Rob Seat

4-5-00

Literature Project

Dr. Lamascus

The Harlem Renaissance is defined as the period dating from 1920 to 1930 when an unprecedented outburst of creative activity among African-Americans occurred in all fields of Art (Harlem Renaissance page 1). African Americans were to celebrate their heritage and become the "New Negro" according to former sociologist and critic Alain LeRoy Locke. A contribution to this rise of the Harlem Renaissance was due to a huge movement of black people to large metropolitan northern cities. This urban migration put the black race together and wove them as a people. They reached out to literature that obviously helped them struggle through the past and dream of a beautiful future in America. This is very apparent in Langston Hughes famous work, I, Too.

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes.

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I’ll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody’ll dare

Say to me,

"Eat in the kitchen,"

Then.

Besides,

They’ll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed---

I, too, am America.

This was written by Langston Hughes in 1925 (Langston Hughes Poems, page 2). This is a very strong piece of Harlem Renaissance driven literature that does speak of the past as well as the future. Hughes brilliantly wrote the poem, and I personally can't help but think that Hughes was right on the money with this work as we enter in the twenty-first century.

Although today’s world is nowhere near perfect, I’m sure that Hughes can’t help to keep from smiling down from heaven when reading those words.

Another powerful poem written by Hughes is The Negro Speaks of Rivers, written in 1921.

I’ve known rivers:

I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I’ve bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln

Went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom

Turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Hughes shows hear a piece of literature that has a historical text and setting. In less than fifteen lines, Hughes gives the reader the feeling of being all over the globe. This is the way the black man felt in the 1900’s. Trying to settle in a life in America, fighting for any kind of equality. The African-American looked upon his heritage through the river. A place where in the past, he had been in so many different worlds. Hughes is trying to "explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America." (Charles H. Nichols page 1611-12)

Langston Hughes showed America that he could express tremendous feeling and thought through his poems. He also showed this same incredible skill through his work in short essays and stories. One of his favorite topics was the white man and his attitude towards his black counterpart. The following two short stories deal with the topic of racism and the viewpoint of one race looking at another.

In 1926, Hughes wrote the short essay, The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain. This is a collection of Mr. Hughes thoughts towards the powerful white culture. The mountain is said to be "the urge for the Negro artist to race towards whiteness" (The Negro Artist…page 1632). He is talking of the white public’s standards. This is still very apparent in our culture even today. One can only imagine what pressures and criticism the black artist would have faced on a daily basis in Hughes’ day. Hughes also says that, "the whisper of I want to be white" runs silently through young poets of the Renaissance mind (The Negro Artist, page 1630). Langston Hughes knew the members of high society but his view on the common man was very interesting. "But then there are the low-down folks, the so-called common element, and they are the majority—may the Lord be praised!" (The Negro Artist…page 1630). The common man appealed to Hughes and is still an important factor in today’s society. In a recent interview on CBS, former Marquette basketball coach and sports analyst Al Maquire was interviewed upon his retirement from the broadcasting booth. His interview was extremely interesting but one thing in particular stood out. He said that a person may have a degree from the most illustrious school in the world, but he was not properly educated until he had spent six months bartending and six months driving a cab. Although this may sound ridiculous at first, when given thought he is right on. In order to understand society, you must understand the common man and the way he thinks. Langston Hughes heard the cry from the common man and used his God given abilities to meet their needs through his writing.

In 1934, Langston Hughes published a collection of short stories entitled, The Ways of White Folks. This book is just another great piece of work by the versatile and motivating Hughes. This is a look at the white man through the black man’s eyes, which is something America was not accustomed at the time. The collection of stories is broad and has strong ties to the Harlem Renaissance period and the art of jazz. Hughes said, "jazz to me is one of the inherent expressions of Negro life in America; the eternal tom-tom beating in the Negro soul (The Negro Artist…page 1632). The book is filled with strong chapters dealing with the unjust treatment of the black person and also the white man’s interest "from a distance" of the black man. From pages 49 – 52, Hughes tells a tale of a light-skinned black man (mulatto) who passes for a white person. Day in and day out he ignores his family on the streets and lives within "white society" solely because he is perceived to be white. This is a strong statement by Hughes, showing the difference in one’s opportunities due to the color of one’s skin. Langston Hughes’ critics have said that he was racist against whites. I would agree with that statement but would also say that Hughes had seen enough poor judgement in whites across the globe to feel that way. It is interesting that on the inside cover of The Ways of White Folks, Hughes says To Noel Sullivan, The ways of white folks; I mean some white folks…(The Ways of White Folks…inside cover). This clearly shows that Hughes saw the good in some whites and was not entirely militant in his thought.

Interestingly enough, Langston Hughes first nationally received work was done for children. Showing just another facet of Hughes ability, The Sweet and Sour Animal Book was published. This writing is targeted at children, along with a younger crowd to stimulate young blacks to read and develop interest in black literature (Smithsonian Institute…page 2). In the book entitled The Brownies’ Book, Hughes amazingly takes one animal for each letter in the alphabet and brings about versus for children to read. Here is an example of the L for the Lion:

A Lion in a zoo,

Shut up in a cage,

Lives a life,

Of smothered rage.

A lion in the plain,

Roaming free,

Is happy as ever

A lion can be.

This writing loudly speaks to this reader of racism and even slavery. This literature was surely used to motivate young African-American thinkers in different ways.