Literature was crucial for the growing cultural and justice movements both during and post Harlem Renaissance because it provided a voice and identity to those who were discriminated against and excluded by society. Hughes was able to pinpoint this audience and wrote insightful poetry that provided hope and common grounds for those who have been mistreated. This in fact was a major theme established through Hughes’s poetry. He promoted pride and ___ in being African American as well as challenged the lack of justice in society and the crumbling class system that exploited and mistreated the poor and the blacks. One of Hughes most iconic poems regarding the exclusion of African Americans in society, with an underlying theme of hope, was his
