V Born in Joplin, Missouri, Langston Hughes was a member of an

abolitionist family. He was brother of John Mercer Langston,

who was the first Black American to be elected to public
office, in 1855. He lived mainly with his grandmother in
Lawrence. Langston was raised by his grandmother until he
was thirteen years old, Mary Langston. While living with her he
endured racism from his teachers and the boys in his
neighborhood. Although he endured racism during his young
years, it didn·t stop him from learning. While in cleveland, he
stopped for something to eat and a white man refuse to eat
at the same table with him, and a fountain clerk in St. Louis
refused to sell him a fountain drink. He turned away quietly.
But decided at that time instead of running away from the
¶color line· and hating himself for being black, like his father,
he would write about the real-life experiences of black
people.
V Hughes attended Central High School in
Cleveland, Ohio, but began writing poetry in the
eighth grade, and was selected as Class Poet. His
father didn't think he would be able to make a
living at writing, and encouraged him to pursue a
more practical career. He paid his son's tuition to
Columbia University. He would study engineering
there . After a short time, Langston gave up and
continued writing poetry. His first published poem
was also one of his most famous, "The Negro
Speaks of Rivers´. Later, his poems, short plays,
essays and short stories appeared in the NAACP
publication î


 and in
 


 and other publications.
Hughes also expressed direct and
sometimes even a pessimistic approach to
race relations, and focused his poems on
the lives of the working class. For example;
Hughes poem ´^  is a representation of
race in his poems.

  is a representation of Hughes
writing about his life, and not be afraid to
write about racial themes.

His poetry and fiction were centered

generally on insightful views of the working
class lives of blacks in America, lives he
portrayed as full of struggle, joy, laughter,
and music.
V Hughes always wanted to let the world know that
he loved where he came from and that he will
never be ashamed of his culture.
V When Hughes wrote ´The Weary Bluesµ the world
could see through his writing and knowledge of
jazz how he was able to express his love for the
black culture.
3reat Depression
Visit to Soviet Union
Communism
Spanish Civil War
Senator Joseph
McCarthy
FBI Security Risk
V mreat depression: brought an end to a lot of African
American literature but Hughes was already a public
figure
V Soviet Union: Hughes was drawn to Communism because
it supported racial justice. Went to soviet union to
observe.
V Langston Hughes believed in using his art to get across his
feelings about politics and injustice.
V He traveled to other countries to learn how they dealt with
racial issues.
V Spanish Civil War: traveled to spain as a correspondent
during the war
V Senator and FBI: testified before Senator Joseph McCarthy
FBI listed him as a security risk till 1959 because of his
connection with McCarthy and communism.
V Langston Hughes was, in his later years, deemed
the "Poet Laureate of the Negro Race,´ a title he
encouraged. Hughes meant to represent the
race in his writing and he was, perhaps, the most
original of all African American poets. On May
22, 1967 Langston Hughes died after having had
abdominal surgery. Hughes' funeral, like his
poetry, was all blues and jazz: the jazz pianist
Randy Weston was called and asked to play for
Hughes's funeral. The jazz and the blues were hot,
and the final tribute to this writer so influenced by
African American musical forms was fitting.
V J






 
 
 

    
V ¦



 
 





 


 
 

  


 

 


 

 



The Harlem Renaissance was a flowering of

African American social thought which was
expressed through
Paintings
Music
Dance
Theater
Literature
 


  › 
D›

  



  
D › 
 

 
 


D 
 
  



  
 
 


V 1. Harlem Renaissance is the name given
to the period from the end of World War I
through the middle of the 1930s Depression,
during which a group of gifted African-
American writers procuced a sizable body
of literature.
V 2. Common themes: alienation,
marginality, the use of folk material, the use
of the blues tradition, and especially lives
and cultures of black people.
V 3. The Harlem Renaissance was more than
just a literary movement: in included racial
consciousness, the ´back to Africaµ
movement led by Marcus Garvey, racial
integration, the explosion of music,
especially jazz, spirituals, and blues, and
visual and dramatic arts.
V 4. The Harlem Renaissance helped the
world understand African American culture.
It integrated black and white cultures.
 ?



V It was also a time of great
literary recognition for
African Americans,
including:
V Claude McKay (poetry)
V Zora Neale Hurston
(fiction)
V W. E. B. DuBois (editor)
Îora Neale Hurston V Langston Hughes (poetry,
drama)
 |

V Blues and Jazz started gaining
recognition.
V The Apollo Theater is a famous
theater in Harlem where musicians
such as Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith,
and James Brown got their starts.

V Apollo theatre resim

 Jacob
Lawrence

William Johnson
    

 
 
 


   

 



 

 
 
 
 
  

 
  !
"

 "
#  $›

%
&

  ' 
%  "

()*
›
 
 ! 

 
 


  
  

 
 
  
+


 

 
   
 

 


 
 ¦

  


 

 
  
V Most popular
writer of the Harlem
Renaissance
V Wanted to capture
the traditions of
Black culture in
written form
V 1902-1967
V Becomes a
central figure of
the Harlem
Renaissance.
V 1926 - Publishes a
volume of poems,
    
*
›
 


  
+ 

  
 ) ,- 
*

 › ,
  

One of his favorite pastimes
whether abroad or in
Washington D.C. or Harlem,
New York was sitting in the
clubs listening to blues, jazz,
and writing poetry.

V Hughes said this music

was sung by "black,
beaten but unbeatable
throats." In 1958, Hughes
recorded his poetry to
the accompaniment of
the music of jazz and
blues artists such as
Charles Mingus.
¦? ?  
 ¦      

 


 

 

 

**

   

 +"



!
!  
    " &




"
#
  -



  ?
$




    &



**

 
  
  "
&   &


%   "
  " 

+


%   


 

 

¦

& 


 ¦

 

 

 

    
 
!
 ¦



 
 




  
  
 
 





 
  


'
( 


!
!  &

 
  

!


   

!





(
)
! &
'
(
" 

 


 
  

"
 #

 
  **
+
&  

 

&  

"&

,

&
  
 

+
His works were important in
shaping the artistic contributions
of the Harlem Renaissance in the
1920s.
He wanted to tell the stories of his
people in ways that reflected
their actual culture, including
both their suffering and their love
of music, laughter, and language
itself.
V Published in The Crisis, the publication of
the NAACP in 1921

V It is one of Hughes most well known

poems; ´The Negro Speaks of Riversµ
which speaks of the African-American
culture and its ancestry and shows
through his writing that nothing can
break the invisible bond that ´theyµ
have.
V In "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," as Hughes
charts the heritage of black Americans,
beginning with the cradle of civilization in the
Middle East and ending with references to
slavery as seen from the Mississippi River, he
traces over four thousand years of history. He
tells us that as a result of all that he has seen,
heard, done, and witnessed, his soul has grown
"deep as rivers." Rivers have stood the test of
time and carry an incredible wisdom as a
result. Hughes draws a connection between
the rivers and the black community, which has
endured much and carries an equally
profound and powerful wisdom.
V The title of "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" lets us know
early on that the story that follows is told from the
perspective of a member of the black
community.Hughes begins telling the tale of the
birthplace of all civilization by taking us to the
Euphrates River, but he ends at a time and place tied
to the history of slavery and racism in America: when
Abe Lincoln rode a boat down the Mississippi River,
witnessing for the first time the horrors of slavery. He
watches the "muddy" Mississippi turn "golden" in the
light of the setting sun, suggesting the transformation
from slavery to freedom that many Americans
experienced after the Civil War.
V The Mississippi, like the Euphrates, the
Congo,and Nile rivers, symbolized the life
blood of black people who had built
civilizations upon rivers.
In "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," Langston seems
to be one person at first, but soon we get the
feeling that he is speaking for an entire
community. His voice just might be a collective
voice of a people. In telling the story of this
community from the dawn of civilization until
the end of slavery in America ( really until the
Harlem Renaissance, considering poet
Langston Hughes was from that era), the
speaker records a history for his community,
puts it down in writing. He uses his memory of
the past to celebrate the present moment and
to instill pride in his community.
Thank you all!