Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I'll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody'll dare

Say to me,

"Eat in the kitchen,"

Then.

Besides,

They'll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

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James Langston Hughes was born in Missouri in 1902. Growing up, he wanted to become a lawyer but was thankfully not allowed to take the qualifying exam. In his childhood he moved amongst many towns and states often and therefore had no sense of belonging anywhere. He was strongly influenced by the writings of Carl Sandburg, Walt Whitman and W.E.B. Du Bois. Just out of high school, while returning home from staying with his biological father in Mexico, Hughes wrote his famous first poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” He found himself drawn to the life of jazz and blues in Harlem and dropped out of Columbia University to become a part of it. He worked ordinary jobs in West Africa, Paris, and Italy, only to return to America as a poet. He earned a bachelor’s degree and supported himself with his writing, which included not only poetry, but also satire, short stories, children’s literature, non-fiction, opera lyrics, plays, and movies. Many people recognize his poetry because of its rhythmic, lyric quality and vernacular tone. Due to surgical complications, Langston Hughes died on May 22^nd, 1967.

To read more of his poems, click this link: Poetry Out Loud- Langston Hughes

To hear an audio clip, click the link below: