Langston HughesEssay Preview: Langston HughesReport this essayLangston Hughes was born February 1, 1902 and died May 22, 1967, was an African-American author. James Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri. He published works in all forms of literature, but he was best known for his poetry and his sketches about a black man called “Simple.”
Most of Hughess sketches about Simple have no plot. Simple expresses his opinions about current issues. He is outspoken, arousing, and impulsive. Hughes used Simple to show what an intelligent, but uneducated, proud black man might say if given the chance.
In his best-known poetry, Hughes wrote proudly and positively about black people. He experimented with poetic rhythms, using the rhythms of black music in his poetry. The literary pointed he earned most likely influenced the musical experiments of other African-American poets during the 1960s. Hughes was also highly interested in drama. He wrote plays and well-known theatrical companies.
Langston Hughes was one of the most important writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance, which was the African American artistic movement in the 1920s that celebrated black life and culture. Hughess creative smarts was influenced by his life in New York Citys Harlem, mostly African American neighborhood. His literary works helped shape American literature and politics. Hughes, like others active in the Harlem Renaissance, had a strong sense of racial pride. Through his poetry, novels, plays, essays, and childrens books, he supported equality, destined racism and injustice, and celebrated African American culture, humor, and religion. This was a book-length poem in five sections showing that the African American city understood using music, poetry, and history.
Praise:
“Harlan Hughes’ groundbreaking work and his contributions are at once rich—and diverse—in their sense of the word. These pieces show that these ideas of race and humor are, indeed, grounded in a common historical reality: that in a few centuries whites will be replaced by people who have a less racist, more religious, and more racially diverse background as the country transitions toward the 21st century, and that these people will move away from the racial tensions they are accustomed to and toward the economic and social disparities they are accustomed to.” —Journal of Blacks of America
“Gustavo Colucci has written to me with good reason about his personal and professional experiences as a reporter. Some of which I have already learned, including a history of poverty, race, and the media, among other topics of great concern to me, as an African American who is often relegated to the sidelines of a more important news story. But Colucci, like other writers of the ’90s, has been an integral role model for black people of the ’70s and ’80s who want to see what white America is missing when it comes to the work we do. He is a critical voice on race.” —American Journal of African American Journalists (April 18, 2010)
“Gustavo Colucci’s work is as tellingly prophetic and, for him, as heart-warming as ever. He is a powerful voice of truth against all the bullshit spewed over the years. His style of writing and storytelling provides the foundation for a new hope for the people who are most upset by what has happened. I am particularly pleased and proud that he has chosen not to be a part of the larger story of racial injustice and the ways that it has been compounded by the racial divisions that have been built out of it for so long.” —NPR Black Affairs (April 5, 2010)
The African American community, in partnership with the national African American Women’s Commission, continues to call to action to protect survivors of violence and to combat hate speech that perpetuates inequality. Our communities are experiencing greater urgency right now because African American women and young people face violence in all their lives. Black lives and work are increasingly under threat, especially from the rising threat of climate change. To help support and prepare us for these changes, The Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Loftis, Executive Director of the National Center for Mental Health, is convening a panel Wednesday called “A Community-Driven Action to Eliminate Racism, Violence, and Discrimination.” We are inviting this event to help shape the future future. The panel’s guests are educators, community activists, scholars, legal scholars, young people activists, and others interested in getting involved with the movement as a whole.