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Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was a man that can be known for his insight into urban life on the streets of Harlem. He struggles though opposition because of his race and rises above expectations to be a leader and activist in the civil rights movement. He steps over boundaries in his time that no other African American writer had ever crossed and makes it possible for many others to do so in the future. Hughes gives hope to many people while angering others who do not want change and resent such an offensive view of life in Harlem. This paper will discuss a brief history of his life and some of his work, professional and personal critiques of his work. It will also have a personal evaluation of his work and why I choose Hughes to research.
Langston Hughes was born on February first, 1902 to Carrie and James Hughes in Joplin, Missouri (Reuben 5). His parents separated in his early childhood and Hughes lived with his grandmother while his mother pressured a career as an actress, and his father practiced law in Mexico. It is suggested that his father was unable to work in the United States because he was black. Hughes’s grandmother died in his early teenage years and he moved to Illinois to live with his mother and his new stepfather. While living with his mother Hughes wrote his first poem which was well accepted in his school.
Langston enjoyed writing poetry during his high school years. His works were published in his high school’s newspaper. Hughes was encouraged by the acceptance of his work by his classmates and began to submit his poems to literacy magazines in New York. Much to Hughes’ disappointment, his poems were rejected until 1921 when the magazine The Liberator, sponsored by the NAACP offered Hughes a publishing opportunity (Reuben 6). Hughes’ first poems professionally published are “Winter Sweetness” and “Fairies”. Six months later his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” was published. This publication would be the first step in Hughes’ literacy...