Harlem Renaissance – Langston Hughes

The Harlem Renaissance was a revolutionary time of changes to be equal and standing up for the rights of African-Americans. Many literature leaders like writers, artists, poets, and others rose to show their rights and freedom in the nation, including Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was an African-American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He became one of the most recognized figures and grew to be a leader among the other artists during the Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes’s life was historic as it helped us get to where we are today.

Foremost, James Mercer Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents, James Nathaniel Hughes and Carrie Mercer Langston, got divorced after having Langston. He was raised mostly by his grandmother who got Langston to love literature before she passed away. Langston and his mother soon moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he began writing poetry for the first time. Eventually, Langston graduated from high school and went to around four countries for college and for a couple of odd jobs. Moreover, Langston soon came back to The United States and enrolled at Columbia University. He soon finished in Lincoln University in 1929 and then moved to New York. During this time, Langston had published a couple of poems that got him a few prizes. “A Negro Speaks Lee 2 of River”, his first signature poem in 1921, grew big and made him continued writing poems that won prizes. A few of his famous poems were “The Weary Blues”, “Not Without Laughter”, “Ask Your Mama”, etc. He began writing novels, plays, poems, and other literary works like the “Simple” series up into the 1960s.

In his life, Langston never had any romantic involvements as he was known to be asexual or homosexual. He won many prizes for his achievements like the Anisfield-Wolf Award, the Harmon gold medal for literature, Spingarn Medal, etc. On May 22, 1967, Langston died in New York due to some complications with his surgery for prostate cancer. He died at sixty-five years old and his home at 20 East 127th Street in Harlem, New York became a landmark by the New York Preservation Commission.

Langston Hughes led a normal life as he wrote his famous literary works, but had a huge effect on our world today. He influenced the Harlem Renaissance among other artists as an important figure in literature. Even though most of his works are now in the past, they all played a huge role in the Renaissance and helped African Americans have the rights that they now have today. He published many literary works which influenced many people, making him a leader during the Harlem Renaissance

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