I, Too, Sing America 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.

Madam and her Madam I worked for a woman, She wasn't mean-- But she had a twelve-room House to clean.   Had to get breakfast, Dinner, and supper, too-- Then take care of her children When I got through.   Wash, iron, and scrub, Walk the dog around-- It was too much, Nearly broke me down.   I said, Madam, Can it be You trying to make a Pack-horse out of me?   She opened her mouth. She cried, Oh, no! You know, Alberta, I love you so!   I said, Madam, That may be true-- But I'll be dogged If I love you!

The Weary Blues Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,           I heard a Negro play. Down on Lenox Avenue the other night By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light           He did a lazy sway . . .           he did a lazy sway . . . To the tune o' those Werary Blues. With his ebony hands on each ivory key he made that poor piano moan with melody.           O Blues! Swaying to and from on his rickety stool He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.           Sweet Blues! In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone I heard that negro sing, that old piano moan--           "Ain't got nobody in all this world,              Ain't got but me self.              I's gwine to quit ma fronwin'              And put ma troubles on the shelf."   Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor. He played a few chords then he sang some more--           "I got the Weary Blues              And I can't be satisfied.              Got the Weary Blues              And can't be satisfied--              I ain't happy no mo' And far into the night he crooned that tune. The stars went out and so did the moon. The singer stopped playing and went to bed While the Weary Blues echoed through his head. He slept like a rock or a man that's dead.

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Scholarly Books on Langston Hughes

Martha Cobb. Harlem,  Haiti, and Havana: A comparative critical study of Langston Hughes, Jacques Roumain, Nicolás Guillén. 1979.

Faith Berry. Before & Beyond Harlem: Biography of Langston Hughes. 1995.

Onwuchekwa Jemie Langston Hughes: An Introduction to the Poetry (1985)

Edward J. Mullen. Langston Hughes in the Hispanic World and Haiti (1971)

Arnold Rampersad. The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume I: 1902-1941, I, Too, Sing America (Life of Langston Hughes, 1902-1941). 2002

Arnold Rampersad. The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume II: 1914-1967, I Dream a World (Life of Langston Hughes, 1941-1967). 2002

Steven C. Tracy. Langston Hughes and the Blues. 2001

R. Baxter Miller. The Art And Imagination of Langston Hughes. 2006.

Jonathan Scott Socialist Joy in the Writing of Langston Hughes. 2006

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Langston Hughes

 (1902–1967)

“Hughes, perhaps more than any other author, knows and loves the Negro masses.”¹ That is why Hughes, perhaps more than any other writer, appeals to the masses of Negro high school students. Both verse and stories are easy to understand, but written with skill. Unlike many other Negro authors, Hughes neither wrote about the dull, cultured, intellectual elite, who are unpopular with students, nor did he glory in gory lynchings and sex perversions, which are unpopular with school boards. His writings are about poor, ordinary people but with a strong sense of humor. When asked what Negro writers they like, students invariably list Hughes.

Langston Hughes is difficult to classify as a writer. He was among the leaders of the Negro Renaissance, but he continued to write later than most others of this period. He wrote poetry, short stories, novels, essays and edited many collections of Negro writings.

Hughes had written a number of short story collections, among them Laughing to Keep from Crying (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1952, o. p.), Something in Common and Other Stories (New York: Hill & Wang, Inc., 1963), and The Ways of White Folks (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1934). Most of the stories are humorous, but one always knows that much of the laughing is “to keep from crying.” Topics vary from white tourists in Harlem to brothels in Cuba to standard problems of getting a job and family spats. Although many of the stories deal with prostitutes and drinking and other forms of “low life,” these are not treated in an objectionable manner.

Among the best of Hughes’ stories for high school students is “Thank you, Ma’am,” a story of a young boy who tried to snatch a purse from a strong, motherly woman who took him home and fed him. “On the Road” is a powerful, symbolic story of a Negro who tried to tear off the door of a church that would not help him when he was freezing and starving. “The Big Meeting” tells of two Negro boys who come to a revival to laugh but were offended when whites made fund of their mothers. Both the whites and the boys were finally deeply affected by the sermon.

The Simple stories are another large body of Hughes’ writing. The Simple stories are collected in Simple Speaks His Mind (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1950, o. p.), Simple Takes a Wife (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953, o. p.), Simple Stakes a Claim (New York: Rinehart and Co, Inc., 1953, o. p.), The Best of Simple (New York: Hill & Wang, Inc.,1961) and Simple’s Uncle Sam (New York: Hill & Wang, Inc., 1965). All these collections give vignettes of Simple, an average, Alabama-born Harlem man who commented on current situations over the barstool to this college-educated pal. Discussions range from the space to Mississippi to Cousin Minnie but always bring up the race problem in some way. The humor and interest in the Simple stories come from the variety of well-developed characters including the wife Joyce, who wanted to move to the suburbs and enjoy culture; ugly Cousin Minnie, whom Simple had never heard of before she appeared asking for money; and Simple himself, one of the most original philosophers of the decade. His discussions on race are presented with delightful humor that does not quite mask their depth of bitterness and injury.

Although my students seemed to enjoy the Simple selections that we heard in class, they seemed a little uneasy at a few of Simple’s most violent comments. They also seemed a little uneasy at the thought of white people reading them and making fun of Negroes. While most students, white and colored, would probably enjoy and gain much from the Simple stories, they might be embarrassed by hearing or discussing them in the classroom, especially a mixed class.

Not without Laugher (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1930), Langston Hughes’ first novel, was written while he was still in college and still strongly influenced by the Negro Renaissance. Though somewhat defective as a work of art, Not without Laughter has possibility for use with high school students. Not exactly autobiographical but based on Hughes’ experiences as a child, the book tells of the problems of a poor boy who grew up in Kansas. Poverty was the villain that separated his parents, sent his aunt into prostitution, made his grandmother die from overwork, and forced his successful aunt to cut all ties with her poor family. Sandy was sent around from one member of the family to another, but,. With a strong will and encouragement from all, managed to keep out of trouble.

There is not much excitement, and the plot is rather formless. The main interest in the book is the characters, who are very realistic, alive, and humorous: Jimboy, the fun-loving, roving father; Angee, the dreamless, stay-at-home wife; adventurous Harriett who finally made good on the stage; and Hagar, the long-suffering grandmother. Not without Laughter deals very realistically with all the problems faced by a child growing up in poverty and finding the strength necessary to overcome it.

Hughes’ second novel is Tambourines to Glory (New York: John Day Co., 1958, o. p.). It is about Essie Belle Johnson, a deeply religious but not very intelligent woman, who paired up with Laura, a very clever but quite unreligious opportunist, to form a church. Starting as sidewalk preachers, they eventually worked up to the biggest church in Harlem. Essie’s main interest was to get her lovely young daughter Marietta to come to New York, and Laura’s main interest was her handsome hustler Buddy. When Buddy proved unfaithful, Laura plotted to get rid of both Buddy and Essie by killing Buddy and blaming in on Essie. But the scheme backfired. Essie won and became the leader of the church.

The plot is contrived and not meant to be taken seriously. The murder scene and the following events sound like a sequence from a Danny Kaye movie. The characters, though close to the stereotype, are quite well dedicated and quite human. The scheming, unprincipled Laura is especially lively. The style is fairly humorous. Although not extremely interesting the book is pleasant enough reading. Some students might find it offensive because of the way is makes fun of both the Negro and religion. Used improperly it could help to contribute to an unfavorable stereotype of the Negro.

The Big Sea (New York: Hill & Wang, Inc., 1963) is Hughes’ autobiography, and his provides a fascinating subject for an autobiography. Shunted around from relative to relative, he seemed to learn something from each one. Pride from his grandmother, religion from Auntie Reed, and courage from his mother were his heritage. At seventeen, he went to Mexico to visit his father, whom he began to dislike, for his father was interested only in making money and was contemptuous of the poor, common people that Langston loved.

After a year at Columbia University, Hughes began work as a sailor, and the next section of the book relates his exciting adventures in Africa and Europe where he was often stranded without money or food. By the time he returned to America, the traits that so enliven his writing were well established: a love of adventure, a carefree spirit, a deep love of the common people, and a sense of humor that can laugh at the most serious problems. The Big Sea is an exciting book and is likely to be interesting to adolescents. Dealing with problems of becoming an adult and finding one place in the world, it is a valuable book for teenagers. Also, its antimiddle-class should values should give them something to think about.

Five Plays by Langston Hughes, edited by Webster Smalley (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1963), has several selections that might be useful with high school students. Simply Heavenly, a play made from the Simple stories, might be the most entertaining. The play is comedy centering on Simple’s attempts to marry Joyce and escape the clutches of his former wife Isabel and his former girl friend, Zarita. Comedy develops around Simple’s bar companions and Zarita’s schemes to steal him from Joyce.

Little Ham is a funny play about numbers racketeers and fights over girl friends. But since it definitely shows the lower side of Negro life, some might object to it. Tambourines to Glory is a play based on the novel by the same name. A more serious play is Mulatto, a bloody play about the mulatto son of a planter who refused to be a slave and eventually killed his father. It is a vicious reading for high school students. Soul Gone Home is an ironic play about a mother who faked sorrow for her dead son, who came back to life to berate her hypocrisy. Only four pages long and requiring only two characters, this play could easily be presented in the classroom.

The Selected Poems of Langston Hughes (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1959) is a treasure-find for English teachers. His poems are about the things teenagers are concerned about, such as romance, dances, dreams, and jobs. And they are written the way teenagers talk, with modern jazz rhythms and everyday words, sometimes even slang. Furthermore, they are easy to understand—at least the surface meaning is simple. From the teacher’s standpoint, they are perfect for illustrating the basic principles of poetry—compression and the connection between metrics and meaning.

Hughes has a number of very short sketches which, haiku-like, compress a mood into a three- or four-line picture. Among the poems of this type are “One,” “Garden,” “Troubled Woman,” “Sea Calm,” “Luck,” “Ennui,” “My People,” and “Suicide’s Note.”

Another group of poems develops a mood through rhythmic patterns and evocative words. Poems of this type are “Trumpet Player,” “Drum,” “The Weary Blues,” and many sections from Montage of a Dream Deferred (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1951, o.p.), especially “Dream Boogie.”

One of Hughes’ major themes is the lost dream or the ruined life. Each of the following poems catches the tragedy of the Negro experience in America. “As I Grow Older” is a long poem that shows how a dream flees from color. “Dream Variations” shows the poet’s longing to express and enjoy his racial heritage. “Litany” is a haunting poem that accuses even heaven of having no love. “Vagabonds,” “Delinquent,” and “Troubled Woman” show people who have finally been destroyed. “Mother to Son” gives advice to one who must face a world of trouble. “To Be Somebody” again pictures the almost hopeless dream.

Hughes also has several poems about the American dream: “Freedom’s Plow,” “I, Too, Sing America,” and “Let America Be America Again.”

“The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” is one of his most beautiful and most moving poems telling the history of the Negro race in the rivers it has lived near.

Montage of a Dream Deferred is an experimental book showing sketches of Harlem life in bop rhythm. The poem can be used as one long selection, or the shorter poems can be used separately. The main theme of all the poems is the tragedy of lost dreams. Among the selections that might be most effective are “Freedom Train,” “Boogie: 1 A.M.,” “Deferred,” and “Harlem.”

The Dream Keeper (New York: Alfred. A. Knopf, Inc., 1940, o.p., reissued 1963) is another short collection, an attractive book illustrated by Helen Sewell. Again, all poems are good for high school students, but the most effective might be “The Dream Keeper“ and “Dreams.”

¹Robert Bone, The Negro Novel in America, p. 75.

Barbara Dodds • Negro Literature for High School Students • © Copyright 1968 • National Council of Teacher of English • Champaign, Illinois 61820

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updated 21 February 2009