Langston Hughes was an African American poet, social activist, and novelist who played a crucial role in the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes is best known for his work as a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement that occurred in the 1920s and 1930s. He was a prominent voice for civil rights and equality, and his work often explored themes of racial discrimination and segregation.
One of Hughes' most famous poems is "Freedom's Plow," in which he writes about the struggles and sacrifices of African Americans in the fight for freedom and equality. The poem speaks to the enduring struggle for civil rights and the need for continued activism and resistance in the face of oppression. Hughes writes, "We plow the fields and scatter / The good seed on the land / But it is fed and watered / By God's own hand."
In this poem, Hughes acknowledges the hard work and dedication of those who have fought for civil rights, but also recognizes the importance of divine intervention in the quest for freedom. He speaks to the idea that the fight for justice and equality is a collective effort, one that requires the support and participation of all people.
Hughes' work was deeply influential during the Harlem Renaissance, and his poetry continues to inspire and influence people today. His words speak to the ongoing struggle for freedom and justice, and serve as a reminder of the importance of standing up for what is right. As Hughes writes, "We'll walk hand in hand / We'll plow the fields and scatter / The good seed on the land." Overall, Hughes' work is a powerful tribute to the resilience and determination of those who have fought for freedom and equality, and serves as a call to action for all people to join in the fight for justice.
The Embodied Freedom of Langston Hughes
Langston's tuition fees to Columbia University were paid on the grounds that he study engineering. After this devastating loss, Hughes's mother decided to move her family to Ohio so that she could start over with nothing. But for those who could do it, the experience was well worth it. It means Freedom at home, too — Now — right here! In addition, the book discussed possible solutions for these problems. In it he expressed his views on racial inequality and discrimination. That tree is for everybody, For all America, for all the world. But in And That what he said was also It was a long time ago, But not so long ago at that, NO TO WITHOUT There were But in What he said must be Else it had no Then a man said: BETTER THAN He was a But had run away to freedom.
At the same time he always wrote, invoking the life and culture of the African American people. Together we are building our land. His name was Jefferson. Down into the earth went the plow In the free hands and the slave hands, In indentured hands and adventurous hands, Turning the rich soil went the plow in many hands That planted and harvested the food that fed And the cotton that clothed America. His name was Jefferson. Who said those things? I'm gonna check up.
There was light when the battle clouds rolled away. Two years later, he co-authored Negroes in America with Cullen and Fauset. The people do not always say things out loud, Nor write them down on paper. Not my world alone, But your world and my world, Belonging to all the hands who build. Out of labor came villages And the towns that grew cities.
The people do not always say things out loud, Nor write them down on paper. Not my dream alone, but our dream. When it stops in Mississippi, will it be made plain Everybody's got a right to board the Freedom Train? Was Langston Hughes black? Simple, a Black worker in Harlem. The dream cannot be kept secure In any one locked place. I stood there and I hollered! Hughes himself put his life on the line, as he went to the front with the Brigade as battles raged. And the slaves knew What Frederick Douglass said was true.
What Did Langston Hughes Write About the Freedom Train?
He wrote about these early years in his first book, I Wonder As I Wander 1940. There were slaves then, too, But in their hearts the slaves knew What he said must be meant for every human being- Else it had no meaning for anyone. Some were free hands Seeking a greater freedom, Some were indentured hands Hoping to find their freedom, Some were slave hands Guarding in their hearts the seed of freedom, But the word was there always: Freedom. His treatment of the subject matter then can't be treated now as anything other than prophetic. From that seed a tree grew, is growing, will ever grow. It was initially published in The Crisis the next year, establishing Hughes' literary career.
They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. His father would discourage him from pursuing writing as a career, in favour of something 'more practical'. There are those who claim This dream for theirs alone — A sin for which, we know They must atone. Perhaps this is why Hughes chose to cross the river when he was going to see them anyway. In 1917 when the Russian working class came to power and withdrew their country from World War I, Langston Hughes and his fellow students at Central High School in Cleveland held a celebration for the Revolution and its leader V. To the enemy who would conquer us from without, We say, NO! Came the marts and markets, shops and stores, Came the mighty products moulded, manufactured, Sold in shops, piled in warehouses, Shipped the wide world over: Out of labor-white hands and black hands- Came the dream, the strength, the will, And the way to build America.
He grew up in a struggling working class family in Jim Crow USA. I stood there and I cried! To all the We say, NO! The mind seeks a way to overcome these obstacles. BETTER DIE FREE, THAN TO LIVE SLAVES. But others new it had to triumph. He consciously carried on the unfinished equality struggles bequeathed by African-American history and of his own day. Some there were, as always, Who doubted that the war would end right, That the slaves would be free, Or that the union would stand, But now we know how it all came out.
Not a poem, story or libretto by him did not speak out against racial oppression and give voice to aspirations of first-class citizenship in all walks of life. Who owns those words? Crack went the whips that drove the horses Across the plains of America. Before the Civil War, days were dark, And nobody knew for sure When freedom would triumph "Or if it would," thought some. Who said those things? Solutions to the Problem Of course wait. Langston Hughes was a poet, journalist, and civil rights activist who worked during the Harlem Renaissance. . His family lived in Louisiana and Missouri, two states that were then part of the United States.
 When the neighborhood grocery store, paint store and hardware store my mother used to shop at are boarded up again and again and again to prevent vandals from breaking windows and stealing things, the sense of violence becomes part of our architecture, we become numb to it. On my heartstrings freedom sings, all day, every day. That song Freedom will come!  Its not white flight it is blight flight.  I was on the path to move before all this happened the past 12 months, but it feels different now, it has a touch of defeat, a whiff of failure. The bigots targeted Hughes. Years ago he had already pointed to socialism as the basic solution to the nightmare of capitalism.
