(1 February 1902 – 22 May 1967 / Missouri)

Langston Hughes
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an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the period that "Harlem was in vogue."

Biography

Ancestry and Childhood

Both of Hughes' paternal and maternal great-grandmothers were African-American, his maternal great-grandfather was white and of Scottish descent. A paternal great-grandfather was of European Jewish descent. Hughes's maternal grandmother Mary Patterson was of African-American, French, English and Native American descent. One of the first women to ... more »

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Quotations

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  • ''I was so sick last night I
    Didn't hardly know my mind.
    So sick last night I
    Didn't know my mind.
    I drunk some bad licker that
    Almost made me blind.''
    Langston Hughes (1902-1967), U.S. poet. Morning After (l. 1-6). . . Selected Poems of Langston Hughes. (1959) Vintage Books.
    2156 person liked.
    885 person did not like.
  • ''Way Down South in Dixie
    (Break the heart of me)
    They hung my black young lover
    To a cross roads tree.''
    Langston Hughes (1902-1967), U.S. poet. Song for a Dark Girl (l. 1-4). . . Selected Poems of Langston Hughes. (1959) Vintage Books.
    1807 person liked.
    739 person did not like.
  • ''Love is a naked shadow
    On a gnarled and naked tree.''
    Langston Hughes (1902-1967), U.S. poet. Song for a Dark Girl (l. 11-12). . . Selected Poems of Langston Hughes. (1959) Vintage Books.
    1178 person liked.
    534 person did not like.
  • ''I swear to the Lord
    I still can't see
    Why Democracy means
    Everybody but me.''
    Langston Hughes (1902-1967), U.S. poet, author. The Black Man Speaks, Jim Crow's Last Stand (1943).
    1378 person liked.
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Comments about Langston Hughes

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  • Alan Sugar (8/30/2012 7:58:00 AM)

    Poem for Langston Hughes

    Thunder is seldom so soft as when his sounds are spoken.
    That bird climbs on to life- to life! Its wings have never broken.

    Those wings will take it to a place where crystal stairs have passed.
    That barren field of frozen snow will flourish with dreams at last.

    Hold fast!
    Hold fast.!

    469 person liked.
    272 person did not like.
  • Jaya Wasteneys (7/11/2012 8:20:00 PM)

    Langston was a true poet. His poetry was a denial of everything he'd been told about himself and his people, and the truest expression of spirit that I've ever read.

    437 person liked.
    267 person did not like.
  • William Sebastien (7/9/2012 7:42:00 AM)

    i love the poem...about civil war

    383 person liked.
    271 person did not like.
  • James Trotter (5/22/2012 2:40:00 AM)

    I love the line from the LTAB poem, My ego is Langston 'Huge'

    375 person liked.
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