For past centuries african americans have been enslaved, dehumanized, and discriminated. The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual movement which started in the early 1930’s. This movement provided racial pride and gave blacks the chance to have a voice. During this time period many african americans became writers, artists, poets, and scholars. Martin Luther king jr. believed in justice and equality for all men and was inspired by many activists such as Mahatma Gandhi to promote peaceful protests. Langston Hughes was a writer and poet in the Harlem renaissance. His writings expressed what it was like to be a black person living in that time. “A Stride Towards Freedom” by Martin Luther King uses imagery and “I Too” by Langston Hughes uses
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His parents divorced soon after his birth so he was mainly raised by his grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas. His childhood was very lonely and unstable. He felt abandoned by his parents and this influenced his writing incredibly. After his mother remarried, he went to live with her in Illinois. There he was enrolled in grammar school where he was elected class poet. That was when Langston Hughes realized that he had a knack for writing. When he graduated high school in the year 1920, Hughes hoped that his father would support him in getting into Columbia University and begin a career as a writer. He wrote his first poem on his to mexico to visit his father. He named it “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” . This was his first famous piece of many. Langston Hughes went on to write numerous poems including “I too”. “I too” explains black life in america during that time period. He gives african americans a voice and foreshadows how one day everyone will be considered equal. “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes.” he says, “Nobody will dare say to me, eat in the kitchen”. Langston Hughes talks of being discriminated because of his skin color. In the 1900’s blacks were looked as not being a part of America. Hughes’s words enlighten the mood for he is proud of who he is. He does not hate himself because he is black and he does not give the whites the satisfaction of weakening him and hurting his feelings.
His parents divorced soon after his birth so he was mainly raised by his grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas. His childhood was very lonely and unstable. He felt abandoned by his parents and this influenced his writing incredibly. After his mother remarried, he went to live with her in Illinois. There he was enrolled in grammar school where he was elected class poet. That was when Langston Hughes realized that he had a knack for writing. When he graduated high school in the year 1920, Hughes hoped that his father would support him in getting into Columbia University and begin a career as a writer. He wrote his first poem on his to mexico to visit his father. He named it “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” . This was his first famous piece of many. Langston Hughes went on to write numerous poems including “I too”. “I too” explains black life in america during that time period. He gives african americans a voice and foreshadows how one day everyone will be considered equal. “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes.” he says, “Nobody will dare say to me, eat in the kitchen”. Langston Hughes talks of being discriminated because of his skin color. In the 1900’s blacks were looked as not being a part of America. Hughes’s words enlighten the mood for he is proud of who he is. He does not hate himself because he is black and he does not give the whites the satisfaction of weakening him and hurting his feelings.