Langston Hughes
was born in Joplin, Missouri into an abolitionist family. He was the grandson of Charles Henry Langston. His brother was John Mercer Langston, who was the 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 as a writer. His father paid his tuition to Columbia University for him to 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 ...
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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 ...
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Langston Hughes. (2008, August 19). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Langston-Hughes/88560
"Langston Hughes." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 19 Aug. 2008. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Langston-Hughes/88560>
"Langston Hughes." Essayworld.com. August 19, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Langston-Hughes/88560.
"Langston Hughes." Essayworld.com. August 19, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Langston-Hughes/88560.
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