The Literature of the Harlem Renaissance

Langston Hughes was passionate about expressing the lives of black people through his poetry. His poetry expressed the pain and suffering that black people had to endure. Many critics have claimed that Langston Hughes created an unattractive view of black life through his poetry, but he was only demonstrating the realities of their lives. He didn’t make up stories about how great life was; he wrote realistically about the fear, segregation, and lost innocence of the black race. Langston Hughes left an immense impression on the literature of his time period.

Many authors today were inspired by those of the Harlem Renaissance. It was a great time for the African- American community, but at the same time it caused fighting between the middle class and poorer blacks. The feeling of inequality still existed, but at least African-Americans were finally getting some recognition for some of the wonderful accomplishments that they have made. Works Cited Haskins, Jim. The Harlem Renaissance.

"I, Too Sing America" is one of many poems written by Langston Hughes that focuses on African American culture. Written in the 20th century, America was moving toward the climax of the civil rights movement. "I, Too Sing America" responds to "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman. Langston Hughes became famous during the Harlem Renaissance because of his many poems written about African American lifestyle. This particular poem looks into what many black people hoped their future would look like.

Originally referred to as the “New Negro Movement”, the Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement during the early twentieth century. It was started by the Great Migration of blacks to the North during World War I. This period resulted in many people coming forth and contributing their talents to the world, inspiring many. One of the poets of this time, Jessie Redmon Fauset, was one of those who wrote about the life of blacks and life in general during this time period. She used her good and bad past experiences as influences for her works.

Black urban migration, combined with trends in a American society toward experimentation in the 1920's, and the rise of radical black intellectuals - including Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Zora Neale Hurston --all contributed to the particular styles, themes, and the extraordinary success of black artists during the Harlem Renaissance period. Langston Hughes, a primary voice of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920's, was known as "The Poet Laureate of Harlem". Hughes had pride in his black heritage, strong political beliefs, and the will to survive in a society where racial equality had to be fought for. Hughes' strength and determination shine through his poetry, he does not hide the fact that he lived with racism, but talks of his strength and to st... ... middle of paper ... ... may be seen as manifestos of selfhood, as affirmations of blackness and the positive sides of black life. Part of the energy that fuelled the Harlem Renaissance was the belief that black cultural achievement in the "high" arts would socially and spiritually uplift the race.

Harlem Renaissance During the 1920's, the spiritual, social, and literary eagerness that raced through Harlem could be called the most important period of self-discovery in African-American history after the Civil War. Black literature went through a tremendous outbreak in Harlem, which is a district of New York City. In the middle of the changing atmosphere, a small group of black men and women began a public relations campaign to promote what they called the "New Negro" movement. While these men and women promoted art and literature, they were credited with starting much more than just and intellectual movement. This movement included poetry and writing, which forever changed the African-American lifestyle into a unique and more educated culture.

Langston Hughes’s Outlook on the American Dream The American poet, Langston Hughes, writes poetry primarily focusing on African American civil rights. Coming from a long line of African American activists, he too made it his work and his passion to help the efforts to bring about equality. However, his own past is the reason he pushes these ideas forward with such zeal. Hughes grew up in a time of racial segregation. The nation was divided and Hughes witnessed that first hand.

Finally, different races noticed African Americans. Other cultures adopted many of the African Americans ideas of poetry art and music. African Americans had made an imprint in Harlem leaving culture over America. The Harlem renaissance had left a legacy and opened doors and inspired many generations of African American culture.

That’s when I first gained an appreciation of the Harlem Renaissance, a time when African Americans rose to prominence in American culture. For the first time, they were taken seriously as artist, musicians, writers, athletes, and as political thinkers”(Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). African Americans writers during this time was capturing the beauty of black lives. Blacks were discovering many reasons to have pride in their race. Racial pride was helping them achieve equality in society.

Many viewed this genre as a voice for the black communities and as “the New Negro poets expressed a deep pride in being Black” (Smith, 1983, p. 37) it is easy to see how this influenced their poetry. The main theme of Blues were the troubles of life and finding an escape, and this underlying dissatisfaction was incorporated into poetry as a response to many of the injustices present. For example, a clear example of this is Langston Hughes’ Homesick Blues which uses many of the key techniques from Blues songs, such as short lines to create urgency. The poem discusses the effect of prejudices and injustices on the black communities, especially when it comes to finding a home and an identity. There is a subtle, irregular rhyme scheme from words such as “sun… done” (Ramazani, 1994, pp.