italy
and France, Russia and Spain. One of his favorite pastimes whether abroad
or in Washington, D.C. or Harlem, New York was sitting in the clubs
listening to blues, jazz and writing poetry. Through these experiences a
new rhythm emerged in his writing, and a series of poems such as "The Weary
Blues" were penned. He returned to Harlem, in 1924, the period known as the
Harlem Renaissance. During this period, his work was frequently published
and his writing flourished. In 1925 he moved to Washington, D.C., still
spending more time in blues and jazz clubs. He said, "I tried to write
poems like the songs they sang on Seventh Street...(these songs) had the
pulse beat of the people who keep on going." At this same time, Hughes
accepted a job with Dr. Carter G. Woodson, editor of the Journal of Negro
Life and History and founder of Black History Week in 1926. He returned to
his beloved Harlem later that year.
Langston Hughes received a scholarship to Lincoln University, in
Pennsylvania, where he received his B.A. degree in 1929. In 1943, he was
awarded an honorary Lit.D by his alma mater; a Guggenheim Fellowship in
1935 and a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1940. Based on a conversation with a man
he knew in a Harlem bar, he created a character know as My Simple Minded
Friend in a series of essays in the form of a dialogue. In 1950, he named
this lovable character Jess B. Simple, and authored a series of books on
him.
Langston Hughes was a prolific writer. In the forty-odd years between his
first book in 1926 and his death in 1967, he devoted his life to writing
and lecturing. He wrote sixteen books of poems, two novels, three
collections of short stories, four volumes of "editorial" and "documentary"
fiction, twenty plays, children's poetry, musicals and operas, three
autobiographies, a dozen radio and television scripts and dozens of
magazine articles. In addition, he edited seven anthologies. The long and
distinguished list of Hughes' works includes: Not Without Laughter (1930);
The Big Sea (1940); I Wonder As I Wander" (1956), his autobiographies. His
collections of poetry include: The Weary Blues (1926); The Negro Mother and
other Dramatic Recitations (1931); The Dream Keeper (1932); Shakespeare In
Harlem (1942); Fields of Wonder (1947); One Way Ticket (1947); The First
Book of Jazz (1955); Tambourines To Glory (1958); and Selected Poems
(1959); The Best of Simple (1961). He edited several anthologies in an
attempt to popularize black authors and their works. Some of these are: An
African Treasury (1960); Poems from Black Africa (1963); New Negro Poets:
USA (1964) and The Best Short Stories by Negro Writers (1967).
Published posthumously were: Five Plays By Langston Hughes (1968); The
Panther and The Lash: Poems of Our Times (1969) and Good Morning
Revolution: Uncollected Writings of Social Protest (1973); The Sweet
Flypaper of Life with Roy DeCarava (1984).
Langston Hughes died of cancer on May 22, 1967. His residence at 20 East
127th Street in Harlem, New York has been given landmark status by the New
York City Preservation Commission. His block of East 127th Street was
renamed "Langston Hughes Place" .
By: Andrew P. Jackson (Sekou Molefi Baako)
Langston Hughes a biography by Milton Meltzer 1968
Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks: A Reference Guide by R. Baxter Miller
1979
Langston Hughes, American Poet by Alice Walker 1974
Langston Hughes in the Hispanic World and Haiti by Edward J. Mullen 1977
The World of Langston Hughes Music: A Bibliography of Musical Settings of
Langston Hughes' Works with Recordings and Other Listings by Kenneth
Neilson 1982
Langston Hughes: Before and Beyond Harlem by Faith Berry 1983
Langston Hughes and the Blues by Steven C. Tracy 1988
Langston Hughes: Black Genius, A Critical Evaluation edited by Therman B.
O'Daniel 1977
The Life of Langston Hughes: Vol. I 1902-194, Too, Sing America and Vol. II
1941-1967 Dream A World by Arnold Rampersad 1986
bailey from
Algeria
I love this poem. My class read it too! We didi a activity. I love Robert
Frost and his poems!
Sarojit Roy from United States