Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri on February 1, 1901 to James Nathaniel Hughes, and Carrie Langston Hughes. Sent to live with his grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas where he spent most of his childhood. His grandmother taught him self respect and to take pride of his color. He began to write poetry in 8th grade where he published some poems in the school publication. He wanted to go to college so he asked his father to help him. His father agreed to pay for colleges as long as he studied engineering. Hughes attended Columbia University where he dropped out after one year due to racism he faced on campus. After dropping out he continued his writing career (Constantakis 98). He wrote poetry, novels, short stories, essays, plays, opera librettos, histories, documentaries, autobiographies, biographies, etc.. Langston Hughes did it all. He died of prostate cancer on May 22, 1967, in New York City (Meyer 834). Before he passed away, Hughes became one of the most significant writers of the twentieth century.
Langston Hughes with his mother Carrie.
POETRY
His Poetry showed African Americans literature and heritage. During the Harlem Renaissance is when his poetry started to become more popular. He was the most significant African American poet of the twentieth century. Hughes was a people's artist, whose poetry was read and known by millions of African Americans. These Black Americans "read his work in African American weekly newspapers; they thronged to Black colleges, schools and other venues to listen to him speak; and they bought this books (Jordan 860). He expressed African American life without fear or shame. He purposely made his poems direct and simple, so he could easily address the concerns of himself and other African Americans. This is why his poetry is so popular because the language he uses makes it easy to comprehend. His poems not only talked about the present position of Blacks, but he also mentioned their collective past and possible future. Langston Hughes socially and culturally protests through his poetry by showing the struggles and hardships African Americans faced. In his poems he spoke out against racism, and he reflected the actual culture of his people. In doing this, he presented the problems and discrimination that were prevalent in society (Constantakis 103)