Langston Hughes Essays (274 words) - Jazz Poetry, Harlem Renaissance

Langston Hughes Essays (274 words) - Jazz Poetry, Harlem Renaissance ENC1102 July 9, 2015 Langston Hughes Langston Hughes was born during a time where African Americans had no rights of freedom of speech or even a right to vote. Langston Hughes experienced poverty. Hughes used his poetry to speak to the people. His poems were basically written to the African Americans who struggled, and had dreams of being considered equal as whites. And not based on their skin color. Hughes mother and father soon divorced when he was just one year old. Hughes was sent to live with his grandmother as his mother went city-to-city trying to find a job that would accept her even though she was black. And his father moved to Mexico for the same reason. Langston Hughes never really had support from his father because his son wanted to write about the blacks experience during the time of his life where they were considered slaves. From Hughes biography I can understand why he wrote the poem I. Too he was trying to show a perspective of an African American man, either a slave or a servant. Hughes describes in the poem an experience for many African American during this time. Hughes uses the phrase I am the darker brother in line 2 to call our attention to the common practice of racial segregation during the early 20th century, when blacks were forced to eat, sleep, live and travel separately from the whites. Hughes then claims that Tomorrow he will join the whites at the table and no one will dare to send him back to the kitchen. Hughes is trying to claim freedom as African American citizens.