Langston Hughes I, Too, Sing America

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Langston Hughes’ poem, “I, Too, Sing America” was a cultural inspiration in American literature during the Harlem Renaissance because it was one of the first pieces of literature written by an African American, which motivated many African Americans in becoming writers and drove them to follow their dreams. The Harlem Renaissance took place before the Civil Rights Movement, from 1917 through 1935 and was an African American cultural movement inspiring African American writers, poets, musicians, artists, photographers and scholars (The Harlem Renaissance 1). Langston Hughes, who was a famous author and poet during the Harlem Renaissance, but other African American authors during the time were Arna Bontemps, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, …show more content…

His parents separated soon after his birth and his father moved to Mexico and Hughes lived with his grandmother until he was 13 years old. At the age of 13, he moved to Lincoln, Illinois to live with his mother and stepfather because his grandmother had passed away, which sparked the start of Hughes poetry (James Mercer Langston Hughes 1-2). Later, the family settled in Cleveland, Ohio and he graduated from a high school that had students, whose parents were foreign born, until the Negros came (Hughes, Langston. The Big Sea: 29). At the time Langston Hughes was in high school, America was fighting in World War I. Due to this, Americanism was being stressed and students were forced to go to the principal's office and be questioned about their beliefs of Americanism (Hughes, Langston. The Big Sea: 31). In 1920, he spent a year in Mexico and convinced his father to let him go Columbia University in New York. He left after one year because there was too much discrimination and became a part of the Harlem Renaissance Movement. After Hughes dropped out of Columbia in 1922, he …show more content…

Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman became the inspiration of Langston Hughes and was one of the reasons he started writing poetry (Biography of Langston Hughes 1). Carl Sandburg was an American writer, who is best known for his poetry (Carl Sandburg 1). Walt Whitman was an American, who is best known for his poetry, essays and journals (Walt Whitman 1). Jazz clubs were another big inspiration of Hughes’ writings and poems because the rhythm of jazz music made his thoughts

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