How Did Langston Hughes Influence The Harlem Renaissance?

A divided country. A battered race. A talented poet. Racism in the early to mid 1900s was obviously a major issue in the United States. Although it still is today, the differences in cultures caused races to be isolated from each other. After the Great War, also known as World War I, the African American people in the United States were still being discriminated. In Harlem, New York, a movement emerged, called the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural, musical, artical, and literary celebration of the African American race. This era was led by many different activists and leaders. One, Langston Hughes, was a decorated and talented poet and playwright. He was able to influence the Harlem Renaissance through his poetry and playwriting skills. Born in Joplin, Missouri, Langston Hughes was, in addition to a poet, was a son of a mother who traveled very far. Prior to high school, he was praised for his poetry at his grammar school in Lincoln, Illinois at the age of sixteen, …show more content…
During the time of the Harlem Renaissance, racism was an issue. Although it still is today, in the mid 1920s, it was ten times worse back then. In his writing, he showed expressions which he believed that one day, the African American society would be able to live and prosper in peace (Overview of (James) Langston Hughes). He writes his poetry about the workers who are basically still enslaved because they have little to know way of being successful. For example, in his poem called Harlem, he explains what could happen to a human’s dreams when they are “deferred” or kept on the back burner, left behind, and forced to change. He relates this to the people of the African American community, because everyone has a dream and a goal, but the blacks can’t pursue them because they are oppressed. His way of writing and his hope for the community had an effect on the Harlem