I TOO 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 From The Weary Blues 4
INTRODUCTION My seeking has been to explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America and obliquely that of all humankind When Langston Hughes wrote this state ment in 1967 he was explaining what he had tried to do over the course of his long writing career His explanation also reveals why he was one of the 20th century’s most respected and controversial writers Consciously setting out to write for and about black Americans Hughes cre ated a body of work poetry fiction jour nalism essays plays and song lyrics that both chronicled the black experience and enlightened white Americans about racial issues While decrying racism and the ineq uities it created for blacks and other minori ties Hughes called for cooperation among all races In doing so he crossed color barri ers to gain widespread popularity His personal compassion social aware ness and literary talent made him one of the most significant American writers in history Langston Hughes 5
NEGRO I am a Negro Black as the night is black Black like the depths of my Africa I’ve been a slave Caesar told me to keep his door-steps clean I brushed the boots of Washington I’ve been a worker Under my hand the pyramids arose I made mortar for the Woolworth Building I’ve been a singer All the way from Africa to Georgia I carried my sorrow songs I made ragtime I’ve been a victim The Belgians cut off my hands in the Congo They lynch me still in Mississippi I am a Negro Black as the night is black Black like the depths of my Africa From The Weary Blues 6
CHILDHOOD James Langston Hughes was born in Joplin Missouri on February 1 1902 the only child of James and Carrie Hughes to survive infancy Another son born two years earlier had died every room in her house to boarders When money was especially tight she and her grandson lived on salt pork and wild dandelions and Langston dressed in made-over clothes Carrie’s family had been active abolitionists A lover of books and plays she had once dreamed of becoming a professional actress Instead like so many black women of her time she had to settle for the jobs she could find working as a stenographer and a waitress James Hughes wasn’t able to pursue his professional goals either Hardworking and ambitious he earned a law degree but frustrated by limited opportunities in the United States he left the country before his son was two years old Though he periodically sent money he never again lived with his family Langston and his mother moved to Lawrence Kansas and Langston lived with his grandmother as his mother moved from town to town in search of a decent job Langston’s grandmother often rented out Langston suffered not only from poverty but also from restrictions that came with living in a seg regated community While he attended an integrated school he wasn’t permitted to take part in its team sports neither could he join the Boy Scouts or swim at the YMCA And suddenly one day his favorite movie theater put a sign in its box office window No Colored Admitted In spite of these obstacles Langston developed a natural sense of self-confidence thanks in large part to his grandmother One-quarter Cherokee Mary Langston had always lived as a free woman and insisted that all people had the right to be free Under her influ ence Langston learned to endure the hardships of prej udice without surrendering his dignity or pride Carrie Hughes and her son Langston 1902 7
