Langston Hughes

Hughes BACKGROUND

background

• James Mercer Langston Hughes
• Born on February 1, 1902
• James Hughes and Carrie Langston, separated
• Hughes was raised primarily by his maternal grandmother

The Harlem Renaissance


Hughes graduated from high school in 1920 and spent the following year in Mexico with his father. Around this time, Hughes's poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" was published in The Crisis magazine and was highly praised. In 1921 Hughes returned to the United States and enrolled at Columbia University where he studied briefly, and during which time he quickly became a part of Harlem's burgeoning cultural movement, what is commonly known as the Harlem Renaissance.

a WAY WITH words

Langston Hughes Poems
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no cryststair.It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin'
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

My old mule,
He's gotta grin on his face.
He's been a mule so long
He's forgotten about his race.
I'm like that old mule --
Black -- and don't give a damn!
You got to take me
Like I am.

Jazz AND bLUES age

When the shoe strings break

On both your shoes

And you're in a hurry-

That's the blues.

When you go to buy a candy bar

And you've lost the dime you had-

Slipped through a hole in your pocket somewhere-

That's the blues, too, and bad!

Jazz and BLUES age

• Used as communication
• Helped influence the sound of blues
• Langston Hughes stated that jazz was a way of life
• Langston used jazz and blues as a muse in his poetry

DREAM DEFERRED IN A RAISIN IN THE SUN
In “A Raisin in the Sun” dreams were differed because of greed and sometimes selfishness. At first the money the family was going to get from the insurance was going to help everyone’s dreams. Lena and Ruth wanted a home. Walter wanted to open a liquor store but Walter greed got to him and he lost the money. Beneatha wanted to go to med school. Big Walter dreams were deferred when he lost one of his kids and by his death. However since that guy scammed them and took away the money all their dreams and hopes were deferred and dried like a raisin in the sun.

How langston HuGhes Dreams were DEFERRED

• He died at an early age
• He encountered lots of racial tension
• He never really got to see the African American progress in history

tHE END