...The Harlem Renaissance was a classical period during 1919-1940 that used humor to address, societal, racism, and other cultural issues. Langston Hughes was a major figure during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance helped African American authors develop better in art in writing. It helped African Americans leave a bigger legacy and inspire those around them. The Harlem Renaissance gave a clear understanding of how blacks go through racism but in a humorous way. It was seen a big cultural movement for African Americans to over step racial prejudice. One of the major authors during the Harlem Renaissance was Langston Hughes. Hughes helped in shaping the artistic view of how we see certain situations. One of his famous poems during...
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...Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. He published his first poem in 1921. He attended Columbia University, but left after one year to travel. His poetry was later promoted by Vachel Lindsay, and Hughes published his first book in 1926. He went on to write countless works of poetry, prose and plays, as well as a popular column for the Chicago Defender. He died on May 22, 1967. CONTENTS Synopsis Early Life Growing Success A Continuing Life of Letters Death and Legacy QUOTES "An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose." – Langston Hughes « prev1 / 14next » Early Life James Mercer Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents, James Hughes and Carrie Langston, separated soon after his birth, and his father moved to Mexico. While Hughes’s mother moved around during his youth, Hughes was raised primarily by his maternal grandmother, Mary, until she died in his early teens. From that point, he went to live with his mother, and they moved to several cities before eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio. It was during this time that Hughes first began to write poetry, and that one of his teachers first introduced him to the poetry of Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman, both whom Hughes would later cite as primary influences. Hughes was also a regular contributor to his school's literary magazine, and frequently submitted to other poetry...
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... Langston Hughes and The Weary Blues Langston Hughes was recognized as a significant literary figure during the 1920s, a period known as the "Harlem Renaissance" because of the number of emerging black writers. After graduating from high school, Hughes went to Mexico to visit his father, in hopes to convince his father that he should pay for his college education at Columbia University in New York City. On his way to Mexico on the train, while thinking about his past and his future, Hughes wrote the famous poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." After arriving in Mexico, the tension between Hughes and his father was strong. Hughes wanted to be a writer; his father wanted him to be an engineer. After Hughes sent some of his poetry to what was known as the “Brownies” Book and “Crisis” magazines, it was accepted. his father was impressed enough to agree to pay for a year at Columbia University. It was there at Columbia University were he begin releasing more poems that he had written. Hughes embraced crafting blues music into his poetry because it expressed the worries of the common man in a simple and direct manner. Blues songs feature heavy repetition, and singers often seem to be laughing and crying at the same time. One of his best works was the poem “The Weary Blues” which came in first place in a section of a literary contest in an Opportunity magazine published in 1925. The title itself gives an example on how Hughes wanted to give the reader an...
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...and their search for better quality of life in the North and Midwest, henceforth the Great Migration. Some of the most prominent names during this time was African American poets Langston Hughes and Claude McKay, both playing an essential role to the literary movement. As stated by McKay, “their poems are full of hushes, whispers, sighs, songs, tongues, throats, wails, moans, voices, speech, music, hymns, blues, sobs, cries, lashes, yowls, jazz, scatting, drums, thunder, drones, shouts, trumpets, trains, whistles, choirs, horns, and all sorts of other raucous sound” (1926). Langston Hughes was notably known as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance and also deemed as the “Father of Harlem Renaissance poetry”. Hughes solidified his legacy in the Harlem Renaissance subsequently after the publishing of his first poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, which is one of his most notable poems. The Negro Speaks of Rivers, which was influenced from his time passing the Mississippi River to visit his family, was later published in 1926 in his first book of poetry, The Weary Blues. In regards to the poem, Phillipson describes it as “grounding itself specifically in a diasporic consciousness that embraces the Euphrates, the Congo, and the Nile as rivers of Black geography” (2006). Another notable poem from Hughes was “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” which was published in The Nation in 1926. The poem took aim at African American artists who seemed to be accommodating to be more...
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...Aunt Sue’s Stories Langston Hughes poem, “Aunt Sue’s Stories” would fall into the category of didactic poetry. Where this poem is concerned, there is an ethical and moral lesson being taught. This poem illustrates the African culture of telling stories to pass on traditions, keeping the African heritage alive and ensuring history does not repeat itself by gapping the generational bridge. Thus the oral documentation weaves a tapestry of the historical legacy of the African people in America always transcending generations. There is that sense of pride evidential in the elder in the family or community who makes it their moral and ethical duty to pass on these stories. To the younger generation, the firsthand account of historical and family events is greatly appreciated. The poem’s central idea is to portray the maternal bond between an elder and a child as she passes on not just a story but confidence and self-acceptance of being a descendant of slaves. The poem characters are a woman and a child where the setting is on a front porch during a summer evening. Aunt Sue’s Stories begins as the narrator describes Aunt Sue, not physically, but exactly what she is best known for. Aunt Sue’s personality, character and motherly instincts are depicted through her stories. The reader learns that Aunt Sue is emotionally connected to her stories because lines 21 and 22 suggest she may have been a slave. The poem develops into one of her stories about the conditions of slaves, working...
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...voices of the African American Authors who were taken serious by their white connects for the first time in history. It focused on portraying black culture and life in the ghetto. And it gave the African American Culture uniqueness within literature and art. Harlem Renaissance was an evident racial pride that symbolized the melodic theme of the New Negro. New Negro challenged the penetrating racial discrimination to encourage socialistic help of art and literature. As to be significant in the Harlem Renaissance the writers used poetry to present the African American experiences. Grabbing the attention between both black and white readers around the world. One Poet that set that bar really was Langston Hughes he was one of the most popular black poets of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes was great at his job with more diversity in his choice of writings. He had written Plays, Novels, Poems, and Short Stories, Most of his writings were the real situations that really happened in black cultures. Movies were highly looked up upon in the Harlem Renaissance. D.W. Griffith directed “The Birth of a Nation” the film was over African Americans directors who countered negative stereotypes promoted in majority of the mainstream movies. Then released films in The Harlem Renaissance showcased the struggle of the African Americans in the U.S. alone. Musicians during the Harlem Renaissance developed a style and movement that simply took Americans by storm. Musicians such as Duke Ellington and...
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...The American track record of its treatment to African Americans is saturated discrimination and segregation. To fight against the separate but equal reality African Americans, chose different ways to protest against that reality. It was through the different forms of writings that some educated and distinguished African American writers tried to portray the notion of double consciousness. Double consciousness is a term created by famous Harlem Renaissance writer W.E.B DuBois. The term double consciousness defines the action of African Americans to not only view themselves from their own unique perspective, but to also view themselves as they might be perceived by others ( in this case white people). Harlem Renaissance period provided the African American writers with the opportunity to expose the majority to double consciousness. It allowed the Caucasians to see the internal conflict of keeping with one’s heritage but wanting to make it in America under “white” standards. W.E.B Du Bois first citied double consciousness in The Souls of Black Folk and his writings signify “how a veil has come to be put over African-Americans, so that others do not see them as they are; African-Americans are obscured in America; they cannot be seen clearly, but only through the lens of race prejudice. Till this very day many African-Americans feel “unwanted” in America. I think back to a news video I saw about a black man named Earl Sampson that was arrested fifty six times and stopped and...
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...The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke. Though it was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, many French-speaking black writers from African and Caribbean colonies who lived in Paris were also influenced by the Harlem Renaissance.[1][2][3][4] The Harlem Renaissance is unofficially recognized to have spanned from about 1919 until the early or mid-1930s. Many of its ideas lived on much longer. The zenith of this "flowering of Negro literature", as James Weldon Johnson preferred to call the Harlem Renaissance, was placed between 1924 (the year that Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life hosted a party for black writers where many white publishers were in attendance) and 1929 (the year of the stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression). Contents [hide] 1 Background to Harlem 2 Development of African-American community in Harlem 2.1 An explosion of culture in Harlem 3 Music 4 Characteristics and themes 5 Influence of the Harlem Renaissance 5.1 A new black Identity 5.2 Criticism of the movement 6 Notable figures and their works 6.1 Novels 6.2 Short story collections 6.3 Drama 6.4 Poetry 6.5 Leading intellectuals 6.6 Visual artists 6.7 Popular entertainment 6.8 Musicians and composers 7 See also 8 References 9 External links 10 Bibliography Background to Harlem [edit] Until the...
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...Birth of a Civilization An analysis of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes 5/26/2008 American Literature 2328-8448 Deah N. Mitchell The violation of the African civilization that is known as slavery is defined as “a submission to a dominating influence” by Merriam-Webster. There are many accounts of this practice, and many more attempts to rectify its toll on African-Americans and its long-standing consequences. One such effort is the rhythmical reflection of ancestry through artistry- specifically poetry. During the Harlem Renaissance era several African American writers emerged. One of the most prominent and successful authors was James Mercer Langston Hughes. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” was written by Hughes at the tender age of 19. This poem is reflective of four central topics: African-American ancestry, racial pride, slavery and spirituality. The most obvious use of literary art, symbolism, plays a tremendous role in this poem and is effortlessly laced throughout the seams of this intricate ode. “I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.” According to the most widely accepted theories on the origins of man, homo sapiens’ appear to have originated in Great Rift Valley in Africa. Above the “rivers” can be interpreted as ancient African ancestry. The writer knows from handed down accounts the story of his people’s lineage. If Africa is home to all of our births then...
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...Josh Nicholas Professor Graham English 1301 8:00-9:30 September 12, 2013 “Salvation” by Langston Hughes No one person is without sin. Everyone has done wrong, and nobody is perfect. A lot of people seek salvation and forgiveness for what they have done in their life. The definition of salvation is the deliverance of sin and its consequences brought by faith in Christ. Of the many people that seek salvation, some may not find what they are looking for. In “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, the main character has lied to and deceived most of his church members about being salvaged, or in other words, saved, and he should be supported for his actions. The author of “Salvation” is Langston Hughes, and he is also the main character himself. Hughes was born in Joplin Missouri on February 1, 1902. Soon after his birth, his parents split and his mother moved around, so Hughes was mainly raised by his maternal grandmother. After moving to several different cities, he eventually settled in Cleveland which is where he began to write poetry. Poetry was not the only type of writing that Hughes partook in. He wrote novels and short stories along with his poetry. In the short story “Salvation” Langston is a twelve year old boy going on thirteen attending a revival at his Auntie Reeds church. Towards the end of the revival, all of the “sinner children” were brought upon the mourners’ bench. The reason for this? To find Jesus and to let him into the children’s lives. One by one the children...
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...TO YOUNG, GIFTED, & BLACK Lorraine Hansberry Introduction When we think of role models, we think of people we call mom, dad, auntie, uncle, teacher, counselor or it could even be a politician or a celebrity or somebody of that sort, but somehow they become are role models. The dictionaries definition of a role model is a person imitated by others, but my definition of a role model is somebody you admire and look up to, learn from their mistakes, watch as they become successful, you see there downfalls, but there still become your role model. Years ago when I was in 7th grade it was black history month and we were having our annual black history month project. And again I was going to do something simple and just do Martin Luther King Jr., But my teacher assigned me a different black history activist. “Lorraine Hansberry” and I remember saying to myself “Who is Lorraine Hansberry??”… Later on that day when I arrived that day home I told my mom who my black history project was and we enjoyed doing the project with me. I learned so much about her. Not only was she an activist she also was a playwright, and an author. So when I received this...
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...Tekela Genous October 28, 2009 ENG 435 Langston Hughes “Mother to Son” is written entirely from a weary mother’s point-of-view and presents inspiration, themes, and imagery concerning the appearance and the reality of the poem. Every mother wants to see her child be successful in life through the hardships and the good times. The poem was written from a mother to her young son demonstrating the love and concern a mother has for her son and educating him on how life may be. The overall message is to never give up, although life is hard, one can never give up no matter what your struggles are, keep pushing forward. This poem implies that experience can teach life lessons, which the mother has been through time after time. She explains to her son in a well spoken way that things may go wrong, don’t get content, move forward and never give up. This poem reminds me of a novel named Push, written by Sapphire in 1996, it illustrates the conditions of living in Harlem in the 1980’s and the suffering of a girl, Claireece Precious Jones, who experienced sexual harassment, being committed twice by her own father, having two children by him, but never giving up. The first couple of stanzas show that the son may have asked his mother a question, because she starts with, "Well, son, I'll tell you." The mother then goes on and uses the metaphor “Life for me ain't been no crystal stair,” which can symbolize her spiritual pursue towards Christ or telling her son that life is...
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...The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Movement started at the end of World War I, but only began to get recognized around 1924. The Harlem Renaissance was made up of chiefly writers and was considered a phenomenon. This movement started at a time when racism was still at large. African Americans had to deal with the KKK and other racial prejudices in society. The Harlem Renaissance was significant because it was the first time African Americans expressed their views on racism and their self-love for one another, using lyrical styles that was never seen before in African American writing. Two of the most prominent poets of the time were Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes. The Harlem Renaissance happened fifty seven years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Previously, African Americans didn’t have much education or a chance to make their mark in the literary world. They didn’t have much of a chance because they were still looked upon as inferior. They were also thought not to have a distinct cultural heritage. The United States got involved in World War I in the year 1917. At that time, race riots were happening and lynchings were frequent. After World War I ended in 1918, African Americans started coming to the North hoping to escape the racist treatment in the South. Unfortunately, life in the North wasn’t that much greater. In the South, more and more race riots occurred and many black people were beaten and killed-- this was known as “Red Summer” (Anderson...
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...Salvation", Langston Hughes Langston Hughes paints a picture of himself as a little boy whose decisions at a church revival directly reflect mans own instinctive behavioral tendencies for obedience. A young Langston whose congregation wants him to go up and get saved, gives into obedience and ventures to the altar as if he has seen the light of the Holy Spirit. Hughes goes on to say: " So I decided that maybe to save further trouble, I'd rather lie, too, and say that Jesus had come ,and get up and be saved ." In saying this, Langston has obviously overlooked his personal belief to meet the level of obedience laid out by the congregation. It leads us to fact that people may believe strongly in an idea or thought but will overlook that belief to be obedient. One can make a justified assumption that everyone in society has at one time or another overlooked his or her personal feelings to conform this occurrence whether it is instinctive or judgmental is one that each individual deals with a personal level. He was a young boy who wanted to see Jesus, who wanted to earn salvation, but when he couldn't see Jesus, when everyone else saw,he found himself in the terrible position of disappointing not only himself but everyone in his community.He finally "saved" himself by pretending to see Jesus . He was saved not by love of Jesus as a congregation or preacher intended but by pretending to be other that who he was. One wanders what would have happened if he didn't stepped forward...
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...“…Although the play takes place within the Black community, the themes of alcoholism, parental abuse, and self abuse are universal themes and that is the author’s intent— to show universality. -Dael Orlandersmith, Playwright of “Yellowman” In Mikell Pinkney’s On the Historical Development of African American Dramatic Theory; or, The Roots of Black Theatre Aesthetics, the reader is introduced to the dramaturgical criteria for “serious” African American theatre which is that it is: about us, by us, for us, and near us. These four tenants were introduced by W.E.B. Dubois and used to assess dramatic pageants of his time and have steadily been used as a basis for African American modern text. Dael Orlandersmith’s Yellowman, a two person play which investigates the corrosive prejudices within the Black community, lends itself to universal understanding of Black Americans who are conscious of their African existence before they were deemed African-Americans. Through Orlandersmith’s expressive telling of the South Carolina Gullah/Geechie culture, the play adheres to W.E.B DuBois criteria of African American drama while also offering the viewer a full understanding of prejudices understood universally no matter their race or creed. According to Pinkney, “From the earliest portrayals of Blacks in American theatre (ca. late 18th Century) through the development and institutionalization of the minstrel show (ca. early 20th Century), the Negro image was given little if any...
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